Deceptive traffic citations

[senecal_tony]

First, let me introduce myself; I am a 69 year old man that has been driving since I was 16 years old and have never received any driving citation or ticket except in Louisiana, specifically the Lasalle Parish. For the past 15 + years we have owned and driven motor homes. Currently, my wife and I are retired and travel extensively. We do most of our travel in a 34 foot motor home pulling a jeep (4 wheels down). Something to keep in mind while reading our story; I follow the traffic laws and do not go beyond speed limits. When you are an experienced driver of an RV and know that length and weight of specifically a motor home while pulling a vehicle have an impact on stopping distance; most of the motor home community knows to go below the posted speed limit.

On September 21, 2019 we were traveling through Lasalle Parish, US 165, back to our home in DeRidder Louisiana. Approaching the city of Tullos, we noticed several speed limit changes (65 mph, 55 mph to 45 mph) and we adhered to each by reducing our speed to below the posted limit each time. It should be noted that the notice of the speed limit reduction and the posted speed limit was short in distance in each instance.

As we approached a so called “construction zone” in the city limits of Tullos I noticed several cones and the sign alerting me to reduce speed ahead from 55 mph to 45 mph and immediately began slowing down. Motor Home drivers know that when you hit the brake and have the “Jake Break” on, the vehicle immediately starts to slow by virtue of the engine compression and this was done by me as soon as I seen the notice to reduce speed. One other important item; Two other vehicles went directly in front of me entering into the reduced speed area going much faster than we were.

The police officer writing the citation for 55 mph in a 45 mph zone stated on the ticket that the speed was determined by radar. I was not going 55 mph. The only explanation I could have is the radar is inaccurate or the the radar was shot or initiated just into the notice to reduce speed. Also, why were the two vehicles in front of me ignored?

The purpose of the letter is to warn fellow drivers that the city of Tullos and or Parish of Lasalle in Louisiana has a significant campaign going on to fund city budgets via traffic tickets (commonly know as speed traps).There are many reasons for my getting to this conclusion:

Motor Home drivers are some of the safest drivers on the road (we understand our restrictions to maintain safety).
Who gives a ticket for 55 mph and a 45 mph zone? Is there any room for an equipment malfunction by needing to be recalibrated?
Why were two other vehicles allowed to go through the area faster than myself? I can’t be sure but maybe they were locals and not an out of town tag.
Our home location is 112 miles from the city of Tullos. We could fight this in court with the proverbial “he said she said argument”; may or may not work with the judge. But, why would we travel back for court with an uncertain ending? Could this be part of isolating out of town people for citations know they would more than likely just pay.
I made call to the Tullos mayor’s office on September 24, 2019 to discuss my dissatisfaction with the citation and how the facts and process materialized. The mayor was unavailable but I did speak to a representative in the office. After explaining my displeasure with the citation and requesting the mayor call me back, I was told that the mayor would not call back and that any further objections to the ticket would only be addressed in court. In addition, I have attempted to locate a website or email for the Tullos LA Mayor’s office but could not find anything. That brings me back to the “out of town people receiving citations argument”.
The charge for this citation is $230 (really). They do offer the opportunity to pay the ticket online for an extra $11 and change. There is also an added charge for paying over the phone.

My plan moving forward is to share this experience with the many RV clubs and travel organizations we are members of. I hope that my fellow travelers take notice of the unreasonable citation issuing practices and stay clear of Lasalle parish. Below is what I’ll be sharing so there is no confusion.

Fellow travelers: Stay away from this, in my humble opinion, deceitfully run city of Tullos and or Lasalle parish. The local officials obviously can’t think through ligament and reasonable ways to fund and run the city effectively and turn to trickery or worst by trickery and penalizing law abiding out of town people.

Last but certainly not least; I have paid the $241.50 to the city of Tullos, against my better judgement.

Debton

[JRscooby]

JimK-NY wrote:


My opinion is that it totally unacceptable to have these sorts of "problems". That would include the investigations, convictions, illegal quotas, and legal actions for excessive force. And as I said, sadly, it seems the JSO is one of the better police groups. Sadly. Yes, "weeding out" seems to be a major issue since it violates the brotherhood code of covering up. None of this should be even up for discussion. People walking around with authority and guns need to be held accountable for proper behavior.

IMHO, just because there is a investigation is not a problem. Depends on what the investigation finds. Without investigation, how can we know there is no problems? If problems are found, they need to be advertised so we know the are solved.

ford truck guy wrote:
^^^^And your idol is Colon Kapernick I guess...?

I would not say "idol", but I respect the man for standing for a issue that needs addressed. A very small percentage of Americans will even stand for their religion. But I don't think the problem is just one race, even tho harm comes to minorities much more often than their percentage of the population.

The Police have gotten a bad rap since the inception of mobile streaming devices... ALL eyes on them, makes making an important decision that much harder.

I have never seen a camera that would take a picture of something that was not there. And while the decision to do harm, say shoot or choke somebody might be made under stress, but then to have pictures of several standing around, and doing nothing to try to save a life? This kind of inaction does a lot to convince me that the "few bad apples" might not be true.
We think people are innocent until proven guilty. And this might be true once the case gets to court. But, on the street, the cop knows he is the law, and the only innocent is the other officer.

[fj12ryder]

ford truck guy wrote:
^^^^And your idol is Colon Kapernick I guess...?

The Police have gotten a bad rap since the inception of mobile streaming devices... ALL eyes on them, makes making an important decision that much harder.

I would NEVER want to be a LEO in this era... #RESPECT

I must respectfully disagree with this post. The police have gotten a bad rap many times thanks to mobile streaming devices, but many of those time that bad rap was deserved. I knew three guys in a pretty small city police department, and those were three guys that should never have been vetted for duty. As far as they were concerned, THEY WERE THE LAW.

Video cameras, vest cameras, and phone cameras are what keep the out of control officers in check. Witness the LEO who just shot an unarmed woman standing in her home.

[ford_truck_guy]

^^^^And your idol is Colon Kapernick I guess...?

The Police have gotten a bad rap since the inception of mobile streaming devices... ALL eyes on them, makes making an important decision that much harder.

I would NEVER want to be a LEO in this era... #RESPECT

[JimK-NY]

Sorry for the typo. The FBI investigation, a slew of corruption convictions, illegal quota speed traps and excessive force complaints and litigation all showed up for a quick Google search of the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.

My opinion is that it totally unacceptable to have these sorts of "problems". That would include the investigations, convictions, illegal quotas, and legal actions for excessive force. And as I said, sadly, it seems the JSO is one of the better police groups. Sadly. Yes, "weeding out" seems to be a major issue since it violates the brotherhood code of covering up. None of this should be even up for discussion. People walking around with authority and guns need to be held accountable for proper behavior.

[fj12ryder]

Retired JSO wrote:

JimK-NY wrote:

Walaby wrote:
Well said.. Thank you Retired JSO for your sacrifices.

It's easy for people to ***** and moan about things from the comfort of their tidy little homes, and not have to put their selves in harms way day in and day out.

Mike

Isn't it great that the Jefferson Sheriffs Office is so great? No FBI investigation of corruption in the force, no convictions of police officers for corruption, no listing of major illegal speed traps with officers required to issue tickets based on quotas, less than a handful of complaints and legal actions for excessive use of force..... Oops it appears the JSO had all of these issues and more. It is sad but the JSO is probably cleaner than most police forces.

Not Jefferson but Jacksonville. A consolidated county-city government with almost a million residents and the largest city in the country by land area at 840 square miles. We too have had our problems over the years. I’m only saying, why does one come onto a group RV forum and bash all LEO’s based on a traffic experience and hide behind the cloak of the web.
Unless the moderator’s of this forum have also grouped all LEO’s in the same boat, this post should be closed.

Actually the guy gave several examples of issues he has had with LEO's so he isn't basing his bashing on just a traffic ticket. My experiences with LEO's have not been all the best either, but law enforcement appeals to certain types of people and some departments are better at weeding out the undesirable element better than others.

[Retired_JSO]

JimK-NY wrote:

Walaby wrote:
Well said.. Thank you Retired JSO for your sacrifices.

It's easy for people to ***** and moan about things from the comfort of their tidy little homes, and not have to put their selves in harms way day in and day out.

Mike

Isn't it great that the Jefferson Sheriffs Office is so great? No FBI investigation of corruption in the force, no convictions of police officers for corruption, no listing of major illegal speed traps with officers required to issue tickets based on quotas, less than a handful of complaints and legal actions for excessive use of force..... Oops it appears the JSO had all of these issues and more. It is sad but the JSO is probably cleaner than most police forces.

Not Jefferson but Jacksonville. A consolidated county-city government with almost a million residents and the largest city in the country by land area at 840 square miles. We too have had our problems over the years. I’m only saying, why does one come onto a group RV forum and bash all LEO’s based on a traffic experience and hide behind the cloak of the web.
Unless the moderator’s of this forum have also grouped all LEO’s in the same boat, this post should be closed.

[JimK-NY]

Walaby wrote:
Well said.. Thank you Retired JSO for your sacrifices.

It's easy for people to ***** and moan about things from the comfort of their tidy little homes, and not have to put their selves in harms way day in and day out.

Mike

Isn't it great that the Jefferson Sheriffs Office is so great? No FBI investigation of corruption in the force, no convictions of police officers for corruption, no listing of major illegal speed traps with officers required to issue tickets based on quotas, less than a handful of complaints and legal actions for excessive use of force..... Oops it appears the JSO had all of these issues and more. It is sad but the JSO is probably cleaner than most police forces.

[JRscooby]

Retired JSO wrote:
All you nay sayers should walk the walk before you come on here and bash ALL; LEO’s based on another posters bad experience with a traffic case. The job was hours of boredom or report writing followed by seconds of terror. If you have a bad experience with a LEO, document with your local and state authorities. When you were running out, many of us rushed in. Next time you need help, come on one of these boards or your favorite social media forum and see how many of these jerks rush to help.
29 years Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.

I don't "bash ALL; LEO’s based on another posters bad experience with a traffic case." I am very skeptical of all LEOs based on My experiences with more than a few encounters with "cops" that are too afraid to do their job. I'm facing 3 late teen boys holding tire irons, talking to 911 for a couple of minutes. The boys take off running when the 2 cars come in sight, and both stop when they get to me, don't drive the 100 yards, try to catch them. One pig is worried about my pickup parked half-way backed into my drive, where I stopped when I saw the boys jump off my pouch. Next day, talk to a neighbor, one of the cars had been parked for 5 min waiting for the 2nd. When I asked the chief about that, "WE can't have officers going in without backup?" I thought the guy with gun and body armor could of pulled down the street and been my backup...

Walaby wrote:
Well said.. Thank you Retired JSO for your sacrifices.

It's easy for people to ***** and moan about things from the comfort of their tidy little homes, and not have to put their selves in harms way day in and day out.

Mike

In harms way? This is IMHO, one of the major problems. Police have convinced themselves and everybody else that their job is super dangerous. But they don't want people to look at the statistics. Say mom is a nurse, dad is a beat cop. Working the same hours, which is more likely to get hurt on the job? And if the cop does get hurt, most likely it is because he crashed his car, not because the world was out to get him.

toedtoes wrote:
I agree. I have run into "problem" cops, but they are the minority of all the good ones I have dealt with. I don't envy them their job and I am grateful they choose to take it on.

If the "problem cops" are such a small minority, how come when a cop causes a problem all the others in the area cover for him?

[toedtoes]

I agree. I have run into "problem" cops, but they are the minority of all the good ones I have dealt with. I don't envy them their job and I am grateful they choose to take it on.

[Walaby]

Well said.. Thank you Retired JSO for your sacrifices.

It's easy for people to ***** and moan about things from the comfort of their tidy little homes, and not have to put their selves in harms way day in and day out.

Mike

[Retired_JSO]

All you nay sayers should walk the walk before you come on here and bash ALL; LEO’s based on another posters bad experience with a traffic case. The job was hours of boredom or report writing followed by seconds of terror. If you have a bad experience with a LEO, document with your local and state authorities. When you were running out, many of us rushed in. Next time you need help, come on one of these boards or your favorite social media forum and see how many of these jerks rush to help.
29 years Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.

[JimK-NY]

westernrvparkowner wrote:

JimK-NY wrote:

toedtoes wrote:
I believe there are speed traps. However, I also believe that many people complaining about getting caught in a speed trap, simply got caught speeding.
....

I have ZERO respect for the law and never will again.

I trust then that should the occasion arise that the intervention of law enforcement might work in your favor (say your house is being broken into or you are the victim of another type of crime) you will forego calling the crooked police and just suffer the consequences.

I had a theft. The police eventually took a report. I had a car stolen, they could have cared less. Years later I had a rental car stolen. They would not take a report. Budget would not file a stolen report because the rental was scheduled to last a few more days. The car was dropped a mile or two from where it was stolen. It was recovered but no one let us know and my wife had to fly from Salt Lake City to Portland, Or in order to recover her clothing.

The police seem good at traffic citations and calling for donations but that is about it.

[JRscooby]

westernrvparkowner wrote:

JimK-NY wrote:

toedtoes wrote:
I believe there are speed traps. However, I also believe that many people complaining about getting caught in a speed trap, simply got caught speeding.
....

I have ZERO respect for the law and never will again.

I trust then that should the occasion arise that the intervention of law enforcement might work in your favor (say your house is being broken into or you are the victim of another type of crime) you will forego calling the crooked police and just suffer the consequences.

LOL, calling police for help is a reason for my lack of respect for the bandits in blue...

[ajriding]

My understanding that the speed limit sign is supposed to be posted 200 feet before the actual speed limit zone changes (an imaginary line in a real spot), thus giving time for vehicles to slow down and account for people who maybe cannot see the sign from 200 feet away.

This could be different in each municipality.

Speed trap for sure.

Small towns love to ticket out of towners.

I got hasseled by a patrol three states away for nothing more than having an our of state tag, which he knew I would ot appear in court.

Sometimes their goal is to agitate you enough such that they are able to arrest you for getting "lippy", or search your car, possibly plant evidence, and look for things they ca arrest you for.

Never show a cop that you have any amount of cash, this, in their minds, means you are a criminal about to commit crimes using cash. Asset Forfeiture is one of the biggest evils perpetrated by our "protectors" This practice must be outlawed!!!!

Never do anything in traffic that you can be pulled over and this will help keep you safe from the evils some courts and towns practice.