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Data journalism busts speeding cops, wins Pulitzer

articles.sun-sentinel.com

51–60 of 158 posts

Re: Data journalism busts speeding cops, wins Pulitzer

#51
post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Frustrating? Yes. Shocking? No. Did anyone really believe that taking a job as a police officer somehow suppressed these people's natural desire to drive fast? Hell, that's probably what make them join the force in the first place. Sure, it's irresponsible and illegal for off-duty officers to speed, but it's also irresponsible and illegal for regular citizens to speed, and yet that doesn't seem to stop them from doin…

I think the issue here is that off-duty police officers speed aggressively with the knowledge that, if caught, they will be almost certainly let off the hook due to their job. That makes the situation completely different than people with any other "just a job" job.

Or analogous to any other abuse of position.

Re: Data journalism busts speeding cops, wins Pulitzer

#52
post #12

John Allen Paulos has been pushing using toll data for speeding citations for decades, most recently here: http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/WhosCounting/t/story?id=979...

There are a number of problems with doing things like this.

The first is that significant speed differentials are extremely dangerous. Uncalibrated speedometers are very common and very inaccurate. Anything that causes guaranteed enforcement is going to reduce safety because people will start religiously following their speedometer instead of the normal flow of traffic, so now you have people driving all different speeds than one another based on how badly and in which direction their speedometer is miscalibrated. On top of that you have a situation where anyone who has made a stop for coffee or gas is exempt from the timer because of the stop, so you put a number of people driving 15MPH over the limit (because they stopped and aren't subject to the timer) on the same road as people driving 15MPH under the limit (because they haven't stopped and their speedometer is inaccurate) and you're going to see more collisions.

Then there is the pragmatic problem. Speeding tickets are big money because the law is enforced sporadically under unpredictable conditions. To generate revenue, enforcement has to be rare enough that it doesn't induce compliance. And the proposed scheme is entirely deterministic. Everyone who doesn't make a stop will discontinue their speeding between toll booths -- which is ostensibly the intended result, except that it means the scheme will generate no money and will deprive the government of existing ticket revenue that would have been generated on that stretch of road. Meanwhile it reduces the need for police presence, which means you'll have to fight the law enforcement unions to boot. It's not at all surprising that there has been little interest in implementing it.

Re: Data journalism busts speeding cops, wins Pulitzer

#53
post #6

Wow, an officer was FIRED for speeding. That should be the headline right there. I was beginning to think it was impossible for a cop to get themselves fired.

One was. Out of 800 found. That should also be a headline.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/14/fausto-lopez-speedi...

Re: Data journalism busts speeding cops, wins Pulitzer

#54
post #40

"The database was so innovative that two law enforcement agencies sent investigators to the newsroom to learn how to replicate it." Expect your ticket in the mail, while legislation is passed that prevents cops from being held accountable.

I'm curious as to the technical details. I can't imagine why investigators couldn't get access to the raw Sun Pass database, which records tag id, toll booth, and a timestamp, if it works anything like my EZ-Pass system. From that, it's trivial to match up enter/exit records and divide the distance by the time to come up with an average speed. The article says they got the data from 12 police departments. I wonder what kind of records they obtained.

Re: Data journalism busts speeding cops, wins Pulitzer

#55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OK, I guess "as of late" means "since the Internet."

If anything, I bet it has gotten better since the Internet. Pre-Internet, it would take a local news agency to ferret out problems. Now, problems can be reported by anyone and viewed by many.

Which allows people to read about it more often, making them think the problem is worse now.

Re: Data journalism busts speeding cops, wins Pulitzer

#56
post #12

John Allen Paulos has been pushing using toll data for speeding citations for decades, most recently here: http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/WhosCounting/t/story?id=979...

There are a number of problems with doing things like this. The first is that significant speed differentials are extremely dangerous. Uncalibrated speedometers are very common and very inaccurate. Anything that causes guaranteed enforcement is going to reduce safety because people will start religiously following their speedometer instead of the normal flow of traffic, so now you have people driving all different sp…

Although I'm sure it will be implemented sooner rather than later for the purpose of surveillance and intelligence.

Re: Data journalism busts speeding cops, wins Pulitzer

#57
post #8

Wow, an officer was FIRED for speeding. That should be the headline right there. I was beginning to think it was impossible for a cop to get themselves fired.

Local journalists got the cops fired. How the hell such a thing exists, I'm not sure.. Probably teens or funded by a local community college.

Or Pulitzer winners. One of the three for sure!

Re: Data journalism busts speeding cops, wins Pulitzer

#58
post #10

>The reporters found nearly 800 officers who reached speeds of 90-130 mph, many of them while off duty. The accidents caused by officers driving at high speeds had caused at least 320 crashes since 2004, killing or maiming 21 people. That's such a horrifying statistic if true. Even at their peak, homicide offending rates in the US were at around 20 per 100,000; assault rates about 10 times as high: http://bjs.gov/con…

Frustrating? Yes. Shocking? No. Did anyone really believe that taking a job as a police officer somehow suppressed these people's natural desire to drive fast? Hell, that's probably what make them join the force in the first place. Sure, it's irresponsible and illegal for off-duty officers to speed, but it's also irresponsible and illegal for regular citizens to speed, and yet that doesn't seem to stop them from doin…

I would have thought dealing with the consequences of speeding in their jobs (notifying families of the death of loved ones, seeing the terrible injuries caused) would have stopped them. I know a few people who work in that area and that stuff stays with them. For example - they've assured me I should never buy a motor bike.

Re: Data journalism busts speeding cops, wins Pulitzer

#59
post #10

>The reporters found nearly 800 officers who reached speeds of 90-130 mph, many of them while off duty. The accidents caused by officers driving at high speeds had caused at least 320 crashes since 2004, killing or maiming 21 people. That's such a horrifying statistic if true. Even at their peak, homicide offending rates in the US were at around 20 per 100,000; assault rates about 10 times as high: http://bjs.gov/con…

> we should be more worried about car accidents than terrorism.

And we should be more worried about the "watchers" than the "watched".

Re: Data journalism busts speeding cops, wins Pulitzer

#60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Frustrating? Yes. Shocking? No. Did anyone really believe that taking a job as a police officer somehow suppressed these people's natural desire to drive fast? Hell, that's probably what make them join the force in the first place. Sure, it's irresponsible and illegal for off-duty officers to speed, but it's also irresponsible and illegal for regular citizens to speed, and yet that doesn't seem to stop them from doin…

Well then, let them stop pretending that they're looking out for our safety when they put up a speed trap. If you want to talk about having more reasonable road markings, speed limits, and fines for speeding that's great. It's a conversation that we need to have. But to have a bunch of guys driving around like jerks, on and off duty, extracting a tax from the working stiffs is an insult, and nobody should be surprise…

> And, machines tend to have no discretion.

This a feature, that protects and racism and classism.

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