http://www.nj.com/…

Police departments in a handful of New Jersey towns are implementing directives that require officers to write a minimum number of tickets every month. To the police chiefs and mayors in those towns, the directives are a good way to measure productivity, and officers who don’t comply can face unsatisfactory performance reviews.

To some officers and the state Policemen’s Benevolent Association, they’re something else: quotas designed to generate revenue for financially strapped municipalities.

“We’re not toll collectors, we’re public safety officers,” said James Ryan, spokesman for the state Policemen’s Benevolent Association. “When the greater good is public safety, that’s where (writing more tickets) makes sense. But (not) if there’s no increase in traffic accidents, no increase in fatalities.”

Ryan said five to 10 officers from departments statewide have raised complaints in recent months.

Mitchell Sklar, executive director of the State Association of Chiefs of Police, said departments can demand officers perform at the same level as peers and one way to monitor performance is the average number of tickets written.

“How could you otherwise look at performance? You can’t subtract traffic or road safety from the duties of a police officer,” Sklar said. “It’s critical to manage day-to-day operations.”

A 2001 state statute makes it illegal for any law enforcement agency to force police officers to make a certain number of arrests or citations. But it is legal to use an average number of summonses written when it is one of several criteria for promotion, demotion or dismissal.

I’m not sure if it was better when we knew they had quotas but they didn’t admit it or not. At least we can confirm it now to those who had a doubt. And just as with the speed cameras show that they care more about money then safety.

On my way to midtown today:

NYPD squad car 4182 double parked while the cops grab something to eat. I ran out of space on the camera so I couldn’t get a good shot of the 5 or so officers standing on the sidewalk in front of the grease truck. How much does one want to bet they’d ticket anyone else who double parked like that?

You can find more agents of the government of NY breaking the law over at JimmyJustice’s YouTube page. He’s annoying but does good work.

http://www.wreg.com/…

Traveling around Memphis, you probably don’t think much about terrorists, but law officers do.

It was front and center stage at a round up Saturday.

Operation Sudden Impact included police, deputies, FBI, drug agents, and even gang units all working together to see how crimes may be linked.

“People committing crimes down in Crittenden County might have some kind of warrant, and we might be looking for them in Shelby County. We in turn feed that information into state police, which can give us a national and international nexus if one exists,” says Shelby County Sheriff Mark Luttrell.

He says terrorists usually have other links and because Memphis is a distribution center, it has to be especially on guard. That includes the waterways.

The U.S. Coast Guard in Memphis was a part of Saturday’s round-up, checking a boat on the river.

“We look at everything, the safety of the tow boat in general. We also check out the crew members, just to make sure there is nobody hiding out on the tow boat, felons, criminals etc.,” says Lt. Timothy Martin of the U.S. Coast Guard in Memphis.

They say sharing information and building relationships is a big step in fighting back against those intent on harm.

The Sheriff’s Department says 332 people were arrested, 142 of whom are were fugitives.

Hundreds of dollars were seized and drugs recovered, and 1,292 traffic violations were handed out.

They are determining if and when they plan another round-up.

http://www.commercialappeal.com/…

“Not all of this initiative is to arrest people,” said Deputy Chief Donna Turner of the Tipton County Sheriff’s Department.Many agencies put an emphasis on traffic stops. A little after 8 p.m. Saturday in Hickory Hill, Sgt. Chris Harris of the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office street crimes unit stopped a white SUV that was booming with music. The driver was driving on a suspended license — he received a citation — and there was marijuana residue in the car, but “not enough to weigh out,” Harris said.

Still, every traffic stop holds the potential of netting much more than expected.

“Timothy McVeigh, who bombed the federal building in Oklahoma, was stopped because of a busted tail light,” said Shelby County Sheriff Mark Luttrell.

Todd said he expected Bartlett police to hit more than 50 houses Saturday night and this morning in search of fugitives. Those they didn’t find and arrest, he expected they might apprehend within a few days.

“Some of these people will turn themselves in later once they know we know where they live,” Todd said. “Family members will put pressure on them.”

Lt. Timothy Martin, chief of response for the Coast Guard’s Sector Lower Mississippi River unit, said in recent weeks they have been working with local police and fire departments.

“We’re out there to show that just as the land side is covered by police and the sheriff,” Martin said, “we’re on the water, boarding boats, checking bridges, refineries and power plants.”

All crime-related information will be forwarded to the State of Tennessee’s Homeland Security Center in Nashville to see if there are possible ties to terrorism.

This is not something which hasn’t happened before but it is no less unnerving. A Google News search for “operation sudden impact” results in only 7 hits at the time of writing. Only one seems to be about it before it occurred. Notice how it’s all in the name of catching terrorists yet they go after generic criminals, setup traffic check points and issue tickets for minor traffic violations and search for drugs, board and search ships and businesses. Of course InfoWars.net has their take on it all calling it a preparation for martial law. I have a hard time disagreeing. These events are fairly board in scope and implication yet completely under reported. Given the laws passed in last few years allowing for more and more executive control over all aspects of law the belief that they may in fact utilize such power has only gathered strength.

http://www.portlandmercury.com/portland/Content?oid=753233&category=22101

A CITIZEN who watched a cop illegally park, then walk into a Chinese restaurant to wait for his food, has issued the officer a series of citizen-initiated parking violations.

Eric Bryant says he was sitting in the SanSai Japanese Grill on NW 21st and Hoyt on March 7 when he witnessed Officer Chad Stensgaard pull up and park his patrol car illegally, next to a “No Parking” sign.

Stensgaard walked into the restaurant wearing his police uniform, but did not make any arrests or citations. Instead, he turned his attention to the basketball game on television, according to Bryant. When Bryant asked Stensgaard about his vehicle, Stensgaard allegedly acknowledged being in a no-parking zone but asked Bryant, “If someone broke into your house, would you rather have the police be able to park in front of your house or have to park three blocks away and walk there?”

Bryant returned to his seat, and says shortly afterward he watched a restaurant employee hand the officer a plastic bag before he left. Unfortunately for Officer Stensgaard, Bryant had recently passed the Oregon bar exam, and decided to pursue the matter further.

“If he had acknowledged and corrected his error, we could have avoided this whole thing,” says Bryant. “But instead, he kept watching basketball and told me he wasn’t doing anything wrong.”

Now, using ORS 153.058, Bryant-as a private citizen-has initiated violation proceedings against Officer Stensgaard. Bryant alleges Stensgaard was in violation of state statutes on illegal parking, illegal stopping, obeying parking restrictions on state highways, and illegal operation of an emergency vehicle or ambulance-the violations carry fines totaling $540.

Officer Stensgaard has received a Multnomah County summons to appear in traffic court on May 23. Meanwhile Bryant denies he is just stirring up trouble.

“Citizens should be concerned that he used his status as an officer of the law as justification for breaking the law,” he says.

Stensgaard declined comment through the cops’ office of public information.

I don’t know what the laws are in other states but there needs to be more of this.

http://www.burtonmail.co.uk/…

A SPEED camera in Burton could be the latest target of a guerilla campaign against the devices.

The camera, on Ashby Road, Winshill, near its junction with Tower Road, was put out of action at the weekend after vandals placed car tyres at the base of the camera pole and set it on fire.

The attack blackened the pole and outer casing, while smoke damaged the camera mechanism causing it to malfunction, meaning drivers have been able to flout the 40mph speed limit without being caught.

Speed cameras have been the subject of debate in recent years, with some motorists disputing government and road safety campaigners’ claims about the safety benefits of cameras and claiming they are used by police forces as a money-making exercise.

The increasing prevalence of the devices on Britain’s roads led to one group, Motorists Against Detection (MAD), beginning a ‘direct action’ campaign against speed cameras.

The group, founded in 2000 and led by a shadowy figure known only as ‘Captain Gatso’, co-ordinate their efforts over the Internet and claim to have disabled more than 1,000 cameras.

The group’s methods range from low-level criminal damage such as spray-painting the lense of the devices, to more serious acts such as arson attacks like the one in Burton, felling the cameras using an angle grinder and even blowing them up with explosives.

I’m conflicted by these type of events. On the one hand I don’t generally advocate destroying property. However, these people are having their money extracted from them at the threat of prison or worse. Now it’s likely they aren’t thinking of it that way and happily pay taxes (or claim to) for all kinds of state run programs so in this case I think they are over reacting and have little to use as justification. They could just wait and likely they will be removed. Government is so wasteful and inefficient that here in the US municipalities are taking down speeding and red light cameras because people start obeying the law and the income generated from the cameras doesn’t cover their cost. And no one wants to raise taxes to supposedly save lives.

I wish we knew the reasoning behind the judge’s decision. I’m too lazy to look it up but I would think driving without registration is a mistimeaner so that ruling may not have been as good as it sounds but I’d think it wouldn’t be. I’ve recently gotten a renewal form for my vehicles registration and have been thinking about whether or not I’m going to send it back to the state with a check for the amount they request or a letter telling them I’m not interested in this registration “service” they are providing. Given the envelope is not prepaid… I don’t think I’ll be doing either. The car hasn’t been inspected since 2005 I think either. I do have a valid license and insurance… I should probably check to see if they have any requirements with regard to registration and inspection just in case.