Maybe I misunderstood your comment - but I took it that you did not realize that some police forces are funded by their enforcement practices. I was just letting you know there are a bunch of them in Delaware.
And this is all traffic enforcement, including drunk driving offenses. Some of these departments are funded solely on the basis of how much they "collect."
I have no dog in this fight because I have never gotten a DUI or even a speeding ticket, but with that said I do happen to believe there is some very arbitrary enforcement of traffic laws, particularly DUI, and much of it is revenue based. But that's just one person's opinion.
It's complex, I guess.
If police departments get fines, isn't that the responsibility of the voters in that municipality? If the arrests (for big stuff, like DWI/DUI) lead to big fines, isn't that the responsibility of the judges and the law-makers in that jurisdiction?
I got into this because early in the thread someone seemed to suggest that these stupid alcohol-related arrests were somehow the responsibility of the police And they made these arrests so they could make more money. Maybe I'm wrong, but that seems paranoid to me. The police don't write the laws or preside at trials. If they can fund themselves as is suggested, they didn't seize that power, it was given to them.
I think since police and deputies are, so to speak, the interface between a lot of laws (especially traffic laws) and the public. And when people are inconvenienced or more they blame, not the legislators giving the power to the police, or the judges applying the law in particular situations, but the officer who sees probable cause to make an arrest or issue a summons. It seems to me to be a way to avoid the responsibilities of citizenship in a representative republic.
But hey, now I know we're all nazi-punks who just want to shoot people, so I guess the issue is about as resolved as it's going to be.