Why do police officers get so many traffic tickets?

Unfortunately, the response is a common one: it all comes down to money. Plenty of police departments around the United States are facing higher expenses and smaller budgets, and have come to see traffic tickets as a way to increase revenue. Need more money to buy equipment or give raises or pay pensions? Write more tickets and collect more fines.

How much do local governments receive from traffic tickets?

For the vast majority of local governments, fines aren’t a significant funding source, amounting to less than 5 percent of general revenues. Some states don’t allow their cities and counties to retain much money from traffic tickets. The North Carolina Constitution, for instance, requires that fine revenues be appropriated for public schools.

How do you solve a problem like traffic ticketing?

Write more tickets and collect more fines. It actually seems like a pretty simple solution, at least on the surface, but as we have already established, it’s problematic. Traffic ticket fines are supposed to be a deterrent and a punishment, not a way to balance the budget.

Are fines and fees a good way to generate revenue?

The fact is that fines and fees are a volatile revenue source, and the towns that rely the most on them face an increasingly uncertain fiscal future. A group of residents in Doraville, Ga., filed a lawsuit claiming the city was using excessive fines and traffic tickets to generate revenue.

What are traffic ticket quotas and how do they work?

Traffic ticket quotas — a practice in which police officers are either pressured or strictly required to issue a certain number of traffic tickets in a certain time frame — were once kept under wraps but are now pretty much out in the open. Some police departments deny that they have ever engaged in the practice, while others staunchly defend it.

How many tickets does a traffic unit issue a day?

Most Traffic units issue over 15 tickets a day. 25 tickets a day is pretty common. They sometimes will try to see how many they can issue, just for the Hell of it. If you have the misfortune of getting stopped by a traffic unit, you are probably getting a ticket, because that’s what they are supposed to be doing.

How many traffic tickets does tratraffic issue a day?

Traffic units handle traffic related calls and issue tickets. Most Traffic units issue over 15 tickets a day. 25 tickets a day is pretty common. They sometimes will try to see how many they can issue, just for the Hell of it.

What happened to traffic tickets in Dallas?

Between fiscal 2007 and fiscal 2013, the number of traffic tickets issued in Dallas dropped from 495,000 to under 212,000. That’s a massive cut. Brown (the police chief) reassigned traffic patrols to beats he felt were more conducive to public safety.

Why do they keep buying more and more tickets?

They need the money they collect from all those tickets, and the more money they get accustomed to racking up, the more they’ll need in the future, so this practice is unlikely to change anytime soon. And how lucrative is it, anyway?

What happens if you get pulled over for driving over the speed limit?

If the only thing you’re doing wrong is driving a few miles per hour over the speed limit, says Harold Hilliard, retired Plano, Texas police officer, you’ll probably be fine. However, if you do get pulled over, all it takes is going one mile per hour faster than the posted speed limit to get a ticket, says insurance advisor, Bradley Hamburger.

How fast can you drive without getting caught by the police?

(Distracted driving is number one, drunk driving comes in third.) That said, as a general matter you can probably drive a few miles per hour above the speed limit without attracting the attention of police officers, according to every police officer we spoke to—including retired Police Captain Michael Palardy (Millburn, NJ).

Is it ever OK to go over the speed limit?

Yes, you should never exceed the speed limit: But definitely don’t do it the fourth week of the month, says Hamburger. Many jurisdictions have monthly quotas, he explains, and in that last week of the month, they’ll suddenly realize they need to “catch up” on ticketing to meet quotas.