Cops and Courts: July 3, 2008 - Santa Cruz Sentinel

The state is broke. The economy is in the toilet and county property tax revenues are down 40%.

Of course the first thing to do is unleash the CHP state revenue stream on the public for mindless traffic offenses that each carry $250 fines. It's a sad state.

God forbid I drive while putting on my makeup and drinking hot coffee while changing the radio station and lighting a cigarette, but a phone to my ear = a ticket? Beautiful. Way to go Arnold this is pathetic.

Traffic enforcement probably does more for public safety (saving lives) than the rest of police work. Drivers kill more people than all other criminals.

I don't know whether the BADGES program is the most efficient traffic enforcement, but I'm all for seeing the police crack down on the drivers who are ruining the community.

I was following an elderly lady on Chanticleer St last Tuesday as she slowed to 10 MPH and then went through the stop sign at Rodriguez, right in front of a parked sheriff's car. The sheriff was watching and did nothing. She ran 3 more in the same manner before I turned away. I looked at the sheriff in disbelief but his blank stare told me he had donuts on his mind.

It would be nice if the police in Watsonville actually enforced the traffic laws. It seems like 9 out of 10 people run the red lights or roll through stop signs around here (some don't even slow down). Maybe if the people were actually cited it would not happen so often. I know personally how damaging running a red light can be. As a pedestrian in a crosswalk with the right of way, I was hit by a car that chose not to stop when the light was red (or after they hit me) almost four years ago. It took a year out of my life to recover from that. Bringe the BADGES force here and give a little justice to the victims of what appear to be "harmless" crimes.

Carl Bendix wrote:

I was following an elderly lady on Chanticleer St last Tuesday as she slowed to 10 MPH and then went through the stop sign at Rodriguez, right in front of a parked sheriff's car. The sheriff was watching and did nothing. She ran 3 more in the same manner before I turned away. I looked at the sheriff in disbelief but his blank stare told me he had donuts on his mind.

WOW, she ran FOUR stop signs in front of the PARKED sheriffs car WOW!

BADGES? BADGES?? We don't need no stinking BADGES!!!!!! ;-)

Set Mr. Donney free. We need more low life lawyers.

Write more tickets and help the budget shortfall. Everyone who receives a citation should request a trial. Overload the traffic court, and the government will end up losing money on this scheme of revenue enhancement.

Carl Bendix wrote:

I was following an elderly lady on Chanticleer St last Tuesday as she slowed to 10 MPH and then went through the stop sign at Rodriguez, right in front of a parked sheriff's car. The sheriff was watching and did nothing. She ran 3 more in the same manner before I turned away. I looked at the sheriff in disbelief but his blank stare told me he had donuts on his mind.

come on doughnuts that is like being racist against cops. I really thing that the doughnut thing is just a stereo typing. They eat crossants in SC and drink those low fat decafe laties

wildman wrote:

Set Mr. Donney free. We need more low life lawyers.
Write more tickets and help the budget shortfall. Everyone who receives a citation should request a trial. Overload the traffic court, and the government will end up losing money on this scheme of revenue enhancement.

why you got to act that way. I know several lawyers who do nothing but defend old people from low life family members who are stealing from them. By the way where do you get the money to sit and blog all day personally I do it on the boss's dime

wildman wrote:

Set Mr. Donney free. We need more low life lawyers.
Write more tickets and help the budget shortfall. Everyone who receives a citation should request a trial. Overload the traffic court, and the government will end up losing money on this scheme of revenue enhancement.

ha that's a good idea!

wildman wrote:

Set Mr. Donney free. We need more low life lawyers.
Write more tickets and help the budget shortfall. Everyone who receives a citation should request a trial. Overload the traffic court, and the government will end up losing money on this scheme of revenue enhancement.

Yah "wildman" mess up the system, so creeps like you can drive right through the stop signs, red lights, speed by the parks, and drive like and azz. Good idea, jerk, put everyone else in harms way, but you don't care, as long as you get your way and get to do what you want. To bad you forget there are other humans, and pets around your little world.

It's really simple...If you don't want to pay fines don't do the crime. It is actually fairly easy to obey traffic laws.

Carl Bendix, I'm wondering why you were following the elderly lady in the first place, you sound like a prevert to me.

Allowing motorists to break the law sets a bad example for younger drivers.
Each year a new crop of 16 y/o's earn their drivers license. Figure you have between 300-400 16 y/os per high school then multiply that by the total number of high schools in Santa Cruz Co.- thats a lot of new drivers going with the flow as people roll through stop signs and red lights.

I can't stand this BADGES program!! First, doesn't the CHP enforce all traffic laws all of the time anyway? Why send a bizillion cops out all at once and write up a scad of tickets? It's like they are manufacturing a crime wave and profiting from it too. Second, this gives law enforcement a bad name. The public sees cops as an armed gang who are out to commit highway robbery! The fact that organizers promote the amount of revenue they will raise only adds to the public perception that this is simply a way to rake in the dough by gouging the public and has very little to do with public safety.

Finally, what about selective enforcement? Because I drive on day A instead of day B, I get a ticket? I expect to get a ticket every time I break a traffic law and am observed by a police officer. I DON'T expect that one day there are dozens of cops and the next day there are none.

I just wish people would slow down on Broadway. The entire stretch is 25mph and everyone does 45.

If I can take the time and attention to obey simple traffic rules, you can too.

Enforcing the law doe not give law enforcement a bad name! Geez!

I agree with Becky Johnson. Why is there special funding to ticket motorists for laws that already exist? This makes no sense. How else can we waste tax dollars?

Isn't this sweet. We don't have enough money to hire cops to stop the gangsters in live oak and then the cops we do have spend their time and OUR tax money lurking around waiting to give people traffic citations. What a scam and lack of work ethic on the part of law inforcment. This just gives law inforcment a safe and easy way to make a buck without having to dirty their hands with REAL CRIME. I say lower their pay to justify the lack of threat involved in their job description.