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Laman's avatar
Laman
Explorer
Oct 02, 2014

Waldo Fl. speed trap update

I don't have the link to the story but the famous (or infamous) Waldo, Fl. police dept. was dis-banded by the city council on Tuesday. The dept. is still under investigation by the FDLE. Reason given was lack of funds, funny since the fines levied by the police accounted for a significant amount of the city budget.
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  • Francesca_Knowl's avatar
    Francesca_Knowl
    Explorer
    Oct 07, 2014
    noplace2 wrote:

    arrogant,irresponsible,immature and power hungry individuals in LE.
    Yikes.

    A concerted attack on a law enforcement officer. Dunno what the attacker's motive is to continue to harass Public Servant "Officer Spoon", but I would ask:

    Would we here tolerate such an attack on a member of the Federal Military?

    I'd point out that the Officer under repeated attack here serves in one of the most dangerous places in the U.S.A.- likely far more dangerous, statistically speaking, than doing duty in one of those fortresses we've built overseas to give Federal Soldiers a place to hide/protect themselves from the local population. This not to mention that our own day-to-day safety/security is much more dependent on Local Law Enforcement than on those doing time in one of our Foreign Adventure theaters.

    And yet... so few voices raised in protest.

    Shame on us!
  • navegator's avatar
    navegator
    Explorer
    Oct 07, 2014
    There are no coinsidenses in police work and there are always two sides to the story!

    Likers and dislikers, you do your job and at the end of the day you go home, after you witnesed a 3 year old little girl that was boilled to death by the drug using aunt and boy friend, knowing that you had to hold your anger and content and not shoot the bastards right then and there, that stays with you for ever and then the next day you get the idiot that was doing 60 in a 25 mile an hour school zone with kids walking home, and he gets all pissed that he gets to see the judge and pay a speeding ticket, luck would have it that he did not kill more kids.

    Hate the cops if you want, the police still try to prtect you from you.

    navegator
  • noplace2's avatar
    noplace2
    Explorer
    Oct 07, 2014
    spoon059 wrote:
    I cannot make the speed limit 70 mph.

    But in actuality you are arbitrarily making the speed limit 69 in a 55.

    When you had a kid, did you smack his bottom and send him to time out for every single last thing that he did wrong?

    Never went the progeny route.

    If you took the time to read my post in its entirety, you would have seen my logic for allow 14 over.

    Read every word. Still don't understand it and I'm far from ignorant.

    Just to give you a different perspective about your view of law enforcement officers...

    You state that you generally used to respect LEO's. You had a few bad dealings with a few bad LEO's, so now you don't respect them.

    Again you read what you want to read. I did NOT state that I don't respect them, only that that respect has slipped.

    Is it okay now that humans are scum?

    Am I, as a police officer, allowed to generalize a large cross section of the population because of bad interactions with those 3 people?

    There is no need to lecture me about human nature. I am a retired RN who spent 17 years in inpatient adult and adolescent psychiatry. Just as you, I've seen the worst that the species has to offer. And with another 7 years in Hospice care I've seen the best.

    I don't categorize anyone.
  • p220sigman's avatar
    p220sigman
    Explorer
    Oct 07, 2014
    I think that cities can change the limit on municipal/local roads, but not state highways. Section 316.189, FS says "(1)MUNICIPAL SPEED.—The maximum speed within any municipality is 30 miles per hour. With respect to residence districts, a municipality may set a maximum speed limit of 20 or 25 miles per hour on local streets and highways after an investigation determines that such a limit is reasonable. It shall not be necessary to conduct a separate investigation for each residence district. A municipality may set speed zones altering the speed limit, both as to maximum, not to exceed 60 miles per hour, and minimum, after investigation determines such a change is reasonable and in conformity to criteria promulgated by the Department of Transportation, except that no changes shall be made on state highways or connecting links or extensions thereof, which shall be changed only by the Department of Transportation."
  • Big_Katuna's avatar
    Big_Katuna
    Explorer II
    Oct 07, 2014
    It is my understanding of the FDOT manual that they set the max speed limits based on a set of standards including road type, population, pedestrian traffic etc.
    the local jurisdictions can lower limits but not increase limits. If a city has a crosswalk, they can lower the limit.
  • spoon059's avatar
    spoon059
    Explorer II
    Oct 07, 2014
    noplace2 wrote:
    Apparently you don't, given what you just stated

    "Therefore I usually give you 14 mph over the speed limit. 69 in a 55 won't get you pulled. 70 will."

    So why not post the speed limit at 70 and enforce it? And again, just so you know, I have been a staunch supporter of LEOs for most of my 63 years.

    I have diverged from that opinion given contact with arrogant,irresponsible,immature and power hungry individuals in LE. And no, nothing personal. Still have never received a citation for anything.

    Again... I don't make the rules guy. I don't know how else to say it. I am not responsible for maximum allowable speed limits. I cannot make the speed limit 70 mph.

    I do enforce the law, just not strictly. When you had a kid, did you smack his bottom and send him to time out for every single last thing that he did wrong? Doubtful. If you took the time to read my post in its entirety, you would have seen my logic for allow 14 over. I don't really care if you agree with my logic. If you think you can do better, you can apply to your local department and try your hand at it.

    Just to give you a different perspective about your view of law enforcement officers...

    You state that you generally used to respect LEO's. You had a few bad dealings with a few bad LEO's, so now you don't respect them.

    What if I told you that I used to respect humans? Let me give you a look into my afternoon today. I had a suicidal HIV positive man spit on me and try to get his blood on me while I restrained him to prevent him from killing himself. What if I had your mentality, and decided that since I had a bad dealing with this one guy that I no longer respect humans and think they are all scum. That would be unacceptable to you, right?

    Okay, that's only one instance Spoon... you are blowing it out of proportion.

    Yesterday I arrested a guy for about the 10th time for sneaking into apartment building computer lobbies and watching porn and masturbating in front of people. What if I decided after that experience that humans are scum? Is that more acceptable now?

    2 weeks ago I arrested a guy that beat the piss out of his wife because breakfast wasn't prepared fast enough for him. Is it okay now that humans are scum?

    Am I, as a police officer, allowed to generalize a large cross section of the population because of bad interactions with those 3 people?

    No, of course not. The ACLU would be up my rear end if I made comments that I no longer felt that subsection of people was worth spit because of a few dealings with them.

    The chief would fire me and state that I am unfit to be a police officer.

    The news media would have a field day with the "rogue cop".

    Thankfully, unlike people like YOU noplace2, my coworkers and I don't react like you. I tend to treat each individual as their own person. When I have been burned by one person before, I go in with heightened senses, but treat that experience on its own.

    By the way, if you dislike cops so much now, how much MORE pissed would you be if you got pulled over and cited for 1 mph above the speed limit? You seem upset that I don't strictly enforce that law with others... I doubt you would be so upset if you got a break for 14 over though. Then again, I doubt your argument has anything to do with my lenience with the speed limit...
  • p220sigman's avatar
    p220sigman
    Explorer
    Oct 07, 2014
    I don't know about other towns or states, but the article I linked to earlier clearly indicated that the Florida Department of Transportation set the speed limits in Waldo. "The limits were set at the sole direction — without input from Waldo — of the Florida Department of Transportation, which uses a method of traffic pattern analysis to determine prudent speeds. The 45-mph zone where the majority of the tickets in Waldo were written was created to slow down motorists for pedestrians who cross the highway for the flea market."

    Additionally, even thought the PD is no more, there are no plans to change the speed limits. Also from the article, ""We are going to monitor the situation very closely and see how law enforcement handles it," FDOT Traffic Engineer Tony Falotico said about the speed limits in Waldo. "I firmly believe those speed limits are set at what they need to be."

    Falotico also said the last study on the U.S. 301 speed limits in Waldo was conducted in 2012 and that FDOT has no plans to conduct another in the near future."

    Personally, I've been through there many times and never remotely felt in danger of getting a ticket. I do completely agree that quotas for traffic enforcement are wrong and unethical, but I think you will see the other agencies who have jurisdiction there step up the enforcement efforts because it seems to be what the citizens of the community want them to do.
  • wa8yxm's avatar
    wa8yxm
    Explorer III
    Oct 06, 2014
    noplace2 wrote:
    Nothing here has persuaded me differently. I will continue doing the posted limit. If you are behind me on a 2 lane and want to go faster, you'll just have to wait your turn for a passing zone.


    That is a good policy NoPlace2. HOWEVER.....

    I mentioned earlier towns underlined in RED by AAA.

    Some of them as you enter the town the limit drops from 55-45, then 35, then 25, so fast you'd have to stand on the brakes with both feet to make it to 25 before you get the ticket. or, the lower speed sign, is behind a tree or bush so it can not be seen from the road. (I recall one intersection where a sign was hidden behind a sign) .

    Thus they get you.... Now... The good folks I worked with (Michigan State Police) As far as I know they did NOT engage in that kind of ticketing, and I think I know fairly well.

    BUT,, Most of the places that happens are city PDs and some of them.. Well, Some of them I do not feel kindly towards.
  • noplace2's avatar
    noplace2
    Explorer
    Oct 06, 2014
    spoon059 wrote:
    noplace2 wrote:
    I'll ask it for a 3rd time:

    If, as you asserted above that most LEOs will ignore 10-15 above the posted, why have speed limits at all?


    "Not sure what you want from me here... I don't make the rules, I only enforce them."

    Apparently you don't, given what you just stated

    "Therefore I usually give you 14 mph over the speed limit. 69 in a 55 won't get you pulled. 70 will."

    So why not post the speed limit at 70 and enforce it? And again, just so you know, I have been a staunch supporter of LEOs for most of my 63 years.

    I have diverged from that opinion given contact with arrogant,irresponsible,immature and power hungry individuals in LE. And no, nothing personal. Still have never received a citation for anything.
  • tegu69's avatar
    tegu69
    Explorer
    Oct 06, 2014
    The town I live in wanted to lower the speed limit (state road) from 40 mph which it has been for as long as I remember, to a much lower speed. They seem to think that if they lowered the speed limit, more people would visit the local shops (on their way to Walmart I guess). The state said they could go to 35, which they did. Traffic travels at the same speed they did before, about 45 average. If they really wanted to slow people down they need a reputation not different signs.

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