To pass the unmarked cop or not?

[ziggy29]

Heard through the grapevine that cities and counties are cracking down more on traffic violations as a means of gaining some revenue since everyone is hurting these days. May be bull but I wouldn't put it past them.

I've wondered if we might see an increase in that with localities being cash-starved. Historically I think 10+ over the limit seemed to be the most common threshold for getting busted (i.e. less than that would usually be ignored except in a school zone or other special enforcement zone), but it would be interesting to see if that changes.

When my wife had an accident last May (her foot slipped off the brake while stopped downhill and she crept into the intersection and hit a motorcycle; thankfully no one was hurt) we spent a few weeks expecting to receive a ticket for "failure to yield" in the mail. It never came.

 

[FIRE'd@51]

Heard through the grapevine that cities and counties are cracking down more on traffic violations as a means of gaining some revenue since everyone is hurting these days. May be bull but I wouldn't put it past them.

I have heard that in many localities, policemen have monthly quotas ($ they must raise through issuing tickets), even in good times.

 

[RustyShackleford]

Heard through the grapevine that cities and counties are cracking down more on traffic violations as a means of gaining some revenue since everyone is hurting these days. May be bull but I wouldn't put it past them.

It's entirely plausible, since the main point of ticketing traffic violations
is to raise revenue. Seriously, you didn't really think that it's primarily
about safety, did you ? Policing is like most other things: follow the
money ! (Sorry to be cynical ...)

 

[Rustic23]

Quotas are illegal in Texas, but goals are not. Well that is what I read in the paper about three years ago. Leonidas could shed some light on this.

 

[Leonidas]

I just set the cruise control to the speed limit +5 and figure nobody's going to bother writing that. I never did when I was in patrol.

We never wrote anyone for less than 10 over the limit. Traffic enforcement was a low priority for the department in general, and in patrol in particular. Except when we were

detailed there as a result of a number of citizen complaints. If you live on the street where the speeding complaints came from, this is called "being responsive to the community". If you're the recipient of a speeding ticket, this is called "harassing the public".

I have heard that in many localities, policemen have monthly quotas ($ they must raise through issuing tickets), even in good times.

Police departments are expensive, even itty bitty ones. Lots of places tell the cops that if they want to keep their jobs they better produce revenue for the city. That's why Texas doesn't allow small towns to keep but a small percentage of their traffic fine revenue.

Quotas are illegal in Texas, but goals are not. Well that is what I read in the paper about three years ago. Leonidas could shed some light on this.

Quotas are illegal, but measurements of productivity are not.

Most of the time I was in patrol we never worried about tickets. There were a couple of really slow parts of town where you had to write tickets just to prove you were out doing your job, but most places where the exact opposite. As soon as you signed on the dispatcher hit you with a holding priority call and you ran all night long from one call to the next. It was not unusual to get dispatched to a felony in progress that had been holding for an hour, just because everybody was already out on other similar calls.

But there are a lot of places where it's different.

If you're on the highways of Texas during the last two-three days of the month, you best obey the speed limit. The DPS is in the business of writing tickets, and that's their primary measurement of productivity. And since the state works on a monthly reporting period, the end of the month is when a lot of troopers suddenly realize "I've got to go write some paper or the sarge is going to be all over my butt next week."

 

[bssc]

Just found out that my friend went to traffic school for 60 in a 40. Not recommended. One mile more over and it would have been a felony.

 

[TromboneAl]

I used to always drive about 4-5 MPH over the limit. Years ago we started driving under the limit by 5-10 MPH (usually) to save money on gas. It was a nice surprise to find out how much less "am I going to get a ticket?" stress there is.

 

[mathjak107]

tooooooooo funny, my wife and i were trying to get down a very busy main street with loads of double parked cars... im getting so frustrated its taking so long... finally made it past the mess and now i got a guy going 15 miles an hour in front of me.


im getting even more frustrated so the next light i squeeze next to him, kind of make my own lane and shoot in front of him after giving him a look..

my wife goes ooooh no , she sees the gumball machine go up on the dash and its 2 cops in an unmarked car..

they pulled me over , ran my license and just told me dont be in such a hurray... good thing i didnt flip him off when i passed them... ha ha ha

 

[Koolau]

tooooooooo funny, my wife and i were trying to get down a very busy main street with loads of double parked cars... im getting so frustrated its taking so long... finally made it past the mess and now i got a guy going 15 miles an hour in front of me.


im getting even more frustrated so the next light i squeeze next to him, kind of make my own lane and shoot in front of him after giving him a look..

my wife goes ooooh no , she sees the gumball machine go up on the dash and its 2 cops in an unmarked car..

they pulled me over , ran my license and just told me dont be in such a hurray... good thing i didnt flip him off when i passed them... ha ha ha

Same thing happened to me - only more so. I topped a hill on a light to moderate day on the interstate - there ahead was a 2 - mile traffic back up going, on average, about 5 mph below the posted limit. But, of course as I attempted to thread my way through the mess, I had to cancel the cruise which I'd set at exactly the SL. (I rarely exceed a reasonable limit.) SO, after threading the needle for 15 minutes, I actually got to the front of the line. That there was a front should have alerted me, but by then I was getting, well, peeved. Sure enough there were two cars, locked in a side by side embrace at (by my spedo) one mph under. It's not that I wanted to go faster, I just wanted away from this traffic disaster waiting to happen. After 30 seconds of waiting for one car or the other to budge, I flashed my lights at the car in the left lane. He took off and pulled in front of the car he had been beside. I didn't cram on the accelerator, but set my cruise for the speed limit. I slowly passed by the "offending" car, only to see his "cop" lights in the back window. Sheeeiiiiiiiish!

Actually got around him and sure enough he stopped me. He asked if I knew why he stopped me. I said "no" which really po'd him. He ran my license and told me not to be so impatient. He had nothing to charge me with so he let me go. I held my tongue but I won't here. As far as I'm concerned HE was the danger on the highway that day. Without him, the traffic would have flowed. A (very) few under the limit, many at the limit and several a little over the limit. Just the way it's supposed to be. With him in the mix, it was a few under with a couple of hundred cars bunched up, just waiting for a chain reaction accident if say a deer decided to bolt across the road (not unusual in that area). Wish I'd had the nerve to tell him what I really thought. If he had not had a gun, I would have.

By the way, I haven't had a ticket in 25 years and I strongly support LE and LEOs (BIL is retired cop, good friend is a cop). Just telling you what happened to me in relation to OP. YMMV

 

[Bimmerbill]

I've seen those "rolling roadblocks" a few times, even on big highways. I once saw 3 cars with lights going riding side by side in 3 lanes and going the the speed limit.

Koolau, I would have asked the officer why he pulled me over. Is flashing your lights a crime?

 

[kumquat]

In our part of the country the speed limit tends to be a suggested minimum. Most drive 5 - 15 over. If I were driving under the limit I'd be afaid of being pulled over because they suspected me of drinking or [-]smoking[/-] toking.