tickets

[constable]

I am a new officer and I am giving alot of tickets and some breaks but way more tickets then breaks, how do u view other officers that give people alot of tickets and dont give alot of breaks? Just curious.

[Somebody]

Officer discretion dictates how you handle your stops. I have known officers who did not keep a "warning" book in their car, and wrote EVERYONE a ticket. With the philosophy that "If I have to stop you, it must be bad enough to write up".

I don't know, it may be a "New Cop" thing for you, just do what you think is right. I like to "start at a ticket and go to a warning" if the situation dictates. You may not feel the same way as I do.

Officer discretion is a very grey area, just be professional, I guess.

[gijoeyl33]

this question is more for DC then anyone really, but being in the Patriotic Capitol of America, do you tend to extend that officer coutesy to military folks that you pull over, or to you ticket them as well as joe citizen???

I've been at it for a while and I still ticket almost everyone. If they were doing something serious enough to make me pull them over, there's not much that they can say or do that's going to change my mind. How fair would that be to all the other people who did the same thing and got tickets?

[constable]

I know but I am dinging everyone I mean everyone for stop signs, seats belts, amber lights, Etc, Novice drivers with excess # of passengers. etc, I mean everything, perhaps cause I am new, I mean, I left for holidaysin February for 2 weeks, and Ilead the department in tickets by 23. hope this shows you how many I am writing,

I view it as My job is to uphold the law and these are laws that are being broken.

[gijoeyl33]

thats understandable but admirable on the breaks, ill tell you my only ***** and moan story regarding tickets. i think its major BS. i was driving in virginia in military uniform and pulled over for 71 in a 65. when asked where i was going i responded washington DC to help. the county sheriff laughed and said, "so what, ive been there and done that" and wrote me. and what day did this happen. September 13th, 2001. i was like WTF, 6 over and where im going r u serious?

If I'm inclined to give breaks to anyone, it's military personnel. I know they don't have the money for heavy fines and they're generally decent people so unless they're really behaving badly I generally let them go with a warning.
I'm usually pretty lenient on servicefolk but there have been exceptions, such as when drugs are involved.

[gijoeyl33]

oh and by the way DC i sent you a PM regardin DC metro transit, u have any info on them???????

[Somebody]

I consider stop signs pretty doggone serious, I will write every single one.

The key phrase I hear often is "Whatever it takes to correct a poor driving habit"

Some people are quickly corrected by a warning, many (if not most) probably need a ticket. I probably do at times myself.

[Pellethead]

Hey,
I'm all about traffic, but if someones not endangering anyone else, why write the ticket. You should be focussing more on what you can get out of the traffic stop instead of revenue. Go to speedtrao.com, you'll find Wilmer Tx. I used to work there but I wrote about 20 tickets a month and still managed to file 75% of the cases (not including traffic).

[cecilVA]

If I'm inclined to give breaks to anyone, it's military personnel. I know they don't have the money for heavy fines and they're generally decent people so unless they're really behaving badly I generally let them go with a warning.
I'm usually pretty lenient on servicefolk but there have been exceptions, such as when drugs are involved.

WHOO HOO!!!! I'll be speeding on the Pkwy whenever DC is working! Just kidding of course ;)

[mcsap]

I almost always give warnings for equipment related stuff unless it is outageous. Even the warnings require that they fix/replace the item in 5 days and than submit proof of correction. Amazing th enumber of people who don't follow through on furnishing proof of correction and then they get 2 tickets ( $105 each) for failing to comply and the initial violation.

Traffic safety issues almost always get a cite. I stop for red lights, don't speed around, wear my belt, USE PROPER TAGS, have insurance , have a valid license etc. For those who practice these type of violations the Commonwealth is more than willing to take your money.

I LOVE writing...

misuse of plates $100-$500
no insurance $300 plus 90 days suspension
DUI suspension $1,000 and 90 days in jail
regular suspension $200-$1000 and or up to 6 months in jail
Commercial Vehicle brake vio's $600 for each brake

And, we make NO money from ANY ticket. 1/2 goes to the state and the other half goes to the municipality in which the ticket was written. As I work for a Regional Dept, I am not an employee of any of the 9 minicipalities that we cover.

[P01IC3M4N]

i write an azzload of tickets, but i have pretty high tolerances. i wouldn't pop someone for an LP light out or a headlight out. i will bust them for something they intentionally did like changing bulb colors, adding unapproved crap. if you've got more than one light out, i'll get you for one of them.

if you start writing really cheesy tickets or you stack them, you're going to get a lot of court time. i write well over 2,000 tickets a year and i make a court appearance maybe twice a year.

[coucousis]

Up to your own judgement... don't let any fellow LEO judge you for that... I personnally give as much break as I write them down... It's really up to you and your feeling about the situation...
I think the fine got really to high for some offence so I tend to give break to regular citizens without criminal records (if they don't show up an attitude).. I will most likely write down someone with a criminal record... I will also pull over a lot of car for many reasons and look for a suspended licence of warrants... I pull over quite a bit but write on some occasion depending on the attitude....
Some articles are of more importance to me and some other are less attracting ... Up to each officers to apply them as they feel about it....

With the time you will focus on finding some serious infraction (to you) and leave more break on other... Just one thing however .... don't focus too much on the stat .... just give them as you feel... because after all it 's not a race to "who gives the most".... If you are number one in the PD ... then fine ... but just don't put too much emphasis on being the "number one"... There is really no importance to that unless you are part of a traffic enforcement unit!!!!

anyway that my 02c about that...

Good luck and keep doing the good work.!

[realpolice]

I've pretty much decided that if I stop you, you're getting a ticket. I've found myself making several stops, talk to the person, feel bad for them for whatever reason, and then let them go. Now I try not to talk much, drop it down (5 over for example) almost always unless they're rude with me (or driving like a complete idiot).

[coucousis]

In the MD courts, we sit in as the Prosecutor on traffic offenses in the plea bargaining meetings. Anyone who gets a ticket and wants to contest it has to come back and sit down with ME and talk it over.
:D

Wow I like that ... Wish it would be like that in Canada as well.... I tend to cut speeding in 1/2 also when people are polite and nice admitting rigth away their speeding... I will write everything full when the conversation starts with "NO it's impossible I was not going that fast you must be wrong!!!! "
I find that cutting the speed down reduce the fine quite substancially and we reach the same goals in the eyes of regular citizens..

Jason.... not a bad idea to cut down the talking!!!... it's true that it helps... however most of them that starts a conversation... we will see rigth away if it's gonna be a denial conversation or an interessting one...... ;)

[ferriscj24]

In my academy, we are trained that we should make the decision to give a warning or ticket BEFORE we approach the car and make contact with the driver. However I do not agree with that, as their attitude towards me may dictate the outcome, so I would wait until after i make contact...