Proposed Bill Would Allow Cops To Collect Fines On The Spot

[mikeb]

This is got to be one of the worst ideas for a law i've seen in a LONG time. The possibilities for abuse by the police are staggering. You know that on the spot revenue collection will be very, very popular with city officials and the cops will be under tremendous pressure to always collect on the spot instead of having it go to court - it ll be a new variation on the ticket quota. This will translate into all kinds of power trips and threats made by the cops to get people to pay right then and there instead of taking it to court.

Whoever wrote that bill is an absolute idiot.

[71chevellejohn]

Can they add an RFID reader to the side of the car and I'll just tap my card as I pass?

[CexMashean]

Did I read something wrong? I thought it said the option to, not that you had to.

[cyclonescott]

Sure, exercise the option not to pay on the spot and get a response like this.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NA_N9LE2Gc[/ame]

[GE]

Did I read something wrong? I thought it said the option to, not that you had to.

True. Looks like it's only good for Class C mister meanors though. It's not like they're collecting fines for serious offenses. There is potential for abuse though. Any decent traffic stop most likely has 2-3 things you could cite someone for. Easy way to collect revenue on the spot? Tell the person that you could cite them for violations A, B, and C... but if they agree to pay now via credit card, they'll only charge you with violation A.

[Broncojohnny]

True. Looks like it's only good for Class C mister meanors though. It's not like they're collecting fines for serious offenses. There is potential for abuse though. Any decent traffic stop most likely has 2-3 things you could cite someone for. Easy way to collect revenue on the spot? Tell the person that you could cite them for violations A, B, and C... but if they agree to pay now via credit card, they'll only charge you with violation A.

Exactly the problem everyone should have. The quid pro quo bullshit.

[Forever_frost]

They will scare and intimidate people into pleading guilty and paying the fine. Just the number of parents they would do this to during a traffic stop by threatening your child with a CPS abduction is terrifying.

This right here. You don't even get to avoid the court costs because you're not going to court. They're going to handle this like they do asset forfeiture. "Oh, pretty car you have there. If you don't pay this $800 fine right now for random shit I made up, I'm going to impound it and send your kids to CPS."

[Roscoe]

Hell no.

[Denny]

This right here. You don't even get to avoid the court costs because you're not going to court. They're going to handle this like they do asset forfeiture. "Oh, pretty car you have there. If you don't pay this $800 fine right now for random shit I made up, I'm going to impound it and send your kids to CPS."

Uh, they can do that now.

[talisman]

Can't wait to see the videos start surfacing when this starts getting abused.

[phaux]

This right here. You don't even get to avoid the court costs because you're not going to court. They're going to handle this like they do asset forfeiture. "Oh, pretty car you have there. If you don't pay this $800 fine right now for random shit I made up, I'm going to impound it and send your kids to CPS."

I don't see it happening to that extreme, but it definitely is a slippery slope. With dick head cops and smaller cities I see the potential for them writing more tickets as now they will no longer have to go to court themselves and there would be less paperwork. Those two things are the reason cops often let ppl go with a warning to get back on the street looking for bigger busts. In someplace like dwg I def see it as a problem as they can go out and just rack up city money all day long.

[71chevellejohn]

Did I read something wrong? I thought it said the option to, not that you had to.

That kind of thinking won't help the paranoia.

[Labora]

If this passes it has a big potential for abuse. Cops will pin you for 3+ offenses and say they will "let you off" if you pay for one of them on the spot. If this passes we need to see a overwhelming amount of people push for court cases and completely overwhelm the system.

[Mopar63]

There motto has gone from "To serve and protect" to "Ticket and Collect"

[Unicorn Jeff]

It wont happen.