Calgary Police ORDERED To Write More Tickets.

[Pagal4321]

Did a serach, so hopefully this isn't fata.
But it seems like the city wants to generate an extra million dollars from the force this year. Projections for revenue was 2.1 million and now it seems 3 million is wanted.
Looks like driving 51 in a 50 zone mighhhht just net you a ticket now.

http://www.canada.com/calgary/calgar...1-9efdd4e077e2

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

OH MY GOD THIS IS A CASH COW!!! HOW CAN THEY GO AROUND GIVING OUT TICKETS TO PEOPLE THAT ARE BREAKING LAWS??? THIS IS SO STUPID!!!! WHY THE HELL SHOULD COPS BE TOLD TO GIVE PEOPLE TICKETS FOR THINGS THAT ARE ILLEGAL INSTEAD OF GIVING THEM WARNINGS????

Sorry just thought I should get that out there before a bunch of other people do.

EDIT: Actually I just had a thought. I wonder what all the people that actually think that this is a cash cow think of the new NHL. Apparently for some, calling penalties as they are written is okay, but enforcing laws as they are written is a bad idea.

[Bobblehead]

They always say it is for safety reasons, not monetary, but when was the last time you saw the info about where the Multinova was going to be this week? Years ago (98/99) I kept a bookmark of the page where the locations were, but it changed so often I finally lost track. So money isn't a consideration? BS

[habernac]

read the article in the herald and the police force sounds like they're going to ignore the call from city hall. The chief said something like "We're not going to write a ticket just for the sake of writing a ticket."

[ken0042]

The Police chief was on City TV this morning; to echo what habernac heard he said, it was along the lines of they will continue to issue tickets based on ensuring traffic safety rather than as a method of raising funds.

[Neeper]

Almost got nabbed this morning. Went thru 2 speed traps and saw 3 people getting pulled over in 3 different spots. My drive to work is about 10 km.

[Winsor_Pilates]

Originally Posted by ken0042

The Police chief was on City TV this morning; to echo what habernac heard he said, it was along the lines of they will continue to issue tickets based on ensuring traffic safety rather than as a method of raising funds.

Good to hear that. I think it's stupid to set a quota for something that we should be trying to eliminate. Idialy, the city should be looking to make $0 off speeding tickets because they'd rather have people not speeding.

[Cowperson]

The radio told me this a.m. that only the Police Commission can actually deliver a directive like that, not the municipal government . . . . . therefore its not binding.

Cowperson

[Tron_fdc]

I don't have a problem with cops writing tickets in zones that are high risk (residential, construction and playground zones). I DO have a problem with the cop sitting under army camoflauge on a side road, at the bottom of a hill handing out a mitt full of tickets to people going 10k over the limit because they didn't ride the brake and impede traffic flow.

I have a theory here. It's quite rare to see cops handing out tickets in places like Beijing (I notice this whenever I'm there), and people more or less drive however they want wherever they want. Wanna pass in oncoming traffic? Turn your hazards on, people will move. Wanna run red lights? Turn on the hazards, you must be in a hurry. Wanna make your own lane? Go ahead, just watch out for the carts being pulled by donkeys. Traffic flows SOOOOOO much better, due mainly to the fact there are no people driving at 5k under the posted speed limit, following the road rules to a tee for fear of getting nailed by an overzealous police force. Can't we find some kind of compromise here? I'm not advocating 4x4ing through residential areas, but do we really need multinova and red light cameras all over the city that are nothing but pure revenue generators, not doing what poilicing is supposed to do (protect citizens)? Traffic flow is bad enough the last thing I want is more cops sitting under overpasses on Glenmore.

I should also add I don't think policing should suddenly be used mainly for cash generation and not protection. If the city wants more money maybe they could look at reducing costs, or look at Enmax; one of the highest revenue makers (if not THE highest) in the city.

[Ace]

Originally Posted by fotze

The extreme left wing government that the extreme right wing citizens of this city vote in time after time baffles me. Tax and spend is evil when the liberals do it but when our civic politicians do it, it's alright.

I guess I am not against the fines but more about the fiscal policy of bronco and his cronies. Tax and spend, tax and spend.

Here Here, i just wrote my alderman about the same.

[Cube Inmate]

Originally Posted by Bring_Back_Shantz

EDIT: Actually I just had a thought. I wonder what all the people that actually think that this is a cash cow think of the new NHL. Apparently for some, calling penalties as they are written is okay, but enforcing laws as they are written is a bad idea.

Penalties ensure that the competition is fair. Driving is not a competition. Furthermore, the ostensible purpose for writing tickets is to ensure safety...that clearly doesn't work.

There is 0 incentive for referees to call penalties beyond ensuring a fair competition. There is incentive for cops to write tickets: department funding, and enforced quotas.

If you want to make these things equal, change 2 things: write tickets for dangerous driving practices, instead of things that are arbitrarily deemed "illegal," and put traffic ticket funds into the insurance industry to offset costs for those who don't get ticketed.

CASH COW

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

Originally Posted by Cube Inmate

If you want to make these things equal, change 2 things: write tickets for dangerous driving practices, instead of things that are arbitrarily deemed "illegal," and put traffic ticket funds into the insurance industry to offset costs for those who don't get ticketed.

CASH COW

I would say that traffic laws are in place soley for things that are dangerous.

Speeding: Roads are designed to be driven on at a certain speed to exceed that is dangerous. Or driving at 50 in a playground zone is also dangerous, cause there are kids around.

Running a red light: Do I have to explain why that is dangerous?

Passing on a solid line: You can't see oncomming traffic, that seems dangerous to me.

I'll bet you can't name a single traffic law that isn't there for safety reasons.
Go ahead, try to name one thing that is "Arbitrarily illegal".

[Bertuzzied]

Originally Posted by Tron_fdc

I have a theory here. It's quite rare to see cops handing out tickets in places like Beijing (I notice this whenever I'm there), and people more or less drive however they want wherever they want. Wanna pass in oncoming traffic? Turn your hazards on, people will move. Wanna run red lights? Turn on the hazards, you must be in a hurry. Wanna make your own lane? Go ahead, just watch out for the carts being pulled by donkeys. Traffic flows SOOOOOO much better, due mainly to the fact there are no people driving at 5k under the posted speed limit, following the road rules to a tee for fear of getting nailed by an overzealous police force. Can't we find some kind of compromise here? I'm not advocating 4x4ing through residential areas, but do we really need multinova and red light cameras all over the city that are nothing but pure revenue generators, not doing what poilicing is supposed to do (protect citizens)? Traffic flow is bad enough the last thing I want is more cops sitting under overpasses on Glenmore.

That is absurd!!! We do not want to have China driving rules over here.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that more than 600 people are killed and more than 45,000 injured daily on China's roads

That is like 220,000 deaths a year and 16 million injuries per year.
I once stupidly decided to rent a car in Hong Kong. hahaha bad move. In China i'm sure it's 100 times worse. People don't have a test for their driver's license there, they buy them!

[Shawnski]

Originally Posted by fotze

The extreme left wing government that the extreme right wing citizens of this city vote in time after time baffles me. Tax and spend is evil when the liberals do it but when our civic politicians do it, it's alright.

I guess I am not against the fines but more about the fiscal policy of bronco and his cronies. Tax and spend, tax and spend.

The Robotic Bartender

A popular bar had a new robotic bartender installed.
A fellow came in for a drink and the robot asked him, "What's your I.Q.?"
The man replied, "150."
The robot then proceeded to make conversation about Quantum physics, string theory, atomic chemistry and so on.
The man listened intently and thought, "This is really cool." The man decided to test the robot. He walked out of the bar, turned around, and came back in for another drink.
Again the robot asked him, "What's your I.Q.?"
The man responded, "100." So the robot started talking about football, baseball, and so on.
The man thought to himself, "Wow, this is really cool."
The man went out and came back in a third time. As before the robot asked him, "What's your I.Q.?"
The man replied, "50."
The robot then said, "So, you gonna vote Liberal again?"

"POLITICIANS & DIAPERS NEED TO BE CHANGED, FOR THE SAME REASON!"

[CaramonLS]

So what is your goal?

Is it to reduce speeding or is it to make money?

If it is to make money, by all means, set up speedtraps, hide behind trees, put out more photo radar.

If the goal is to reduce speeding, have more cops partolling, have plain sight & hidden speedtraps (not photoradar), overall stronger police presence in the city.

Photoradars hidden behind trees does absolutely nothing other than earn the city money. You wont know you got ticketed until weeks later, and it will do absolutely no good.

[browna]

Not sure why the cops haven't setup shop in my neck of the woods.
Due to impatient Crowchild/Glenmore drivers, people are doing illegal uturns (and getting no farther ahead on Glenmore) in my community at rush hour.

Illegal Uturn ticket is 175$.


The prick in the black Maxima 2 weeks ago with your home based business advertised on the top window, who cut me off with an illegal uturn that had the balls to give me the finger, I know your plate...next time you may not come out ahead, or with a Chevy truck emblem on the top of your trunk/rear windshield..

[CaramonLS]

Originally Posted by browna

Not sure why the cops haven't setup shop in my neck of the woods.
Due to impatient Crowchild/Glenmore drivers, people are doing illegal uturns (and getting no farther ahead on Glenmore) in my community at rush hour.

Illegal Uturn ticket is 175$.


The prick in the black Maxima 2 weeks ago with your home based business advertised on the top window, who cut me off with an illegal uturn that had the balls to give me the finger, I know your plate...next time you may not come out ahead, or with a Chevy truck emblem on the top of your trunk/rear windshield..

They never set up in Lakeview. I've seen them a couple times in the 10 years I've lived there.

Sometimes you see rarely on 66th Ave.

[browna]

Originally Posted by CaramonLS

They never set up in Lakeview. I've seen them a couple times in the 10 years I've lived there.

Sometimes you see rarely on 66th Ave.

Well, I've seen them 3 or 4 times in the 6 months I've been here. They find the skinniest cop to hide sideways behind the light post at the corner of 63rd and Crowchild, with his laser gun on a tripod, and steps out to catch those coming down the hill going an easy 60 when the limit is 50.

They should have Constable Fatso stand on the sidewalk and nail the u-turners, which, IMO on a to basically stop on a 50kmh street and turn around, is a lot more dangerous then someone coasting at 60kmh. They build the median about 10 feet longer to try and discourage it, but its not happening. Never mind the people trying to turn around on 63rd or at the Shell and gumming up traffic that wants to get through 63rd.....all to line up at a yeild sign on Glenmore and not get any further ahead if they waited in line up the ramp on Crow.

[Thunderball]

The older I get, the more I see traffic tickets for what it really is... a cash grab.

Its not about safety anymore when its clearly seen as a revenue generator.

Is driving 91km/h on Crowchild in clear conditions dangerous? Sorry, its not. Should people be ticketed for that? no. Should they be ticketed for driving 111km/h on Crowchild? maybe.

Now, running red lights, getting in the way of emergency vehicles, running playground, school and construction zones, reckless driving, doing 50 on Deerfoot, drunk driving... these are dangerous and should be pursued vehemently.

I'm afraid the police are caught in a vicious cycle... we need more cops to enforce traffic laws, we need to enforce traffic laws to make money, we need to make money to afford more cops, we need more cops....

[Cube Inmate]

Originally Posted by Bring_Back_Shantz

Speeding: Roads are designed to be driven on at a certain speed to exceed that is dangerous. Or driving at 50 in a playground zone is also dangerous, cause there are kids around.
<snip>
I'll bet you can't name a single traffic law that isn't there for safety reasons.
Go ahead, try to name one thing that is "Arbitrarily illegal".

Agreed: roads are safe only up to a certain speed limit. In general, however, that limit is much higher than the posted speed limit. Roads are designed that way because the designers know that X% of the population will speed by 10%, and they want to keep it safe. So it's technically safe to travel over the limit, but it's still an offense. WTF? Ask a civil engineer about the "design speed" of the Trans Canada Hwy east of Calgary. It is at least 120 km/h, and probably 130.

The most obvious proof that speed limits are set arbitrarily is the "floating speed limit sign"...they change the locations of speed limit signs solely to trap people for a short while. This has happened a number of times on Memorial Dr. near 14 St W. It won't be long until the speed limit sign is moved again. Watch for it.

I'm not saying there's no need for speed limits, but those who set speed limits do so according to factors other than safety.

Even more arbitrary is enforcement. Speeding CAN be done completely safely, but it's the easiest thing to "enforce" so that's where the police spend their time. Meanwhile, there are ######s out there talking on their cell phones while drifting all over the road, failing to signal, and cutting people off. We haven't legislated against cell usage while driving, but there IS a law on the books about reckless driving. Put out a few ghost cars to drive around the major arteries all day, and they could write dozens of tickets for major infractions that might actually improve safety. I see them every day in my 50 minutes on the road...how many would a cop see in 8 hours?

How about this: if it's unsafe to exceed the speed limit, then why isn't EVERY driver who exceeds the limit punished? They don't pick and choose which murderers to punish, do they? If a law is important enough to enforce, then why isn't it important enough to spend the money ensuring that it IS enforced all the time?

It's bull****.

edit: don't bother telling me how stupid the "murderers" comment is...I already know.