By Jack N Cherokee

Jun 23, 2008 10:00 AM | Link to this

Stop Breaking the Law and Don't Pay a fine or a fuel fee, DUH!!! Most folks don't give a crud about paying a fine that is why they drive like craze. They deserve to pay more for using the system instead of me, the taxpayer. Slow down, don't pay a fine/fee, and save some gas dummies! I am alllll for it raise the fines to $1000 on every single one of them and then my taxes can go down instead of up. Go For it Atlanta, PLEASE!!!

By somebody

Jun 21, 2008 9:27 PM | Link to this

We need to remove the incentive for abuse of traffic monitoring by making community service the punishment for tickets. No more get rich schemes by the city for speed traps, red light cameras, seat belt laws and HOV exit lurkers. People who make a decent wage don't care about the cost of a ticket so there is no incentive for them to obey, but their time is precious.


^^^
Yes and no, while i agree with the idea, the execution has even more openings for abuse than the current system...

99% of people do not care about the fines. It is the insurance surcharge that they are concerned about. This in itself funnels money into a yet another grey area - insurance.

If i am going to take a hike on that, i sure am not doing community service... How about a balance of fines and community service in place of the offense going on record? That will solve two problems.

Problem one is it will carve into people's time, and it will cut into the pockets of insurance companies. At the same time it will give a chance for people and their elected/enacted representatives to actually get to know each other. Community spirit? Unlikely, but at least community cooperation.

But it will never happen. Gas is the new money maker, so is global warming.

People always want things, but the smart ones always hope they never get what they ask for..............................

By MS OHIO

Jun 21, 2008 4:51 PM | Link to this

I think that speeders should have some form of punishment for speeding. Adding a charge to pay for cop's gas should not be one of them.

Many police department misappropriate funds already. Some keep drugs and drug monies, and other confiscated items for themselves.

Cops speed thru intersections with their lights on for their convienence. They can falsely charge and accuse people. They lie and steal. Don't they already get enough on the job perks? I think that they need to do like everyone else in the country budget their monies and use the resources that they already have.

Maybe if they want to save on gas money stop leaving the police cars running at idle when they visit the donut/coffe shops. Stop speeding..cops do it do but of course they won't arrest or charge their own.

By Thinking

Jun 18, 2008 9:24 AM | Link to this

Still a stupid idea.

Doc his pay another $500 for wasting more time on dumb ideas.

High fuel costs are a problem for everyone. Some folks are affected more than others. But everyone is affected. This should spur them on to figure out how to do more with less like the rest of us. It is a time to innovate and find better ways to do what needs to be done, not just pass the buck from others to themselves.

By Alice

Jun 18, 2008 7:02 AM | Link to this

A fine is supposed to be about deterring you from committing an offense. It is not supposed to fund any program, even if it is tied to enforcement and collection of the fine in question. It leads to the need to collect more fines to fund the program, and that is a very, very bad road you do not want to go down.

By Good idea to tax take home cop cars

Jun 17, 2008 7:37 PM | Link to this

Hmmmm. If the cops had to claim the imputed value of the police cars they drove home, I wonder how many would not do so and therefore be guilty of tax evation?

By Why is this not a taxed benefit?

Jun 17, 2008 6:26 PM | Link to this

Why is the IRS not taxing this benefit based on its imputed value? It should be based on the fair market value of the percentage of the work commute with respect to the life of a regular vehicle. It should take into account that same percentage of the following expenses that people who do not get a free ride have to pay out of their own pocket:
1) Value of the purchase cost of the vehicle
2) Cost of oil changes
3) Cost of tires
4) Cost of fuel
5) Cost of insurance
6) Cost of repairs over an average period of time

By ActuallyThinks

Jun 17, 2008 6:25 PM | Link to this

I don't think that we should be adding "surcharges" to tickets. However, I'm all for people who break the laws of this state paying for the services. I think we should raise fines across the board for all criminal offense. I think that criminals/lawbreakers should have to pay for the time that they consume.

As far as the other points...

A poster named Sarah says 1 man/1 car policies are a waste of her tax money. Why? If officers shared cars, they could buy 2/3rds less cars and save her tax money.

Well Sarah... You obviously haven't thought that one out. Initially, you buy 2/3rds less cars. With hot-seating patrol cars as it is referred to, the cars last about 2.5 years if you run them 24 hrs per day like Dekalb and Atlanta do. When you take and issue one car to one officer and it is only used four or five times a week, it can last up to 7 or 8 years. You do the math and you'll see that the numbers make the investment about even in the long run.

However, then you look at maintenance and care. A car is not meant to be run 24 hours per day. Things break faster and more frequently. Therefore, your maintenance costs go up on a constant use car. On top of that, like it or not, if you take a piece of property and give it to someone and say, "Hey. This is yours for the next 5-8 years, you better take care of it and make it last," it will receive better care. This is not just in law enforcement but in any job.

Therefore, in the long run, the cost of running a 1 car per officer fleet is substantially cheaper than hotseating cars. There have been statistical studies done and it has been shown to be cheaper - I'm not just making this up as I go. The departments that haven't already gone to 1 man 1 car policies haven't done it simply because the initial cost is too much for many departments. It is not because hotseating cars saves the taxpayers any money. It is actually costing them more in the long run.


As far as safety vs. revenue...

You can gripe all day long about whether or not it is revenue or safety driven. However, the simple fact is this:

You know what is legal/illegal. You know if you violate the law you risk arrest or ticket. Therefore, if you don't want the ticket, slow down and obey the law.

Hypothetically...

If the State of Georgia officially suspended all traffic enforcement and officers could no longer write tickets... What do you think it would be like to drive on the roads in this state?

You'd have to have a deathwish if you want to try. Therefore, traffic enforcement is about safety.

By Thinking

Jun 17, 2008 6:19 PM | Link to this

Stupid idea. Doc his pay $500 for wasting time on dumb ideas.

High fuel costs are a problem for everyone. Some folks are affected more than others. But everyone is affected. This should spur them on to figure out how to do more with less like the rest of us. It is a time to innovate and find better ways to do what needs to be done, not just pass the buck from others to themselves.

By George P. Burdell

Jun 17, 2008 4:54 PM | Link to this

So Holly Springs need extra gas to run the cop's car air conditioners this summer?
As a regular commuter down 575, I can tell you they are a known speed trap. I've also noticed that people are slowing down because of high gas prices. Maybe they number of tickets they write will go down too and they'll have to find another solution to the budget deficit.