For your safety

[Bigchillin83]

Need to put Chris Nakamoto on them… he makes stuff happen… I’m surprised he hasn’t been whacked yet… or committed suicide with a gun shot to the back like the Clinton files lol

 

[Danny Abear]

Need to put Chris Nakamoto on them… he makes stuff happen… I’m surprised he hasn’t been whacked yet… or committed suicide with a gun shot to the back like the Clinton files lol

The "Fat lady has not sung yet"...

 

[323MAR]

It's incredible that someone who failed college and is obviously retarded(can barely speak and has trouble forming sentences) can become a Mayor anywhere.
I wonder if he is actually a figurehead who is being exploited by a wealthy private citizen that will throw him under the bus if thier racket is shutdown.

 

[Roadhog]

This Louisiana Town Runs Largely on Traffic Fines. If You Fight Your Ticket, the Mayor Is Your Judge.

Fenton, population 226, brings in over $1 million per year through its mayor’s court, an unusual justice system in which the mayor can serve as judge even though he’s responsible for town finances.

www.propublica.org

Add these to the list.
Campti Louisiana , Clarence Louisiana

 

[Mitch Dufour]

It's incredible that someone who failed college and is obviously retarded(can barely speak and has trouble forming sentences) can become a Mayor ....

The really scary part? The people that live there obviously think he is the sharpest knife in the drawer!

 

[Kraut]

I use to write 25-30 every day

Depending on location/population, that may be fine where you are, but where I am, that would be overdoing it a bit.

 

[Kraut]

If you are driving 65 in a 55 and you get a ticket for driving 65 in a 55 and the fine is reasonable compared to other areas, is that extortion?

I think a baseline is needed to better manage expectations. I say that the "norm" for a traffic stop is a ticket. If during the stop the officer believes the stop itself is enough to deter the behavior, a warning may be justified. But an officer shouldn't pull everyone over expecting to always give a warning. If there's an offense someone feels should only result in a warning, then the offense isn't serious enough to be on the books and work should be done to repeal it.

The report stated the officer wrote an average of 16 tickets per day. That's 5840 tickets a year. The revenue from fines and forfeitures for the year in the listed report was $1,366,325. That comes out to be about $233.96 per ticket if you assume other fines and any forfeitures bring in $0. Is $234 per ticket reasonable? The Jefferson Davis Parish Website lists the fines and fees for the parish. Fenton is in that parish but I don't know if they use those amounts. The site lists the fine for driving 10 mph over the limit as $236.75. Another article indicated someone was given a $210 fine for 11 over in Fenton.

Now I don't believe any location should base their budget on uncertain income. If nobody sped and no tickets were written, how would the town meet its budget? It would need to find something else to write tickets for. I also don't know how much the speed limit fluctuated around the town and how much warning drivers get for speed zones. I just hesitate to instantly condemn numbers that are based on people's behavior when the numbers for that behavior isn't mentioned.

If you're speeding (a moving violation, which to me is more worthy of a ticket than an expired plate or no MVI), and you get a ticket, that's not the problem here, nor the amount per ticket. The problem is that it seems quite obvious that writing tickets in this town is the specific goal with the intention to maintain revenue, and there is a severe lack of impartiality in the process with the mayor's court. The ultimate goal of traffic enforcement is to gain voluntary compliance, and there will be times where a warning suffices, and times when a driver clearly indicates that they don't give a damn for the rules, but to go out with only the intent of scratching out fines as much as possible is ch!ckensh!t.

 

[thperez1972]

If you're speeding (a moving violation, which to me is more worthy of a ticket than an expired plate or no MVI), and you get a ticket, that's not the problem here, nor the amount per ticket. The problem is that it seems quite obvious that writing tickets in this town is the specific goal with the intention to maintain revenue, and there is a severe lack of impartiality in the process with the mayor's court. The ultimate goal of traffic enforcement is to gain voluntary compliance, and there will be times where a warning suffices, and times when a driver clearly indicates that they don't give a damn for the rules, but to go out with only the intent of scratching out fines as much as possible is ch!ckensh!t.

Let's say I'm out there for 8 hours writing tickets because we need the revenue but every ticket written is legitimate for a real violation. How is that different than being out there for the same amount of time writing the same number of legitimate tickets when the revenue is not needed?

 

[Kraut]

Let's say I'm out there for 8 hours writing tickets because we need the revenue but every ticket written is legitimate for a real violation. How is that different than being out there for the same amount of time writing the same number of legitimate tickets when the revenue is not needed?

You shouldn't even have a stop if the violation isn't legitimate, but it's not about it being a violation, it's about is the ticket the necessary corrective action, or will a warning suffice? Was it an understandable mistake, or apparent intentional disregard? First year driver or known traffic scofflaw with 18 staple holes in his license? A cop who foregoes using his/her judgement and writes every violation, in my opinion, needs to do some growing. A cop who writes every violation because the mayor says the town needs money, needs to not be a cop.

 

[Fugum]

The main issue is that the arbiter needs to be impartial. If the mayor's controlling the purse strings, that's a huge conflict of interest. If a ticket was written in error, do you think the mayor would ever rule in favor of the defendant and let that money walk away?

 

[drill sgt]

Thought that a state law that only a certain percentage of a city budget could be used to fund city services... No where near the amount reported in this posting which is much greater than allowed to keep....this is how certain cities became known as "speed traps" by almost everyone in the state...Even out of state travelers... If so that all of these tickets are legitimate and actual violations then any money amount above the legally allowed for the city to keep then any and all excess monies "MUST" be donated to nonprofit charities with paperwork to track any and all monies.....If the city cannot legally support its self without these illegally gained monies then maybe it needs to be legally disolved(shut down) and the services be taken over by the local parish government... Disolve the police department and pass those duties over to the parish sheriff dept...... Same goes to any other city department..... Live within you actual income.... Follow the law or suffer........

 

[thperez1972]

You shouldn't even have a stop if the violation isn't legitimate, but it's not about it being a violation, it's about is the ticket the necessary corrective action, or will a warning suffice?

Yeah...I said that already.

Was it an understandable mistake, or apparent intentional disregard? First year driver or known traffic scofflaw with 18 staple holes in his license? A cop who foregoes using his/her judgement and writes every violation, in my opinion, needs to do some growing. A cop who writes every violation because the mayor says the town needs money, needs to not be a cop.

Percentage of town revenues made up by fines (2018)
Fenton 94.9 percent
Georgetown 92.2 percent
Baskin 89.3 percent
Henderson 84.6 percent
Robeline 84.4 percent
Reeves 84.4 percent
Pioneer 84.4 percent
Tullos 80.3 percent
Forest Hill 75.5 percent
Creola 72.4 percent
McNary 71.1 percent
Clayton 69.5 percent
Pollock 67.49 percent
Merryville 67.47 percent
Gilbert 65.4 percent
Port Vincent 65.0 percent
Mangham 63.27 percent
Fisher 62.23 percent
Dodson 62.1 percent
Bonita 59.3 percent
Pine Prairie 56.1 percent
Tickfaw 52.4 percent
Woodworth 51.5 percent
Pearl River 50.6 percent
Florien 49.7 percent
Source: Annual audits of town finances by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor

 

[BlueShamu]

Some gubernment official must have gotten popped in Golden Meadow for them not to even be on that list. 20 years ago, they would have been on the top of that list! LOL. I’m sure many of us can attest to knowing about the Golden Meadow speed trap or heard stories about it. FTR…I never got ticketed down there…but, I knew to be doing less than the speed limit, too!

 

[Bolt Head]

Some gubernment official must have gotten popped in Golden Meadow for them not to even be on that list. 20 years ago, they would have been on the top of that list! LOL. I’m sure many of us can attest to knowing about the Golden Meadow speed trap or heard stories about it. FTR…I never got ticketed down there…but, I knew to be doing less than the speed limit, too!

Never speed in Lafourche Parish, but I was told by guys that were stopped minutes or hours before they told me about it, that they were stopped in Lafourche for running 1-3 MPH below the speed limit, on an empty road, told that they were an obstruction to traffic and that they had to pay on the spot or they were going to jail.

IF those multiple stories from multiple people were true, that's a sad state of affairs.

 

[BlueShamu]

Never speed in Lafourche Parish, but I was told by guys that were stopped minutes or hours before they told me about it, that they were stopped in Lafourche for running 1-3 MPH below the speed limit, on an empty road, told that they were an obstruction to traffic and that they had to pay on the spot or they were going to jail.

IF those multiple stories from multiple people were true, that's a sad state of affairs.

LOL…there was probably a delicate correlation between drivers staying within the law and law enforcement meeting their quotas.

 

[AustinBR]

Yeah...I said that already.



Percentage of town revenues made up by fines (2018)
Fenton 94.9 percent
Georgetown 92.2 percent
Baskin 89.3 percent
Henderson 84.6 percent
Robeline 84.4 percent
Reeves 84.4 percent
Pioneer 84.4 percent
Tullos 80.3 percent
Forest Hill 75.5 percent
Creola 72.4 percent
McNary 71.1 percent
Clayton 69.5 percent
Pollock 67.49 percent
Merryville 67.47 percent
Gilbert 65.4 percent
Port Vincent 65.0 percent
Mangham 63.27 percent
Fisher 62.23 percent
Dodson 62.1 percent
Bonita 59.3 percent
Pine Prairie 56.1 percent
Tickfaw 52.4 percent
Woodworth 51.5 percent
Pearl River 50.6 percent
Florien 49.7 percent
Source: Annual audits of town finances by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor

Does Louisiana have any independent agency that audits this?

These numbers seem absurdly high.

If cities are issuing this many tickets, maybe their speed limits are set too low. It'd also be interesting to pull bodycam/vehicle footage for some of these tickets and confirm that the tickets are actually honestly written.

 

[Jstudz220]

I use to write 25-30 every day

Is that why you got in trouble and instead of being fired transferred to a different department? I noticed you said used to so I’m just curious.

 

[Jstudz220]

Does Louisiana have any independent agency that audits this?

These numbers seem absurdly high.

If cities are issuing this many tickets, maybe their speed limits are set too low. It'd also be interesting to pull bodycam/vehicle footage for some of these tickets and confirm that the tickets are actually honestly written.

I got a camera ticket in New Orleans for doing 27 In a 25 just a couple months ago. I was pissed and wanted to fight it but kept getting the run around when I would call the Arizona company that issued me a speeding ticket for doing 2mph over . $75 for driving 2mph over the posted speed limit. Absolutely ridiculous imo.

Several and I mean several people I spoke to said they don’t pay camera tickets ever. I don’t know exactly how that works and didn’t want to risk anything over a $75 fine. Trust me though when I tell you I was tempted to toss the ticket In the trash.

 

[Jstudz220]

Ironically our fines went towards funding the public defenders office.

I don’t find anything ironic about that. The government funding the government essentially.

 

[thperez1972]

Is that why you got in trouble and instead of being fired transferred to a different department? I noticed you said used to so I’m just curious.

Perhaps his job performance was so good that the department promoted. Sergeants and above don't do as much patrol work.