Traffic ticket issue

[dgies9156]

You have to define what you want from your police officers. In my suburb in Chicago as well as in most suburban communities, the police officers are municipal revenue officers and security guards. They take their lead from what Village Boards and City Councils want them to do.

As a youngster, when I lived in Nashville, there was a town south of the city, Smyrna, that was a notorious speed trap. Cops worked U.S. 41 (before Interstate 24) like it was a community piggy bank. I doubt Smyrna residents ever paid a property tax until Mayor Sam Ridley (aka, Ridley Chevrolet) went to prison for malfeasance in office. It's what Smyrna wanted and, for the rest of us, building Interstate 24 was a God-send!

Municipal Revenue Officers often make lousy police officers when serious crime hits. The Browns Chicken Massacre in Palatine illustrates that very well. Fortunately, the crime lab kept DNA samples, which made it possible to solve. But, geez, the jurisdictional messes there!

When I was at MU, there was a old-timey cop at Sixth and Wisconsin whose job was to yell at jaywalkers, most of whom were Marquette students. God forbid that he faced anything more serious than some long-haired hippie type pinko freak crossing 6th Street against the light! And I won't even do anything more than bring up the chief goon, Harold Brier.

Bottom line is there are many honorable, caring police officers. My son is planning to go into law enforcement next year after he finishes his BA at Christmas. He'll be a great cop. But for every great cop, there's a small fraction of the force who are jerks and let their power go to their heads.

[4everwarriors]

Didant no der wuz a Christmas University. Wear iz dat located, hey?

[warriorchick]

I would say if there are ticket quotas then the quota should be eliminated.

I had a co-worker that was a former suburban cop.  He got reprimanded for not meeting DUI ticket quota.  When he told his supervisor that he simply didn't see many people who appeared to be driving impaired, he was told he should hang out near the one bar in town and pull over people as they drove out of the parking lot.

He quit soon afterwards.

[jficke13]

You have to define what you want from your police officers. In my suburb in Chicago as well as in most suburban communities, the police officers are municipal revenue officers and security guards. They take their lead from what Village Boards and City Councils want them to do.

As a youngster, when I lived in Nashville, there was a town south of the city, Smyrna, that was a notorious speed trap. Cops worked U.S. 41 (before Interstate 24) like it was a community piggy bank. I doubt Smyrna residents ever paid a property tax until Mayor Sam Ridley (aka, Ridley Chevrolet) went to prison for malfeasance in office. It's what Smyrna wanted and, for the rest of us, building Interstate 24 was a God-send!

Municipal Revenue Officers often make lousy police officers when serious crime hits. The Browns Chicken Massacre in Palatine illustrates that very well. Fortunately, the crime lab kept DNA samples, which made it possible to solve. But, geez, the jurisdictional messes there!

When I was at MU, there was a old-timey cop at Sixth and Wisconsin whose job was to yell at jaywalkers, most of whom were Marquette students. God forbid that he faced anything more serious than some long-haired hippie type pinko freak crossing 6th Street against the light! And I won't even do anything more than bring up the chief goon, Harold Brier.

Bottom line is there are many honorable, caring police officers. My son is planning to go into law enforcement next year after he finishes his BA at Christmas. He'll be a great cop. But for every great cop, there's a small fraction of the force who are jerks and let their power go to their heads.

Then those officers' positions should be eliminated. They are adding nothing to the public good by any definition, and probably subtracting from it. By the sounds of it, those municipalities could be served by turning their policing duties over to the county sheriff's department.

[dgies9156]

I had a co-worker that was a former suburban cop.  He got reprimanded for not meeting DUI ticket quota.  When he told his supervisor that he simply didn't see many people who appeared to be driving impaired, he was told he should hang out near the one bar in town and pull over people as they drove out of the parking lot.

He quit soon afterwards.

I had an idiot officer in Libertyville pull me over one night under similar circumstances. My wife, daughter and the daughter's boyfriend were all in the car and we were driving to the train station to get the car we had parked there. When the officer pulled me over and approached my car, I asked "what is this about?" He was a 21-year-old fresh out of the academy d-bag and said, "you'll know in time..."

He shined a light in my eyes, sniffed the car and collected my license and insurance card. He then did a wants and warrants and saw I was clean. So he came over to me and I challenged the d-bag's probable cause to stop me. The d-bag said he saw me cross a solid white line while turning right and therefore thought I might be driving while impaired. I challenged the d-bag to show me where the line was (it was winter and the line was washed out of the pavement because of salt on the road) and demonstrate how I violated the law. I challenged him to demonstrate what happened and he handed me my license and said, "you appear coherent and therefore, I'm going to let you go." He saw no evidence of alcohol, I spoke in complete sentences and there was no scent of alcohol in the car.

The guy was a complete a-hole. Violated rights left and right. I was prepared to go to the chief, but my good friend and attorney said, "let it go... you can't win and you may have that cop for an enemy." I took his advice.

My son was picked up by the same force for going 55 in a 35 zone right around the corner from our house. Given what he was driving (a Buick Enclave) and the distance from where he turned right until where he was clocked (about 150 feet), there is no physical way my son could have reached 55 even if he was driving a Maserati. The officer openly lied and both he and my son knew it. But the system is so rigged that we had no chance in court. I knew the judge so we got my son probation but had to pay $450 in court costs.

As big a d-bag as these guys were, nothing matched the complete douchiness of the Illinois State Police. Calling those guys a-holes is a complete and total insult to a-holes everywhere!

[Galway Eagle]

Illinois st police tricked me into a roadside guilty plea when I was 18 for speeding in a construction zone coming back from Beloit, I had started picking up speed after the construction was clearly done but there were some cones from earlier work. He said "look I don't want to take your license from you, you need that. So just sign right here, it basically says I stopped you so you can get your license back" of course I signed as it was my first traffic stop ever. This eventually led to my license being suspended. Those guys are a$$es

[ZiggysFryBoy]

Illinois st police tricked me into a roadside guilty plea when I was 18 for speeding in a construction zone coming back from Beloit, I had started picking up speed after the construction was clearly done but there were some cones from earlier work. He said "look I don't want to take your license from you, you need that. So just sign right here, it basically says I stopped you so you can get your license back" of course I signed as it was my first traffic stop ever. This eventually led to my license being suspended. Those guys are a$$es

The good old days of WI taking licenses from Illinois kids.  Ha!

[Galway Eagle]

The good old days of WI taking licenses from Illinois kids.  Ha!

Sorry for not specifying, I was 18 coming from Beloit to Chicago so it was IL state police, to take the Amtrak up to MU as I was not allowed to have a car my first two years and my GF at the time went to Beloit (weirdest and lamest college I've ever been to)

[Buzzed]

Then those officers' positions should be eliminated. They are adding nothing to the public good by any definition, and probably subtracting from it. By the sounds of it, those municipalities could be served by turning their policing duties over to the county sheriff's department.

It all stems from small town residents that want a police force.  To have full time police coverage is expensive, especially when you they only have a few thousand residents.  So the elected officials have to decide whether to raise taxes high enough as is to cover it, or offset some of it by using the cops time to generate revenue.  Typically they choose the latter because it shows cops are working and they can generate revenue from outside the community.  Now where it gets really fun is when the municipality earns the reputation of strict law enforcement.  We already heard one Scooper that avoids Sussex because the cops are known to be ticket happy.  Sussex cops will claim that crime is low because criminals know to stay out of the community, but it is self-reinforcing. Who's to say that crime is just low in general.  It is a chicken and the egg debate.  I agree with you, most of these municipalities would be just as safe being served by the county sheriff, but the residents want a police force.  A few fire departments, Northshore in WI and Lincolnshire-Riverwoods-Bannockburn in IL have moved away from this model, but people like having their own police.

On another note, I am always impressed with IL cops generating revenue.  I still find it funny that a number of suburbs have a whole division and special vehicles for truck enforcement.  They are never idle, always have someone pulled over.  Also, can't believe how they can run seat belt checkpoints during rush hour and DUI checkpoints.  I don't know how people stand for that, but I tip my hat as it is truly impressive.

[jficke13]

It all stems from small town residents that want a police force.  To have full time police coverage is expensive, especially when you they only have a few thousand residents.  So the elected officials have to decide whether to raise taxes high enough as is to cover it, or offset some of it by using the cops time to generate revenue.  Typically they choose the latter because it shows cops are working and they can generate revenue from outside the community.  Now where it gets really fun is when the municipality earns the reputation of strict law enforcement.  We already heard one Scooper that avoids Sussex because the cops are known to be ticket happy.  Sussex cops will claim that crime is low because criminals know to stay out of the community, but it is self-reinforcing. Who's to say that crime is just low in general.  It is a chicken and the egg debate.  I agree with you, most of these municipalities would be just as safe being served by the county sheriff, but the residents want a police force.  A few fire departments, Northshore in WI and Lincolnshire-Riverwoods-Bannockburn in IL have moved away from this model, but people like having their own police.

On another note, I am always impressed with IL cops generating revenue.  I still find it funny that a number of suburbs have a whole division and special vehicles for truck enforcement.  They are never idle, always have someone pulled over.  Also, can't believe how they can run seat belt checkpoints during rush hour and DUI checkpoints.  I don't know how people stand for that, but I tip my hat as it is truly impressive.

The whims of a citizenry should not be sufficient to create unsustainable positions, especially unsustainable positions that are reliant on grinding other citizens beneath their jackboots for their very existence.

Clearly the citizens of the Sussexs of the world are able to create police forces that exist only to exploit people unfortunate enough to wander, but none of that justifies the practice. Those police forces, obviously, have the right exist, but none of them should.

[Hards Alumni]

It all stems from small town residents that want a police force.  To have full time police coverage is expensive, especially when you they only have a few thousand residents.  So the elected officials have to decide whether to raise taxes high enough as is to cover it, or offset some of it by using the cops time to generate revenue.  Typically they choose the latter because it shows cops are working and they can generate revenue from outside the community.  Now where it gets really fun is when the municipality earns the reputation of strict law enforcement.  We already heard one Scooper that avoids Sussex because the cops are known to be ticket happy.  Sussex cops will claim that crime is low because criminals know to stay out of the community, but it is self-reinforcing. Who's to say that crime is just low in general.  It is a chicken and the egg debate.  I agree with you, most of these municipalities would be just as safe being served by the county sheriff, but the residents want a police force.  A few fire departments, Northshore in WI and Lincolnshire-Riverwoods-Bannockburn in IL have moved away from this model, but people like having their own police.

On another note, I am always impressed with IL cops generating revenue.  I still find it funny that a number of suburbs have a whole division and special vehicles for truck enforcement.  They are never idle, always have someone pulled over.  Also, can't believe how they can run seat belt checkpoints during rush hour and DUI checkpoints.  I don't know how people stand for that, but I tip my hat as it is truly impressive.

So, what's your badge number, officer?

[MU82]

I had a co-worker that was a former suburban cop.  He got reprimanded for not meeting DUI ticket quota.  When he told his supervisor that he simply didn't see many people who appeared to be driving impaired, he was told he should hang out near the one bar in town and pull over people as they drove out of the parking lot.

He quit soon afterwards.

I respect the hell out of that officer, and the supervisors who pushed him should be fired.

I have a friend who quit drinking in the mid-90s. He went to Phoenix several years later and was pulled over by a cop. He didn't think he had done anything wrong. The cop asked for license and registration and went back to his car. After checking out my friend and apparently finding nothing, the cop asked my friend if he had been drinking. My friend asked, "No sir, I have not had a drink since xxxxx (rattling off the exact date he had stopped)." The cop asked if he would be willing to take a sobriety test. My friend said OK and was asked to walk a straight line, touch his nose and blow into a tube. After all of this, the cop finally said, "OK, you are cleared, and free to go." My friend said, "I told you I haven't had a drink since (repeating the date). I'm curious - did I do something wrong that would have suggested that I needed to be tested like that?" And the cop said, "No, we are just doing random DUI checks, and you just happened to be the xxxxth car. It was your turn. You're lucky you're sober. Have a nice day."

My friend called me that night to tell me what had happened. During our conversation, he said: "There might have been 10 drunk drivers who were driving erratically but they got away with it because while they were swerving all over the road, that cop spent nearly an hour hassling a sober driver."

As in your example, I don't really blame the cop there. Obviously, the decision to do those checks came from over his head.

[#UnleashSean]

An update to my truck.

Truck was stolen from the repair shop sometime this weekend. They used to to steal atms. Police now have custody of truck but refuse to hand it over for several weeks to months. Won't tell me the extent of the damage.


2020 has been great!

[Hards Alumni]

An update to my truck.

Truck was stolen from the repair shop sometime this weekend. They used to to steal atms. Police now have custody of truck but refuse to hand it over for several weeks to months. Won't tell me the extent of the damage.


2020 has been great!

Wow, dude.  That is nuts.

[warriorchick]

An update to my truck.

Truck was stolen from the repair shop sometime this weekend. They used to to steal atms. Police now have custody of truck but refuse to hand it over for several weeks to months. Won't tell me the extent of the damage.


2020 has been great!

If they haven't offered already, the repair shop's insurance should be covering this - including a rental until you get your vehicle back.

[Jockey]

An update to my truck.

Truck was stolen from the repair shop sometime this weekend. They used to to steal atms. Police now have custody of truck but refuse to hand it over for several weeks to months. Won't tell me the extent of the damage.


2020 has been great!

You’re being too nice to the police. Hire a lawyer.

[TallTitan34]

I used to take the train from Harvard into Chicago every day for work.  In Harvard you pay for a spot in the parking lot which is good until midnight.  One day we had to work an unexpected all-nighter so I called Harvard PD to explain my situation and inform them I would not be back by midnight but could stop by the police department the next day to pay for my parking space or give them my credit card over the phone.  They had none of it and informed me I would be getting a ticket. 

I essentially called a ticket in on myself for attempting to do the right thing.

[MU82]

An update to my truck.

Truck was stolen from the repair shop sometime this weekend. They used to to steal atms. Police now have custody of truck but refuse to hand it over for several weeks to months. Won't tell me the extent of the damage.


2020 has been great!

Effen 2020.

Hang in there!

[#UnleashSean]

You’re being too nice to the police. Hire a lawyer.

Another update:

Picking up the truck today. After a lawyer call (pro Bono) a detective called me about 10 minutes later and told me they moved the case to the front and were dusting for prints.

Quite a bit of damage done. Called my insurance and will let them handle with the repair shop.

[Jockey]

Another update:

Picking up the truck today. After a lawyer call (pro Bono) a detective called me about 10 minutes later and told me they moved the case to the front and were dusting for prints.

Quite a bit of damage done. Called my insurance and will let them handle with the repair shop.

That's why I said to call a lawyer. These things are simply cops thinking they are the final authority. Power plays.

[JWags85]

Now that this has veered away from help on the initial situation, it reminds me of the steep learning curve I had living with a car in Chicago for a decade, and only the last 3-4 years I had a garage spot.

My first year there, I parked a few streets from my apartment in Lincoln Park.  Besides the street cleaning tickets which were an annoying idiot tax on me learning the cadence, I once got a ticket for no front plates...while parked on a street.  I didn't have the front plates...because when I registered my car in Illinois, the state only sent me 1.  I corresponded with them, got an additional plate sent, but the ticket wouldn't be overturned because the judge told me..."you should not have placed a single plate on your vehicle, regardless of how many you received"...umm what?  Better yet, my friend's GF still had Ohio plates, and just a rear license plate to boot.  She was parked on the same street but didnt get a ticket cause she had out of state plates.

Then, once I had plates, the renewal fun began.  In the 5 years I renewed my plates before moving to a garage, despite never being late, I received my sticker before the end of the grace period...once.  Not before the Aug 31 end of period, but the end of September month grace period.  So naturally I had to fight countless expired sticker tickets.  Fortunately, those were very easy and required just a proof of purchase mail in.  But my favorite was getting 2 of them while my car was parked at ORD for a few days on a trip (im convinced ORD is City of Chicago property solely to extract ticket revenue from parked cars in the lots).  A close second would be parking my car on a Friday night, returning Sunday morning and finding 6 tickets. 3 for no renewal sticker, and 3 for the outdated city sticker which also never came.  Im pretty sure the parking officer sprinted to my car at the start of each shift to punch it in.

But the best lesson I ever got was NEVER pay a written ticket before receiving it in the mail.  I moved into a townhouse with some buddies in Old Town right near Declans/Plum Market.  We had 3 cars between us so we cycled between garage use.  I parked at night and didnt realize my bumper was about 6 inches past the curb of a driveway.  This driveway was always blocked and actually had a gate with tons of debris/bins on both sides of it.  For whatever reason, the resident that night at 930 decided to pull out their giant rusted Grand Waggoner.  The sliver of bumper past the curb made the irate and they called the police who knocked on my door after running my plates.  The cop was clearly exceedingly grumpy about having to deal with something so trivial.  I went and moved my car as the old A**hole screamed at me about millennial disrespect and demanded that my car should be booted until i was towed.  I returned to my apartment to find the cop walking away and saying my ticket was in the mailbox.  I didn't pay the handwritten ticket cause I was pissed off and figured I would wait the absolute longest amount possible...well the printed ticket never came.  Searched my plates in the system and found no record there.  Asked my former uncle (damn divorces  ) who was a retired CPD captain and he said "oh you did the right thing.  Lot of the old guys don't bother putting minor stuff in the computer if they already wrote it down.  They hope people just comply, its laziness".  Followed that for 1 other parking ticket and a "no right turn on red" from a fairly hidden sign over the next few years with the same result.

[Warrior Code]

Now that this has veered away from help on the initial situation, it reminds me of the steep learning curve I had living with a car in Chicago for a decade, and only the last 3-4 years I had a garage spot.

My first year there, I parked a few streets from my apartment in Lincoln Park.  Besides the street cleaning tickets which were an annoying idiot tax on me learning the cadence, I once got a ticket for no front plates...while parked on a street.  I didn't have the front plates...because when I registered my car in Illinois, the state only sent me 1.  I corresponded with them, got an additional plate sent, but the ticket wouldn't be overturned because the judge told me..."you should not have placed a single plate on your vehicle, regardless of how many you received"...umm what?  Better yet, my friend's GF still had Ohio plates, and just a rear license plate to boot.  She was parked on the same street but didnt get a ticket cause she had out of state plates.

Then, once I had plates, the renewal fun began.  In the 5 years I renewed my plates before moving to a garage, despite never being late, I received my sticker before the end of the grace period...once.  Not before the Aug 31 end of period, but the end of September month grace period.  So naturally I had to fight countless expired sticker tickets.  Fortunately, those were very easy and required just a proof of purchase mail in.  But my favorite was getting 2 of them while my car was parked at ORD for a few days on a trip (im convinced ORD is City of Chicago property solely to extract ticket revenue from parked cars in the lots).  A close second would be parking my car on a Friday night, returning Sunday morning and finding 6 tickets. 3 for no renewal sticker, and 3 for the outdated city sticker which also never came.  Im pretty sure the parking officer sprinted to my car at the start of each shift to punch it in.

But the best lesson I ever got was NEVER pay a written ticket before receiving it in the mail.  I moved into a townhouse with some buddies in Old Town right near Declans/Plum Market.  We had 3 cars between us so we cycled between garage use.  I parked at night and didnt realize my bumper was about 6 inches past the curb of a driveway.  This driveway was always blocked and actually had a gate with tons of debris/bins on both sides of it.  For whatever reason, the resident that night at 930 decided to pull out their giant rusted Grand Waggoner.  The sliver of bumper past the curb made the irate and they called the police who knocked on my door after running my plates.  The cop was clearly exceedingly grumpy about having to deal with something so trivial.  I went and moved my car as the old A**hole screamed at me about millennial disrespect and demanded that my car should be booted until i was towed.  I returned to my apartment to find the cop walking away and saying my ticket was in the mailbox.  I didn't pay the handwritten ticket cause I was pissed off and figured I would wait the absolute longest amount possible...well the printed ticket never came.  Searched my plates in the system and found no record there.  Asked my former uncle (damn divorces  ) who was a retired CPD captain and he said "oh you did the right thing.  Lot of the old guys don't bother putting minor stuff in the computer if they already wrote it down.  They hope people just comply, its laziness".  Followed that for 1 other parking ticket and a "no right turn on red" from a fairly hidden sign over the next few years with the same result.

[#UnleashSean]

After the past few months I believe I'm firmly in the camp of... police should be protecting the public, not looking to duck the public.

[Jables1604]

Didant no der wuz a Christmas University. Wear iz dat located, hey?

Since I’ve asked twice how old you are without a response I can only assume that you’re an “adult.” Maybe 55+. That leads to my next two questions: 1) is typing like this a Midwest thing and 2) was there a time when typing phonetically (in Cheesehead dialect) was considered funny and/or creative?

[jficke13]

Since I’ve asked twice how old you are without a response I can only assume that you’re an “adult.” Maybe 55+. That leads to my next two questions: 1) is typing like this a Midwest thing and 2) was there a time when typing phonetically (in Cheesehead dialect) was considered funny and/or creative?

Nah, it's just a "he's weird AF thing."