I'm not an LEO basher. However, if you have ever been through the small community of Sportsman acres, between Pryor & Locust Grove, Oklahoma...you'll nod your head in agreement when you read this article. I believe tickets are the only revenue they have and I've heard them tell many folks that they don't give warnings, they ONLY ticket.
Here's the full article http://www.tulsaworld.com/homepage4...cle_a36ced3a-9683-11e3-8973-001a4bcf6878.html
Here's the full article http://www.tulsaworld.com/homepage4...cle_a36ced3a-9683-11e3-8973-001a4bcf6878.html
SPORTSMEN ACRES – With a population of about 320, Sportsmen Acres seems more like a neighborhood than a town.
But neighborly isn’t the way David Farrow would describe it.
Based on a complaint the Stillwater resident made to state agencies, the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety is investigating the Mayes County community as being an alleged speed trap, in violation of state law, Oklahoma Highway Patrol Capt. George Brown said.
“...When the law is used as a means to create revenue, traffic offenses are often exaggerated and lead to illegitimate traffic stops and the issuance of citations that cause financial hardships upon the motoring public and violate the constitutional rights of all those detained...” Farrow wrote in a Dec. 3 letter to DPS Commissioner Michael C. Thompson.
Under a state law approved about 10 years ago, a city or town police department can lose its ability to write citations if state officials determine its enforcement practices are being conducted for the purpose of generating more than 50 percent of the revenue needed for its operation.
If a speed trap label is attached to the town, its police department is no longer allowed to patrol stretches of state and federal highways within city limits.
A regional security manager for a vending company, Farrow was in Sportsmen Acres July 31 examining a property for his employer. He was cited for going 31 mph in a 20-mph zone on Quail Drive, the town’s main street.
Farrow said he is a former police officer himself, having served about 20 years in law enforcement in places such as Anadarko, Chandler and Perry.
“When I was in law enforcement, the officer had discretion on whether you write a ticket or not,” he said. “I carried around a warning citation book because not everybody deserves a ticket. I always wrote warnings unless they were doing something stupid over the speed limit.
“This guy didn’t carry a warning book. He basically told me that they don’t write warnings in Sportsmen Acres.”
Farrow fought the case for months, making numerous discovery requests, most of which were overruled. He eventually was convicted and paid a $129 fine, he said.