  Darwinism Member Username: Darwinism Post Number: 702 Registered: 06-2005 |
http://www.wxyz.com/content/ne ws/investigators/story.aspx?co ntent_id=6247586b-8dea-43ab-8e 1b-a74082ffe280 All these traffic stops and hyper-active ticketing are adding up to be quite a scheme. From the Channel 7 investigation, it is obvious that cops are putting money in their pockets through overtime pay. Huge amounts of overtime pay. We also know that local district courts are funded, by Traffic and Ordinance Violations, and that is how the traffic magistrate, district court judges and prosecutors are paid. So, who then is looking out for us ? How did we as taxpayers and citizens have allowed something like this to occur ? | ||
Mrsjdaniels Member Username: Mrsjdaniels Post Number: 465 Registered: 08-2005 |
yep...I received a ticket from WCS in HP a few years ago that was completely baseless. they'd turned a traffic sign sideways that said "no left turn", parked a cop car on the other side of the street and was pulling ppl over for fun. then when i got to court to fight, they brought all of us in a room, said pay $100 and leave - no points assessed. I felt i had a great case because I was pictures to prove my case, judge said "whatever" and sided with the cop. all for $100 | ||
Gravitymachine Member Username: Gravitymachine Post Number: 1975 Registered: 05-2005 |
holy crap, i've been pulled over twice by that guy (known as "boots" to the folks at the tech center that have had run ins with that asshole, after his well polished jack boots), once for not slowing to 35mph immediatly upon entering the now defunct mound road speed trap and once for a stop sign violation (which i also thought was questionable), much like the ones described in the story. he failed to show for the first offence, so nearly the entire court room that morning had their cases dismissed, the second time, i and 9 other people pleaded to blockading (the non-points offence) for failure to stop at the same interestion. it is going to make so many of my co-workers happy that there is a little media scrutiny on this racket! | ||
Lefty2 Member Username: Lefty2 Post Number: 1274 Registered: 07-2007 |
Wow; thats the same jack booted thug that told my friends lawyer that he will lie to the judge about my friend having crack in his car when it was only road salt. | ||
Defendbrooklyn Member Username: Defendbrooklyn Post Number: 714 Registered: 11-2005 |
If dickbag i mean KANAPSKY worked 7 days a week he would issue 6.4 stop sign violations a day...What about speeding and all other minor violations... That being said, he wants more money and is doing what he has to. In terms of salary, teachers are always compared to cops...The major difference thats never mentioned is that cops can earn OT! | ||
Mcp001 Member Username: Mcp001 Post Number: 3287 Registered: 11-2003 |
This has been happening for years. It's nothing new. | ||
Diehard Member Username: Diehard Post Number: 348 Registered: 03-2005 |
Good reason never to go to Warren. | ||
1953 Member Username: 1953 Post Number: 1547 Registered: 12-2004 |
There does seem to be increased traffic enforcement vigilance these days, by anecdotal observation. | ||
Darwinism Member Username: Darwinism Post Number: 703 Registered: 06-2005 |
quote: quote: This should have been stopped years ago, while it was new. And it is definitely not only limited to Warren - it is a problem everywhere in Metro Detroit. Again ..... how did our intelligent community let something like this happen without intervention ? Where are the checks and balances, when each party along the way have financial gains to prey on the public ? | ||
Gannon Member Username: Gannon Post Number: 11723 Registered: 12-2003 |
I wish the search function worked...I warned y'alls about this new taxation ever since every governmental body started having monetary difficulties...it is pretty obvious how they work to increase revenues by any means necessary. Even better when the 'common' knowledge is that 5-over is 'safe'...except during that time of the month when they tally up the totals and some lunkheaded cops go on a rampage looking for any excuse to pull someone over! I cannot remember the last time I got pulled over. It's been too long. | ||
Mcp001 Member Username: Mcp001 Post Number: 3289 Registered: 11-2003 |
Gannon pretty much hit the nail on the head, Darwinism. With revenue about to go south due to the taxable amounts on homes decreasing beginning next year, these cities (and it's not only Warren) will do whatever that can to prevent themselves from making tough decisions like everyone else has to in Michigan. Unfortunately, this also includes prostituting their own police forces. | ||
Mauser765 Member Username: Mauser765 Post Number: 2545 Registered: 01-2004 |
"In terms of salary, teachers are always compared to cops...The major difference thats never mentioned is that cops can earn OT!" Major difference is pension. Cops get MUCH higher percent of their actual pay for pension, and are eligible much sooner than any teacher. | ||
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936 Post Number: 2797 Registered: 01-2005 |
That's because they're burned out sooner than teachers. a 60-year old teacher is in his/her prime. A 60 year old cop is so far over the hill there's no comparison. Police work is a young man's job, like it or not. | ||
Gannon Member Username: Gannon Post Number: 11725 Registered: 12-2003 |
Ray, Especially when YOU were policing...but I daresay teachers deserve HIGH RISK pay nowadays, too! Anyone on the front lines has my highest respect. Until, of course, they chose to give that up...like my Royal Joke friend. Cheers | ||
Harsensis Member Username: Harsensis Post Number: 332 Registered: 07-2005 |
I was reading a Minneapolis paper today and they had a story about cops who have been handing out warnings instead of tickets because they think a new state fee is to high. I guess the state gets 74 dollars for each ticket and they feel it is to much for most drivers. Kind of opposite for this guy. I had a run in with Warren a number of years ago. I fought the speeding ticket and won, then the kicker was the court costs were just as high as the ticket, so I was out the money anyways. At least my insurance didn't go up from the points. It is a scam though. There are many speed traps in Warren. Bunert between 11 and 12 is a huge one. | ||
Darwinism Member Username: Darwinism Post Number: 704 Registered: 06-2005 |
This is truly, truly a disgrace to our justice system. Think about it -- this officer makes more than $86,000 in pay. There are CEOs and university professors that don't even make that kind of money. How many of you DetroitYES forumers bring in that much in 2007 ?! There should have been an outrage, a major outrage, that municipalities are going down to this shameful tactic to make money. | ||
Diehard Member Username: Diehard Post Number: 350 Registered: 03-2005 |
I just can't wrap my head around the idea that all these drivers are getting pulled over who did absolutely nothing wrong, going before the judge and losing. Wouldn't the judge start to question the cop's credibility after getting so many of the same cases? Or is the judge in on the scam, since they get paid that way? Good drivers with perfect records are just randomly getting extorted, and there's no legal recourse? Other than avoiding Warren, of course. | ||
Darwinism Member Username: Darwinism Post Number: 705 Registered: 06-2005 |
Diehard, the problem is, as Gannon mentioned above, municipalities everywhere in Metro Detroit are going broke and not just Warren. It might be a good idea to avoid driving altogether. Unfortunately, legal recourse becomes difficult when the courts and its personnel are being paid through these traffic tickets. Call it a tax, call it extortion, the bottom line is a complete joke being made of our rights as citizens and taxpayers. (Message edited by darwinism on February 27, 2008) | ||
Diehard Member Username: Diehard Post Number: 351 Registered: 03-2005 |
What's even more disturbing is that good drivers end up with points on their licenses and higher insurance premiums because of these corrupt jackasses. They end up paying a lot more than a one-time fine. For doing absolutely nothing wrong. And I was all pissed about getting railroaded over a parking ticket - at least my insurance won't go up over that. Oh, if we only had mass transit. | ||
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936 Post Number: 2799 Registered: 01-2005 |
"Police work is a young man's job, like it or not." My bad. Re-phrase that to read, "a young person's job...etc". I was among the first to support women in patrol functions as a good thing. That was over thirty years ago, and I was a real minority. Fortunately, I won. | ||
Gannon Member Username: Gannon Post Number: 11727 Registered: 12-2003 |
I was crossing Michigan Avenue at Military in West Dearborn today...walking...and caught an officer intently staring at his video screen, awaiting the reply from the license plate number he just ran from the minivan in front of him. He had every look the stern taskmaster, in his bad-ass unmarked car stoked to the nines with technology tied to the national database. I got a shiver up my spine...and NOT from the seventeen degree weather! | ||
Patrick Member Username: Patrick Post Number: 5252 Registered: 10-2003 |
I drive on Van Dyke through Warren everyday. Warren is on the downer and needs every cent it can get. I went three staight weeks seeing a person pulled over on Van Dyke. Another asshole officer pulled me over on the speed trap north of 696, south of the tech center. I always watch my speed at 35 there. When I had to go to court the asshole judge was rolling em in every 30 seconds....must have made Warren 10K in a about 25 minutes. To bad the south end of your city looks like a ghetto. Fuckers. | ||
Patrick Member Username: Patrick Post Number: 5253 Registered: 10-2003 |
Officer Kapansky is responding to an online forum...no shit. http://www.topix.com/forum/cit y/sterling-heights-mi/TVB3MUM8 LHTQ8H7DD/p6#lastPost | ||
Mind_field Member Username: Mind_field Post Number: 865 Registered: 10-2003 |
Oh no, will michigan turn into Ohio with everyone driving the speed limit cuz we will be so afraid of getting a ticket? We can't lose our "life in the fast lane character" here in metro Detroit. | ||
Gistok Member Username: Gistok Post Number: 6375 Registered: 08-2004 |
I wanted to point one thing out... taxable amounts on homes are going down ONLY for new time homebuyers. If you've owned your home for circa 7 or more years, the taxable amount will continue to go up until the Headlee amount matches the State Equalized Value amount. For most Metro-Detroit long time home owners, there's quite a gap between the lower Headlee (taxable) amount and SEV (resale) amount. | ||
Darwinism Member Username: Darwinism Post Number: 706 Registered: 06-2005 |
Patrick, your link above shows quite a riot. It is difficult to tell whether the real Kanapsky or Kanapsky Jr. were actually posting on an online forum. At any rate, I will be calling the Macomb County Prosecutor's Office, Oakland County Prosecutor's Office, a few civil rights attorneys and also more TV investigative reporters in Michigan to complain as well as to request an in-depth crackdown on such a disgusting practice of financial gains spanning the police officers all the way to the magistrates and judges. | ||
Diehard Member Username: Diehard Post Number: 352 Registered: 03-2005 |
One other thing that I found confusing: At the end of the TV report, it says that drivers should keep in mind that traffic stops are all taped by the police dashboard camera. But... don't those cameras only start rolling once the car's been pulled over, making it impossible to know whether someone ran a stop sign or not? If the camera is on all the time, why on earth are they not using the video in court rather than relying on "it's the cop's word against yours?" | ||
Mcp001 Member Username: Mcp001 Post Number: 3293 Registered: 11-2003 |
Unless the process has changed, as it was explained to me a while back, to cameras don't start recording until the lights are switched on. | ||
Birwood Member Username: Birwood Post Number: 77 Registered: 10-2007 |
Diehard, according to my son, the camera starts as soon as the key is turned in the ignition. | ||
Darwinism Member Username: Darwinism Post Number: 707 Registered: 06-2005 |
It is really a shame to have such a racket involving the police department and the court system, because these are the people we trust to serve and protect the community. It gives such a black eye to the good cops such as Birwood's children and Ray1936. After talking to the Macomb County Prosecutor's Office, Oakland County Prosecutor's Office and also more TV investigative reporters in Metro Detroit ..... they are telling me that many complaints have begun to come in. | ||
Gannon Member Username: Gannon Post Number: 11747 Registered: 12-2003 |
Anyone want to help me prototype and market an idea to safeguard the average driver from abuses such as these? | ||
Mcp001 Member Username: Mcp001 Post Number: 3310 Registered: 11-2003 |
Be careful, Gannon. | ||
Buyamerican Member Username: Buyamerican Post Number: 456 Registered: 02-2007 |
Hey Gannon, what happened to the other thread? It was just getting interesting. | ||
Gannon Member Username: Gannon Post Number: 11751 Registered: 12-2003 |
Not my fault, I heard about it going gone last night at the FSC. We were all wondering... | ||
Sturge Member Username: Sturge Post Number: 223 Registered: 05-2007 |
Too bad murder, theft, and rape aren't nearly as revenue generating as minor traffic violations. | ||
Darwinism Member Username: Darwinism Post Number: 708 Registered: 06-2005 |
Interesting read: http://www.motorists.org/blog/ corruption/traffic-tickets-are -big-business/ | ||
Lefty2 Member Username: Lefty2 Post Number: 1318 Registered: 07-2007 |
^ Right Sturge, Cops (cities they represent) make more of the law abiding citizens via the cattle call of lined up so called citizen scofflaws who put 1/4 pound extra pressure on the accelerator for three seconds. Nothing but tax sucking socialists at heart. | ||
Hornist9 Member Username: Hornist9 Post Number: 77 Registered: 05-2005 |
Ray1936 Wrote: "a 60-year old teacher is in his/her prime." As a retired 56 year old teacher, believe me when I tell you that after nearly 30 years of dealing with 35-40 kids in a classroom at a shot, dealing with their lack of discipline and respect for teachers, you're wrong! Most teachers are able to take a buy-out and retire as soon as their age and length of service adds up to 85... My wife just paid a fine yesterday in Bloomfield Hills. She was nabbed for doing quite a bit over the limit. Since she has a good record, the cop wrote it for only 5 over. We went to court and got them to take the points off. I sure as hell don't want to pay anything more to my insurance company. I don't know what the two points would do to my insurance bill over the next two or three years. Unfortunately, the State and locals are taxing us via this game. I try to stay within the law as much as possible. I only think it's gonna get worse. Be sure to signal your intentions, as they will probably go after every little petty thing they can get you for... | ||
Darwinism Member Username: Darwinism Post Number: 709 Registered: 06-2005 |
Hornist9, it's already bad enough at this point, getting worse is not an option. This game has got to stop, and all it takes is the power of the media and the power of the people. Channel 7 and others are already getting the ball rolling with the exposure of Officer Kanapsky. Contact your county prosecutor's office, and contact your state representative. Let them know this is going on and it must end immediately. |
