A Minor Rant

Not exactly rocket science, this:

I never got to the bottom of the situation in that particular town, but the broader question — whether police officers in some towns are motivated by fund-raising as well as safety when writing traffic tickets — has been examined systematically by others. Michael D. Makowsky, a doctoral student in economics, and Thomas Stratmann, an economics professor, both at George Mason University, studied the issue in a recent paper, “Political Economy at Any Speed: What Determines Traffic Citations?”

They examined every warning and citation written by police officers in all of Massachusetts, excluding Boston, during a two-month period in 2001 — over 60,000 in all. Their conclusion wasn’t shocking to an economist: money matters, even in traffic violations. They found a statistical link between a town’s finances and the likelihood that its police officers would issue a speeding ticket. The details are a little sticky, but they show that tickets were issued more often in places that were short on cash, and that out-of-towners received tickets more often than drivers with local addresses.

I guess my bottom-line here is “It’s nice to have academic proof for what we ALL know to be true.” And I have my own lil horror story to add to the pot, as well.

According to The Wiki, Elida, NM…a small town just south of P-Ville… has but 183 people (“As of the census of 2000, there were 183 people, 76 households, and 50 families residing in the town.”). THREE of these people are police officers. That’s three out of 183 people, and one more person in Elida just happens to be a judge, strangely enough. I have it on pretty damned good authority (don’t ask me how, I just know. Trust me.) the town of Elida’s primary source of income is traffic fines. Period. End of report. And they got about $50.00 (or so — I don’t remember the exact amount) from me two years ago, for doing 25 mph in a 15 mph zone…a school zone. The “officer” that pulled me over claimed I was speeding in a school zone, even though I pay CAREFUL attention to such things at all times. The posted limit is 25 mph, and the flashing lights alerting drivers to the school zone limit were NOT on. The officer noted that I was extremely unlucky, in that “the lights go off at 4:00 p.m.” The time on my ticket was 1559 hrs.

One more thing…a car with New Mexico plates preceded me by about two car lengths through the school zone, going at least 35 mph. I have Texas plates on my car. You know who got pulled over…

It wasn’t the fine that upset me, Gentle Reader…it was the 60% increase in my insurance rates that really pissed me off. And there wasn’t a damned thing I could do about it, either, even though that was the first and only ticket I’d received since I was busted for speeding in the Isle of Man in 1982. But that’s yet another story.

The insurance “surcharge” for being a convicted criminal expires this coming year. My animosity for the frickin’ town of Elida will NEVER expire.

Update (clarification) 09/04/2007: My "Inside Elida" source e-mailed me an off-line comment about the town of Elida's finances...thusly:

In Elida, the Police Department supported THEIR DEPARTMENT with fines, not the whole town. Just a minor difference. Of course there aren't too many other departments in Elida. There's water & streets, and the town hall...

Well, now. I dunno if that's better...or worse. It pains me greatly to think I contributed to the support of the "officer" who wrote my ticket.