  Whittier70 Member Username: Whittier70 Post Number: 10 Registered: 02-2008 |
I live in the city of detroit and drive from the east side through to romulus every day and every day in taylor and romulus i see the waiting police cars in the same spots, pulling people over one unsuspecting speeder after another. I'm not complaining about this, I'm wondering why detroit isn't trying to make money for the city and detroit police department like taylor and eastpointe is doing. When i'm driving back into the city I notice everyone on the road go wide open throttle as soon as they cross 8mile into detroit from eastpointe after doing the speed limit the whole way down Gratiot while in the suburbs where there are police waiting to get speeders. It seems like if they had units waiting like the suburbs do, there would be a unlimited amount of money the city can make off of reckless drivers and in detroit there is no shortage of reckless drivers. The city can make money on moving violations, no insurnace fines and fees, towing and storage fees for all of those many illegal drivers out there. All of the money could be used to hire more officers to fight crime. My question is why doesn't Detroit take advantage of this potential revenue for the city? The city could use the money, right? One good example is in Taylor on Telegraph near I94 in the Gardner White parking lot. Taylor has a car sitting there every day all and and half the night pulling speeders over one after another. They also have two Taylor cars in the middle of I94 near telegraph pulling speeders over all day. All that money theyr'e making. So could Detroit. | ||
Focusonthed Member Username: Focusonthed Post Number: 1687 Registered: 02-2006 |
Detroit doesn't have the cars to spare with such trivial things, I'm assuming. | ||
Whittier70 Member Username: Whittier70 Post Number: 11 Registered: 02-2008 |
if they can get this thing going it can pay for itself, the extra cars and officers. | ||
Stinger4me Member Username: Stinger4me Post Number: 189 Registered: 08-2007 |
Whittier70; Not sure the money from traffic tickets goes directly into the city coffers. Maybe Ray1936 cam chime in on this. | ||
Detroitjim Member Username: Detroitjim Post Number: 5 Registered: 02-2008 |
Before they changed the police radio system to a digital one I used to listen to the calls on a scanner. There were so many calls about the babies daddy causing a commotion or gun related calls that even the traffic enforcement units were doing regular police runs. Now with only three or four cars patrolling the new larger districts .Its impossible to do any proactive policing like traffic enforcement. I'll bet that most of the ticket issued wouldn't get paid anyhow. How many of us do you think have insurance or a valid drivers license. When an officer tries to pull us over to be cited we just run . Due to their liability, they break off the chase and I gets away ,you know!! (Message edited by detroitjim on February 14, 2008) | ||
Thoswolfe Member Username: Thoswolfe Post Number: 24 Registered: 11-2007 |
Usually the speed traps are manned by officers who are on overtime, the city budgets more for police salaries in anticipation of revenue from traffic fines. Taylor- good example.Both my brother, his wife, and I have been stopped there at the furniture store. And we all lived at least 10 miles from there. The officer gave me a ticket for 'obstructing traffic' vs a speeding ticket, no points that way. Real reason- those speed trap tickets only get reported to the state if they are 'points' tickets, so all revenue goes to the city. Hamtramck had a similar plan going for years. So did Redford Twp. They lost alot of revenue when I-96 speed limit was raised from 55 MPH. One time I saw a bad accident just N of 5 Mile/Fenkell on Telegraph. 10 minutes for police to arrive. They came from the 5/Beech area. After traffic cleared, I noticed just ONE mile away there were 2 cars with radar aimed at I-96, one car had radar aimed at traffic coming downhill over the viaduct. Apparently they had orders to clock traffic and not respond to emergency calls. | ||
Whittier70 Member Username: Whittier70 Post Number: 12 Registered: 02-2008 |
i also was stopped in taylor and took the impeading traffic offer too to avoid points. thats a good money maker for their city, more power to em. | ||
Gistok Member Username: Gistok Post Number: 6310 Registered: 08-2004 |
Speed traps also on I-94 near the 8 Mile curve (although a Harper Woods officer told me he only pulls people over going 75 or higher). One of the worst speed traps that I have seen is on the I-696 service drive/11 Mile Rd. just under the I-696/I-94 interchange bridge. There's always Roseville police officers pulling folks coming eastbound on 11 Mile after they've exited I-696. | ||
Whittier70 Member Username: Whittier70 Post Number: 14 Registered: 02-2008 |
what about outer drive exit off southfield fwy in allen park. they catch people flying onto the off ramp onto the service drive. | ||
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936 Post Number: 2724 Registered: 01-2005 |
The distribution of traffic fines is a complex issue. If a ticket is written under a local city ordinance (which is usually the case), some is retained for the expense of the court and some goes to the general city fund. If the violation is cited under state law, those fines would become property of the state. And I don't even want to get into civil infraction fines in a county court. I hate to see politicians gleefully looking at traffic fines to solve their fiscal problems, though. That's not good traffic law enforcement. In my days in Detroit, there never was a quota system, which is as it should be. But there were some officers who were just too lazy to write tickets, and they'd be in for a bit of a reaming after a couple of months of that. It may surprise most DYers, but in my experience of 29 years with the DPD, the vast majority of police officers do not like writing traffic tickets (except for the extreme violators, of course.) | ||
Gene Member Username: Gene Post Number: 49 Registered: 10-2006 |
Warren PD likes the 696 service drive west bound just after the railroad tracks west of Groesbeck. Students are also easy marks on Bunert near MCCC. I had a meeting last week at the DEQ building located on the grounds of old tank plant that was redeveloped by the City of Warren. The fellow I met with told me to drive with caution as the entire complex is a speed trap. Sure enough saw two Warren cars in waiting on my way out. Nice reuse of the tank plant property, but what a way to showcase and encourage economic development in the city. | ||
Lefty2 Member Username: Lefty2 Post Number: 1170 Registered: 07-2007 |
ok everyone quiet down. we don't need more taxes on drivers. just watch out going east on I94 by the 696. | ||
Gistok Member Username: Gistok Post Number: 6311 Registered: 08-2004 |
Gene, how right you are... I get my oil changed at the lube place on Bunert near 12 Mile, and the speed limit is only 25 MPH. Always seeing police officers there, but I never go over 28 MPH on that stretch. Another place to be careful about speed is Mack Ave. in the Grosse Pointes. Ironically the speed is 35MPH westbound on the Detroit side of that border street, but only 30MPH eastbound on the GP Park, GP City and GP Farms side... then once you hit GP Woods (which lines both sides of Mack) the speed is 35MPH. Can anyone think of any other Metro Detroit street that has different speeds for each direction? Lefty2, as long as you remember that 9 1/2 Mile (Stephens) is the border where everything south on I-94 is 55 MPH, and everything north of that point is 70 MPH. The unmarked Eastpointe and St. Clair Shores police and marked State Police are always lurking. But one thing that always baffles me is that I've often seen them waiting between 10 and 10 1/2 (Frahzo) Mile... and that stretch still has 70 MPH... I've seen unmarked cars in gray, black and even tan colors among the Eastpointe, SCS and Harper Woods police. Ironically I've been pulled over in Detroit 3 times on I-94 in the last 7 years (where I average about 65-68 MPH)... by DETROIT cops, and only ever been given a warning to slow down, with no ticket ever! (Message edited by Gistok on February 14, 2008) | ||
Lefty2 Member Username: Lefty2 Post Number: 1171 Registered: 07-2007 |
That stretch of 94 is really a joke 55 to 70 1 blk. 35 mph west to Cadieux in City, then 30. 35mph in Farms and Woods both ways. Tax trap. You must be an upstanding citizen ;) | ||
Crumbled_pavement Member Username: Crumbled_pavement Post Number: 172 Registered: 08-2007 |
Funny I got a ticket in Detroit for going 50 mph south on Outer Drive near I-96. :-( I was pulled over by the Wayne County Sheriff though. Why Detroit doesn't have more speed traps I don't know. They have them here and there but they are never consistent and Whittier70 is correct, people drive like bats out of hell in the city. | ||
Whittier70 Member Username: Whittier70 Post Number: 18 Registered: 02-2008 |
somebody tell me what the deal is with drivers only in Detroit, when the light turns green there's like a 5 minute delay before the first person at the light moves. and don't forget to make a left turn at the last minute from the far right lane. | ||
1953 Member Username: 1953 Post Number: 1541 Registered: 12-2004 |
I support speeding, especially on Detroit freeways. The speed limits are ridiculously low at 55mph. | ||
Jrvass Member Username: Jrvass Post Number: 493 Registered: 01-2007 |
I stick to 5-10 over around Detroit. Now rural MI... I'll do 100-140mph. Just depends on traffic and the weather. I once did 150mph on the Autobahn in the rain. I got passed by a Porche! | ||
Gene Member Username: Gene Post Number: 50 Registered: 10-2006 |
Whittier70, The reason for the delay at traffic lights as any seasoned Detroit driver will tell you is that a blatant disregard for traffic control devices exists. This is a defensive driving technique that has evolved as a result of the many drunks, crackheads and idiots on cell phones on the road. | ||
Otter Member Username: Otter Post Number: 13 Registered: 12-2007 |
To address the OP's post, traffic enforcement should be about traffic safety, not revenue collection. When it is about revenue collection and you get a little enthusiastic about it as such, you end up with Virginia's wildly unpopular (and deservedly so) and soon-to-be-repealed $1000 speeding fines. I was surprised, when I first moved here, at the apparent total lack of traffic enforcement in the city of Detroit - I think it was at least 5 years before I ever saw a car running radar in the city. I do see them now sometimes on I-94, or when I'm on my bike on East Jefferson on some evenings. I've never seen a whole lot of strict adherence to traffic laws in the city in the years I've lived here - ref. things such as those in Gene's post, above. | ||
Detroitplanner Member Username: Detroitplanner Post Number: 1549 Registered: 04-2006 |
Paul, from Greenfield to Southfield is a trap in the City of Detroit. Since only one side of it is developed cars travel down the road at a high rate of speed, blowing through the stop signs. The Detroit police simply wait for the offenders on a side street, by the time they are seen the officer already has recorded speeds or seen them blow through a stop sign. It may not be a heavilly travelled road, but it is a heavilly abused one in terms of drivers obeying simple rules of the road. Freeways posted at 55 or below are done so for safety reasons. These are often areas with high cross traffic (cars moving from right lane to left over short distance) or where lane-widths do not meet standards. (Message edited by Detroitplanner on February 15, 2008) | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 5113 Registered: 10-2003 |
quote: Then you should be ticketed. | ||
Bob Member Username: Bob Post Number: 1677 Registered: 11-2003 |
The 55 MPH on some Metro Detroit Highways is also due to them not being up to current standards for interstate highways. Like I 94 in Detroit having such short acceleration lanes, or the Grand Blvd ramp in the middle of the highway. | ||
Fareastsider Member Username: Fareastsider Post Number: 823 Registered: 08-2006 |
Detroit police should be more pro-active if possible. I know that many people disregard all driving rules in Detroit. Though the way driving in the city is you kind of have to. Detroit in to many ways is like a free city. | ||
Benjo Member Username: Benjo Post Number: 37 Registered: 02-2007 |
I was pulled over last year by DPD while delivering pizza because of a crack in my windshield, and I was given a ticket. I'm glad to see they have their priorities straight. | ||
Darwinism Member Username: Darwinism Post Number: 685 Registered: 06-2005 |
A friend of mine had dinner in Roseville with his wife and 4-year-old last weekend. On the way home, they got pulled over by an officer. Apparently their headlights were not on. The right way to protect and to serve the community would be for the police officer to simply honk or wind down his window and yelled out - "Your lights are off!" But of course in a city struggling for money, the cop would write an impeding traffic ticket to bring in $125. On top of that, the 4-year-old son asked his dad why did the cop catch dad and mom. When my friend told me what happened, I was appalled because it simply proves the notion that the next time there is a vote for more money going to the police department, you should vote 'No' because guess what - they don't need more money, if they can afford to assign officers to sit somewhere for hours on taxpayers's dime in order to tax drivers through traffic tickets. Are we really that dumb to not realize how badly we're being screwed ? I know a few cops in my neighborhood and there are certainly good cops out there. However, the bad cops are making it difficult for us to live a comfortable life in a society fast becoming a police state. Check out this video of how Canton Ohio's finest perform their "duties" - http://www.wkyc.com/news/news_ article.aspx?storyid=82447 | ||
1953 Member Username: 1953 Post Number: 1542 Registered: 12-2004 |
Johnlodge: I cannot be ticketed for SUPPORTING speeding, since I am only expressing my opinion about it, not doing it. | ||
Hamtragedy Member Username: Hamtragedy Post Number: 94 Registered: 10-2007 |
EB E. McNichols to NB Mound. New No left turn. Pullovers stack up north of Nevada. EB W. McNichols to NB W. Outer Drive. No left turn 3-7 PM. Go ahead and try it. W. Outer Drive either direction at Evergreen (Stoepel Park). Fairly new No Left Turn, with a new Michigan left turn. Unfortunately when you're traveling EB on Outer Dr., that left turn onto Vaughn is part of the MIch. left for WB traffic, but there is no sign indicating as such. Frequent tickets, both. Now if you could only get these assholes to stop doing 50 down Evergreen next to a crowded Stoepel park, you wouldn't have to see a new stuffed animal memorial every spring. And that light at Evergreen and Fenkell. Ever since they put in the new Left Turn Lane 2 summers ago, the lites have been horribly mis-timed, so much that the traffic on Evergreen backs up to Stoepel Park during rush hours, (especially when the Southfield's backed up) and crotch rockets drive on the sidewalk to get thru. I've called the City and the County and get the run around every time. No one seems to know who operates that intersection. And you would think the police would execute a change order or something, except they're too busy turning on their lights, beeping the horn, blowing the intersection, and then turning their lights off. | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 5140 Registered: 10-2003 |
quote: Hmmm, touché. | ||
Erikd Member Username: Erikd Post Number: 990 Registered: 10-2003 |
Police speed traps and seatbelt stings are little more than gestapo-style tactics, where the government abdicates its responsibility to protect and serve the citizenry, in favor of using police authority as a tool for revenue generation. America has far more violent crime than any other first-world country, and this abuse of police power doesn't help the situation. I am outraged by the fact that our government will use the police to set up traps for the purpose of handing out traffic citations, while failing to respond to emergency calls in the same area. | ||
Postbop Member Username: Postbop Post Number: 72 Registered: 09-2007 |
Grosse Pointe Farms Mack Ave. between Moross and Cadieux- always a cop near Kirby Rd.- have been pulled over twice for going 3 and 5 over. | ||
Hamtragedy Member Username: Hamtragedy Post Number: 97 Registered: 10-2007 |
I obey every traffic sign on Mack, in GP, because I usually have an open container coming out of the rink....... | ||
Abraham Member Username: Abraham Post Number: 20 Registered: 06-2005 |
ha! Same here. | ||
Whittier70 Member Username: Whittier70 Post Number: 31 Registered: 02-2008 |
the police better be careful not to pull over monica conyers, she has four brothers. | ||
Gistok Member Username: Gistok Post Number: 6318 Registered: 08-2004 |
Postbop, that police officer always parked at Kirby Rd. usually goes for the easy pickin's... those folks going westbound on Mack wanting to make a U-Turn at the island at Kirby to go to Wendy's or one of the other stores on the westbound side of that block of Mack. There's a "NO U-TURN" sign on Mack (a boulevard) at Kirby. |
