Waldo Fl. speed trap update

[Laman]

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.

[noplace2]

spoon059 wrote:
People are just hoping for a more lenient enforcement of said speed limit.

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?

And just so you know, I don't have a dog in this fight. I've driven nearly 2 million miles in 48 years and have never gotten a speeding citation. Just trying to wrap my head around why there are posted limits if everyone, including LE, ignores them. I'm not being deliberately obtuse here. I just don't get it.

[Laman]

spoon059 wrote:

Big Katuna wrote:
Wrong. Cities in Florida can set their own speed limits. And add stop signs.

Is it the CITY that sets it, or the POLICE DEPARTMENT? The city government is still there, the police department isn't. I highly doubt that they allow the police department to set the speed limit, therefore disbanding the police department, in and of itself, doesn't change the speed limit one bit.

People are just hoping for a more lenient enforcement of said speed limit.

Yep thats right people are hoping they can get through Waldo without being ticketed for 1 or 2 miles per hour over the quickly changing speed limits by quota driven police dept.

I had occasion to do business with the city of Waldo a number of years ago and was actually warned by the dept. head I had an appointment with to be sure to be below the speed limit coming into town or the chances of getting a ticket were high. My hats off to the officers who stood up and brought truth to the issue.

[spoon059]

Big Katuna wrote:
Wrong. Cities in Florida can set their own speed limits. And add stop signs.

Is it the CITY that sets it, or the POLICE DEPARTMENT? The city government is still there, the police department isn't. I highly doubt that they allow the police department to set the speed limit, therefore disbanding the police department, in and of itself, doesn't change the speed limit one bit.

People are just hoping for a more lenient enforcement of said speed limit.

[noplace2]

Carb Cleaner wrote:
LEOs should get respect for their actions and integrity instead of through intimidation and trickery. It's not just Law Enforcement. We could use a little more integrity, everywhere.

With that attitude and the other opinions posited in your well written post, you won't last long here. I mean, the utter audacity of being REASONABLE! Perish the thought! :C

[Carb_Cleaner]

Professionals shouldn't try to defend their position and career by saying, "Only doing my job." I know the difference between right and wrong. It was taught to me by my parents, other elders and church. I bet you know the difference, too. Plus, I like to believe there's an innate ability for civilized people to treat others as they would like to be treated. Deciding to do the right thing when no one is looking is called integrity.
The officers that finally realized a quota was wrong and stood up to their Supervisor did the right thing. I'm guessing it cost them, dearly. Until the Thin Blue Line attitude is completely abandoned, the abuse and exploitation of citizens will continue. This incidence seems to indicate that many LEOs have integrity. That's encouraging and offers a glimmer of hope that, once again, citizens won't be scared of LEOs. LEOs should get respect for their actions and integrity instead of through intimidation and trickery. It's not just Law Enforcement. We could use a little more integrity, everywhere. It's not a new problem.
I can see where you may consider my statements a personal attack, but they're not meant to be. I understand not all LEO are bad or corrupt, but it only takes one bad apple. The bad apples need to be exposed.
Lies, d@mn lies and statistics. I, too, would like to see the stats on Waldo's crash rate, but I won't go looking for them. Correlation does not mean causation.

[Big_Katuna]

Snip

I think a lot of people here want the speed limits adjusted. The Waldo Police Department didn't set the speed limit, the Florida Dept of Transportation set the speed limit.

Wrong. Cities in Florida can set their own speed limits. And add stop signs.

[noplace2]

down home wrote:
Some's logic is bewildering. The sign is the universe.

I can only guess that this post was born of either alcohol or some other drug. :@

[down_home]

decided not to comment

[noplace2]

spoon059 wrote:
As a police officer, I can state that in my experience 10 to 15 mph over is generally accepted by most reasonable officers.

If you are indeed a LEO I have to ask the same question. Why do we have speed limits at all?

[mileshuff]

Dog Folks wrote:
Do you also tow at 75? If so what brand/type of tires are you using?

Don't tow at 75mph. Usually 65mph. Have XPS Ribs on my 5'er, MS2's on TV.

[spoon059]

Carb Cleaner wrote:
doing what's right. It's about citizens being protected and not exploited.

Define what is RIGHT.

Legally right? Strictly enforcing the speed limit?
Honestly right? No evidence that officers lied to give tickets.
Fairly right? Sounds like EVERYONE that speeds gets a ticket... so its fair.
Ethically right? Again, no evidence that officers lied.

Unless you have another definition if RIGHT, it sounds like the officers were doing something right.

Citizens being protected? I wonder what the crash rate along Rt 301 in Waldo is, compared to other towns. Lower speed limits usually result in less crashes. When there are crashes, lower speeds usually result in less injury. Sounds like citizens are being protected.

It sounds like you are advocating LESS enforcement of the law. The speed limit is still the same, so it is RIGHT to not enforce the speed limit?

I think a lot of people here want the speed limits adjusted. The Waldo Police Department didn't set the speed limit, the Florida Dept of Transportation set the speed limit.

[Carb_Cleaner]

This tread isn't about fretting over what others do, it's about breaking the Thin Blue Line and doing what's right. It's about citizens being protected and not exploited.

[navegator]

CHP in California calls the guy changing lanes and passing every one a volunteer, they volunteer to get a ticket.

Most mechanical speedometers have 10% error, the electronic units are a bit more accurate, and that is dependent on what method of pic up they use, so most Police Departments will give the driver at least that margin.

We used to calibrate the police vehicles speedometers with a dynamometer every 6 months so that the officer had an accurate speed curve to work with, to many ticketed clients wanted to challenge the tickets by wanting to know when the vehicles where calibrated.

Same for the radar guns and motorcycles, and then there is the bright guy that wants to know if the officer is qualified to operate the radar gun.

navegator

[spoon059]

As a police officer, I can state that in my experience 10 to 15 mph over is generally accepted by most reasonable officers.

#1 EVERYONE speeds. Why do I want to waste my time on the guy doing 67 in a 55 and keeping up with traffic when I can wait a minute and get the guy doing 85 in a 55 and causing a larger hazard?

#2 Liberal judges. Technically 56 mph in a 55 mph zone is speeding. Judges would lose their minds if I "wasted" their time writing tickets for 5 or 7 mph over

#3 Speedometers on most civilian cars aren't 100% accurate. I am a reasonable person, I realize that speedometers can be off a little bit.

I don't understand why everyone on here gets so bent out of shape by what OTHER people do. If one guy wants to drive 55 in the 65... that is his right. I would hope he stays to the right so as to not disrupt traffic though. If someone wants to drive 85 in a 65... that is his choice. If a cop pulls him over and writes him up, then he lost the gamble. If he can avoid a citation and get to his destination safely, then he won the gamble.

Why do some people get so worked up about things that they have no control over...?

[wa8yxm]

noplace2 wrote:

down home wrote:
Ten to fifteen over is allowable, in most places now.

Would you, or someone, explain why this is?

There are two reasons for it.

First: Most police officers (At least the good ones) know that the speed your speedometer shows may not be your actual speed. I have compared my dash to my GPS many times and observed differences (Depending on the ride) of several MPH.

So they give you a bit of "Breathing space".

Second.. Why bother the guy doing 70 in the 65 when you can write the idiot doing 90.. The following is a TRUE story.

Michigan State Police put a "Bear in the air over a hunk of the interstate 696 international speedway.. Along with some marked units on the ground of course, In just about an hours time they wrote 85 tickets, Minimum speed to get a cite was 85MPH (not sure what the speed limit was then so can not say how far over) And the top prize winner, was tooling down the road at 105.

I forget if it was 2 or 3 days later they put the other type of aircraft (Fixed wing (Plane) or rotary wing (Helicopter_ They used one one time and the other the second)

Same exact stats.. And why do I think the same idiot at 105 too?


I liked my job as a dispatcher listening to those folks.