Wednesday, September 09, 2009
Clarion Ledger Article on MS Highway Patrol Tickets
http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20090908/NEWS/90908009/-1/frontpage/Miss.-troopers-hand-out-9-755-tickets-over-holiday
I'll leave it up to the reader to choose to read the article or not. Believe me, I am 100% for getting drunk drivers off the road and making the highways safer places to travel, but are the Law Enforcement agencies doing all these things for the right reasons? The recent problems in the economy sparked up a question in my mind that I wanted to get some other opinions on. It seems to me that no matter what, if you get pulled over, most troopers are going to find a reason to write you a ticket. How much money is going into our government from traffic violations, etc.? Could the reason for all the "crackdowns" be that our state needs money, because I believe we can all agree that at the moment, money is something that Mississippi, nor our nation, has very much of. Just wanted to get some opinions on this.
Thanks,
Patrick Chaney
Miss. troopers hand out 9,755 tickets over holiday
I'll leave it up to the reader to choose to read the article or not. Believe me, I am 100% for getting drunk drivers off the road and making the highways safer places to travel, but are the Law Enforcement agencies doing all these things for the right reasons? The recent problems in the economy sparked up a question in my mind that I wanted to get some other opinions on. It seems to me that no matter what, if you get pulled over, most troopers are going to find a reason to write you a ticket. How much money is going into our government from traffic violations, etc.? Could the reason for all the "crackdowns" be that our state needs money, because I believe we can all agree that at the moment, money is something that Mississippi, nor our nation, has very much of. Just wanted to get some opinions on this.
Thanks,
Patrick Chaney
# posted by Patrick Chaney @ 1:22 PM 
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I agree with you on this topic. I believe the police are pulling over too many people and handing out tickets in which they dont deserve. For example, one of my friends was pulled over for taking a bunch of his friends that were drinking that night home from the bar. The policemen than gave him a ticket for not putting on his seatbelt and my friend explained to me he just woke up and just forgot to do this. Wasnt my friend doing the right thing by not harming the streets and allowing the other people to drive. I no my state is hurting finacally right now, but I know they arent pulling people over like this. Mississippi policemen need to be looked at and should stop immediately.
My opinion is that they should have more roadblocks on non-holiday weekends and weekdays. The more random the roadblock, the better their chances of curbing drunk driving. It just makes sense. If you "never" know when a roadblock is, then you would be chancing it just as often.
I have also wondered that. I was once pulled over and ticketed for going three miles over the speed limit. While, yes, three miles over is indeed over the speed limit, I think some leeway should have been made. I have an issue with officers simply sitting around waiting for someone and finding a reason to ticket. I understand road blocks, and I understand being on patrol, but I don't understand the point of hiding in some bushes to wait for people to go 48 in a 45.
But then again, I also think that since I had to pay money for those three miles per hour, that all of the state troupers I see driving excess of 90 miles per hour on the interstate for no reason should be ticketed. Just because the car has the blinking lights (that could cause a seizure) and the driver has a badge shouldn't mean more rights.
But then again, I also think that since I had to pay money for those three miles per hour, that all of the state troupers I see driving excess of 90 miles per hour on the interstate for no reason should be ticketed. Just because the car has the blinking lights (that could cause a seizure) and the driver has a badge shouldn't mean more rights.
Protection and harassment are two different things, and it seems that the state troops, particularly in our area, are overzealous about their responsibilities. Most people that I know have a story pertaining to how they were mistreated by a power hungry policeman. i don't know if our State law enforcement is intentionally writing as many tickets as possible, but that would certainly be a disgusting thought. Even a minor speeding ticket for many families could mean less groceries on their table for an entire month.
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