Lawmakers tackle speed traps, speeding tickets

[d_legendary1]

For at least two decades, drivers found out the hard way where Waldo is.

Nestled along U.S. 301, the small North Florida city of Waldo became famous as a speed trap — so much that the AAA auto club warned motorists about the potentially expensive perils of failing to tap the brakes while passing through.

The Waldo police department disbanded last year, at least in part because officers disclosed they had been placed under a ticket quota. Now, lawmakers are speeding toward ensuring other cities or counties don’t dictate how many tickets officers should write....

...Also, the bill would require individual local governments to submit reports to the Legislature if traffic-ticket revenues cover more than 33 percent of the costs of operating their police departments.


http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article12615362.html

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For us Floridians this is very good news since there is a speed trap almost everywhere you go.

[ChiciB1]

1. Well, A Bit Of Good News & Surprising At That!

Given that we're a state that pretty much lives off of tourism & influx of "snowbirds" I happen to know of several spots myself. So they come down and I alert them to the "Traps" as they are called. Even Sarasota County, considered one of the more affluent here in Florida. And as I always do, I add my caveat that I AM NOT included in the income wealth!

While we do have pluses of living in my area, beaches, access to I-75 and shopping close by the costs keep rising to live here. But like Ferguson who rely on tickets and other means to bring in revenues, we have the same thing here in this state.

Thanks for posting.

[d_legendary1]

2. Never thought of Sarasota as a haven for speed traps

Most of the time I went up there for deliveries I barely saw cops pointing radar at cars. Usually they stopped people based on expired tags or improper turns though the last time I set foot there was two years ago. Maybe times have changed? I know that here in Sunny Isles the local police have nothing better to do than to write citations. Got one last month for an expired tag. In Miami where I work its much worse though its mostly due to the county cops than the city patrolmen. I never considered living over there since its too quiet for me (kinda feels like Naples).

But nonetheless glad to see that this kind of revenue stream might be damned up.

[ChiciB1]

3. Yes, Supposed It Has Changed

When I was involved with the "small" Occupy Movement we had some very strange things happen. One of us even got arrested for writing with chalk in "the" downtown park, which they removed the benches from. To keep the riff-raff away. The park was built around the large library, but then they decided to build some expensive condos around it. The residents howled because they didn't think they should be subjected to "the others" since they felt it was too distasteful and demeaning to del with.

When we had our meetings there, a captain from SPD actually came out and talked to us and freely admitted that he was aware that the department DID have a bad reputation. Wanted us to know the "rules" but he was willing to allow us to meet there. But every time we met, there were cops visible in squad cars ready to jump at the smallest infraction THEY thought we had committed. Kids routinely came there to play and use chalk on the walkway for whatever artistic expression they wanted.

BUT not so with us because we were mucking things up with stuff like Peace Signs and run of the mill slogans. Our group started out with around 100 and dwindled to around 10 by the time I gave up.

But yes, there are SPEED TRAPS. I live on the west side of 41 with very close access to I-75 and the road from my house (681) or exit 200 has a few small hills and is well known for catching people speeding. Either coming off I-75 or going to I-75, but there are many more. This is just one that I know of personally because it's so close.

I don't think I could live IN Sarasota, I live further south in a small little community outside of Sarasota coming from the north and outside of Venice coming from the south. But you are correct, between the Sarasota, Naples and Ft. Myers area I think they are the 3 that have the highest per capita income in the state. I suppose barring Boca Grande, which of course is where Poppy Bush has a home and you do pay several $$ to get across the bridge to the area. And as I always add, we are very poor by their standards, can't even come close in any way.

[d_legendary1]

4. Sounds about the same thing that's happening in Downtown Miami

Some big time construction companies are building high rises around down town and they are destroying old buildings that were apart of Miami's history. Its even getting quite pricy to live in the surrounding areas since they are also building apartments/condos which is driving the price of real estate through the roof. At some point my parents are going to have to move since their rent has been going up steadily for the past two years. The city has been improving the roads near these expensive tower villas, but the places where people go to and from are still suffering from pot holes and our public transportation is a joke. Nothing screams paradise like Miami's commons in shambles.

I remember handing out provisions to the Occupy Protesters when they set up shop around government center since I thouhght their protest was legit (and it was). Two days later they were evicted from the site. The Miami Times was the only newspaper outlet that was reporting on the protesters and the city's efforts to clear them out. The local media here did not mention a peep except for the NBC affiliate. It was like they came and went. The city mayors at the time did not want protesters in government property (go figure that one out). The occupy movement has gotten the same treatment everywhere in the nation, which is not surprising people started giving up on the movement due to arrests for disturbing the peace.

What drives me nuts is that the Cubans here can have any type of protest (remember Elian?) they want and have little altercations with the cops. At one point they formed a protest in downtown miami during rush hour and managed to effectively stop traffic. I saw a couple of them get run over by angry motorist who refused to get held up by their antics, but overall only a few people went to jail unlike the occupy protesters. I don't condone running over anyone but you can just feel the aggravation of protesters stopping traffic in all parts of Miami.

We're not rich by any stretch of the imagination despite us living in Sunny Isles. The wife makes a good living and said that she has to live here though I have other reservations. I got a glock and a big dog (yeah I'm an armed liberal) but I don't believe Obama is coming after my gun. As I said before I'm not taking this lying down. I'm gonna do what I can to get some people to think for their own best interest instead of listening to catchy one liners (got a coworker who is convinced Muslims train their kids to be terrorist). Its tough but if I can get at least one person to think for themselves then my efforts were not wasted. Long live Democracy!