Small towns in much of the country are dependent on punitive fines and fees
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Re: Small towns in much of the country are dependent on punitive fines and fees
#2There are a few small towns in Minnesota where you will see an officer posted up right where the highway turns from 65mph to 45mph through town. They will be there almost all day, without fail.
I don't think it's a coincidence that their cruisers are all brand new. It's obviously a source of income more than anything.
Re: Small towns in much of the country are dependent on punitive fines and fees
#3I grew up on the outer edge of the metro Atlanta area, and I remember a lot of people joking about this small mill town and how they made all their money off traffic tickets. Eventually, I'd here a ton of notes about these type of towns everywhere I lived.
Re: Small towns in much of the country are dependent on punitive fines and fees
#4There are a few small towns in Minnesota where you will see an officer posted up right where the highway turns from 65mph to 45mph through town. They will be there almost all day, without fail. I don't think it's a coincidence that their cruisers are all brand new. It's obviously a source of income more than anything.
Yes, but thanks to this report you can now prove it and see how prevalent this practice is.
Re: Small towns in much of the country are dependent on punitive fines and fees
#5In Georgia you can see the path I-75 and I-16 take through the southern half of the state.
16 is notorious for speed traps and other shadier stuff. Including road blocks on exit ramps with drug dogs waiting to sniff cars. They bait people into getting off at the exits by leaving fake signs about upcoming road blocks. When College kids were moving or getting out of school they’d be out in full force.
Sadly my Dad grew up in one of these towns. The fines were the only way to keep parts of the town alive.
Re: Small towns in much of the country are dependent on punitive fines and fees
#6Missouri lawmakers responded by lowering, to 20 percent, a cap on the proportion of general operating revenues that could come from minor traffic violations.
Previously the limit was 30% and before that it was 35%. That higher limit was imposed to deal with Macks Creek, MO, a village on a US highway in a valley between two steep hills. That village was coated in brake dust, until the legislature decided it doesn't really need police. I'm pleased at the progress we're making in this state.
Re: Small towns in much of the country are dependent on punitive fines and fees
#7Punitive fines and fees are bad. Abuse of civil forfeiture is worse. But worse still are a minority of towns that not only are dependent on punitive fines, but that levy them in a racially biased way.
See https://www.npr.org/2014/08/25/343143937/in-ferguson-court-f... for an explanation of how this helped ignite the racial tension that Ferguson had a few years ago.
Re: Small towns in much of the country are dependent on punitive fines and fees
#8Every time on the 395 between Bishop and Mammoth.
Re: Small towns in much of the country are dependent on punitive fines and fees
#9In Georgia you can see the path I-75 and I-16 take through the southern half of the state. 16 is notorious for speed traps and other shadier stuff. Including road blocks on exit ramps with drug dogs waiting to sniff cars. They bait people into getting off at the exits by leaving fake signs about upcoming road blocks. When College kids were moving or getting out of school they’d be out in full force. Sadly my Dad grew…
Why were the fines the only way to keep parts of the town alive?
Re: Small towns in much of the country are dependent on punitive fines and fees
#10If they are going to use minor violations of the law as a pretext for revenue collection, they should call it what it is: kleptocracy.
If those places are dying out, it's probably best to let them turn into ghost towns because they have succumbed to corruption as a way of life.