Posted on 03/09/2008 6:07:22 AM PDT by Mr. Brightside
Caught speeding on camera, police officers refuse to pay tickets
16 hours ago
ROCKVILLE, Md. — No matter what the cameras say, some drivers are refusing to pay dozens of $40 speeding fines.
Who? Police officers.
In the last eight months of 2007, Montgomery County's new speed cameras recorded 224 cases in which police vehicles were recorded travelling more than 15 kilometres an hour over the speed limit, according to department records.
Supervisors dismissed 76 of those citations after determining the officers were responding to calls or had valid reasons to break the speed limit.
But that left 148 who didn't have that excuse, and about two-thirds of those citations haven't been paid, said police Lt. Paul Starks.
The police union says officers shouldn't pay because the citations are issued to the owner of a vehicle, in this case the county, and not to the driver.
Police Chief Thomas Manger doesn't buy that argument.
"We are not above the law," Manger said. "It is imperative that the police department hold itself to the same standards that we're holding the public to."
Manger said officers who continue to ignore citations might be disciplined.
If the cops drove the speed limit around here, they would greatly impede the flow of traffic and cause a hazardous situation on the roadways, with all the cars packing together too closely behind them 5-6 lanes wide.
travelling more than 15 kilometres an hour over the speed limit,
The police union says officers shouldn't pay because the citations are issued to the owner of a vehicle, in this case the county, and not to the driver.
They are obeying the law. They are absolutely correct. The tickets are issued to the owner of the vehicle - the State. They are not issued to the driver. It is the States job to pay these tickets.
Now the State could punish the officers for being caught breaking department policy, but they can not force them to pay the ticket... under the law.
GRIN.
I'll bet if the department digs a little deeper, they would find that most of the rest of the 'speeding' incidents are also job related. The pencil pushers just didn't look that hard or they are excluding a specific type of event that the job requires.
This way the city gets to put your cash in the general fund.
After a few times maybe the drivers running the lights will realize that not running the light and putting others into jeapordy via an accident may just stop the cash outlay they were making.
Your logic is incorrect.
The bank is the lien holder on your vehicle. They are not the 'owner'.
You are the registered owner of the vehicle {presumably - or somebody in your family}.
If you loan your car to your sister and she gets caught by one of these cameras, the ticket is coming to you.
If you loan your car to your son and he gets caught by one of these cameras, the ticket is coming to you.
If you loan your car to your girlfriend and she gets caught by one of these cameras, the ticket is coming to you.
If you loan your car to the drunken bum hanging out in front of the store and he gets caught by one of these cameras, the ticket is coming to you.
That is the way those laws were written. Because the cameras cannot identify who was driving. They can only identify the vehicle.
It would be up to you to seek reimbursement from the violator, but YOU WOULD BE THE PERSON PAYING THE TICKET AND PAYING THE FINE IF YOU DIDN'T>
It's for your safety.
Like handcuffs.
It gets even worse. So some clown steals a car and gets caught speeding --- then the victim of the theft is fined? :)
While cops should not be above the law, this could backfire. One pet peeve of mine is being stuck on a freeway behind a police cruiser going exactly the speed limit for 20 miles or so, letting dozens of cars back up behind them. (Yes, I think a reasonable highway speed is typically 5 to 10 over the limit).
The law says the county is liable. That is the law. If the state wants to change the law, that is one thing, adjusting what the law means, after the fact, to cover this problem, is not law. County, city, state, pays, that should generate some squealing, or a quick attempt at changing the law.
Then again, if they didn’t have those little dollar earning/stealing electronic devices, problem solved.
/rant
How many times have you been driving down any road doing the speed limit and have a cop go sailing by at a high rate of speed without lights flashing?
And have you said to yourself, “donuts must be ready at dunkin donuts?
And don’t tell me they were responding to an emergency,
that just doesn’t hold water.
And we have cops that post here all the time saying that people who say that cops want to be above the law are crazy.
Give them five days to pay or a month off without pay.
"We are not above the law," Manger said.
"It is imperative that the police department hold itself to the same standards that we're holding the public to."
********************
Hey Chief....
How about A HIGHER [PROFESSIONAL] STANDARD of conduct -- on-duty and especially off-duty...
AN EXEMPLARY STANDARD... of conduct
Kinda rings true from where this avaerage citizen is sitting...
We the people... are watching YOU!
Ha!
I regularly pass cops driving below the limit.
I also keep up with those who are speeding.
Yes you are Tom. And you darn well know it.
When I lived in Alabama (late 1970s) the Bama state troopers would routinely drive side by side on the interstate maintaining a steady 55 mph.
The traffic behind them stacked up for miles.
Montgomery’s Finest Won’t Pay Fines [speed cameras Maryland]
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1982805/posts
“It would be up to you to seek reimbursement from the violator, but YOU WOULD BE THE PERSON PAYING THE TICKET AND PAYING THE FINE IF YOU DIDN’T”
Not in AZ. There, if you are not clearly the person in the picture, the ticket will be dismissed.
This is in Rockville, Maryland. USA, not Canada.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.