Life in a speed trap town - anger over excessive ticketing

[Liberal_in_LA]

Fire chief shot by cop in Ark. court over tickets

JERICHO, Ark. – It was just too much, having to return to court twice on the same day to contest yet another traffic ticket, and Fire Chief Don Payne didn't hesitate to tell the judge what he thought of the police and their speed traps.

The response from cops? They shot him. Right there in court.

Payne ended up in the hospital, but his shooting last week brought to a boil simmering tensions between residents of this tiny former cotton city and their police force. Drivers quickly learn to slow to a crawl along the gravel roads and the two-lane highway that run through Jericho, but they say sometimes that isn't enough to fend off the city ticketing machine.

"You can't even get them to answer a call because normally they're writing tickets," said Thomas Martin, chief investigator for the Crittenden County Sheriff's Department. "They're not providing a service to the citizens."

Now the police chief has disbanded his force "until things calm down," a judge has voided all outstanding police-issued citations and sheriff's deputies are asking where all the money from the tickets went. With 174 residents, the city can keep seven police officers on its rolls but missed payments on police and fire department vehicles and saw its last business close its doors a few weeks ago.

"You can't even buy a loaf of bread, but we've got seven police officers," said former resident Larry Harris, who left town because he said the police harassment became unbearable.

Sheriff's deputies patrolled Jericho until the 1990s, when the city received grant money to start its own police force, Martin said.

Police often camped out in the department's two cruisers along the highway that runs through town, waiting for drivers who failed to slow down when they reached the 45 mph zone ringing Jericho. Residents say the ticketing got out of hand.

"When I first moved out here, they wrote me a ticket for going 58 mph in my driveway," 75-year-old retiree Albert Beebe said.

The frequent ticketing apparently led to the vandalization of the cruisers, and the department took to parking the cars overnight at the sheriff's department eight miles away.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090903/ap_on_re_us/us_shot_in_court

[virgogal]

1. This entire fiasco would make a good sitcom.

[angstlessk]

4. I think they already have one...called Reno 9/11

this is like hillbilly haven..not heaven

[Auggie]

2. Basically just another form of taxation

[rucky]

9. More like racketeering. n/t

[Chemisse]

3. Holy crap! Only 174 residents and they are calling it a city?

That is waaaay too many cops. I wonder if they get a commission. Or heck, the money is missing? Maybe they get the whole fine!

Wonder what happened to the cop who shot him.

[Broken_Hero]

15. Good point, the city I'm currently in has a

population of borderline 500 people, we have 3 cops.

[hobbit709]

5. Hope that cop doesn't need the fire department.

[Bozita]

6. Guessing those cops really needed to carry their handguns when off duty.

[armyowalgreens]

7. A police department for a city of 180 people?

That's ridiculous.

[DJ13]

8. 58 in the driveway?!

:rofl:

[yellowcanine]

10. Maybe it is a looong driveway.

[tjwash]

11. Small town values at their best...

I grew up in a small little shit town like that. Everyone there was always just a couple of drinks away from ripping each others heads off. I blame Norman Rockwell. He BS'ed everyone into thinking that they are all sunshine, rosy-cheeked kids, and soda fountains.

:puke:

[jeffbr]

12. A cop for every family in town

[Doremus]

13. There are a couple of speed trap towns like that here.

I drive through one of them a few times a week. The highway goes from 50 to 25mph in like half a block so if you don't watch they grab you. It happened to me several years ago and the stupid Mayor's court was standing room only. I brought like $100 cash but it wasn't enough and they wanted me to call my husband who had just been injured at work and couldn't drive to bring the rest of the $$. :eyes: I flat out told them I wouldn't call him and they changed their minds and took my check.

These pissant little towns are a scourge and they should be outlawed.

[davepc]

14. How do things get to that point? Does no one have any civic responsibility

Or are the elections all rigged so that the perpetrators can maintain their theft?

[Broken_Hero]

16. Usually election

rigging, plus a touch of Good Ole Boy. In Noel, MO there was a crooked Sheriff, so crooked, he was in Court getting sued more than he was patrolling, and guess what, he was re-elected twice.