What can I do if the police are obviously targeting my neighborhood for traffic tickets?

Bud W

There is nothing you can do about the plague of black horse carrying the scales of justice.

I can't say much about your particular neighborhood. However, in my neighborhood, the increased police presence was requested by some neighbors to slow down the speeders. We have a lot of kids in our neighborhood. It seems we get the speeders to slow down for a while, and the police presence diminishes, then the people driving like they are in a NASCAR race pick up the pace again. My neighbors request increased police presence, and they slow down again. It's a vicious circle.

I'm curious, if you are obeying the law, what has ruined your perfect driving record?

jurydoc

A novel idea -- obey the traffic laws!!

lugie

They usually target areas where there are a lot of accidents or complaints about speeding. Just make sure you are driving the speed limit and you should not have a problem.

Angela C

the only thing you can do is drive very carefully, and do not forget to buckle up!!

tomaso4

As a friend of a few cops I can tell you that they will sit in areas that they know are frequent with violations. It does them no good to sit in areas where their presence has no impact. If you see some one pulled over every 48 hours there then I suppose they've found themselves a perfect spot.

As for "targeting your neighborhood", you simply have no recourse against their actions. Especially if the violations they are citing are legitimate, which I'm sure they are.

It may be annoying but it looks like you're going to have to start obeying the traffic laws in your area.

tabby90

Drive safely.
There are worse things. I'm sure your neighborhood is safer than most for children at play or people walking their pets. Many neighborhoods would love a police presence.

chattiekathie

Dont give em any reason to pull u over.

Deidre K

Do you remember the movie
LIAR LIAR with Jim Carey?

Remember what he said to his client when the client called the office after he was put under the spell that he couldn't lie?

Same advice goes out to you

He yelled

QUIT BREAKING THE LAW A>S>S>HOLE

CGIV76

Every 48 hours?. I wouldn't call that targeting. I've seen Wolf Pack enforcement where cars are stopped every 48 seconds, or less. Unless you feel you didn't violate the law, drive more carefully.

Army Retired Guy

Nothing, they have the right to enforce traffic laws anywhere within their jurisdiction, and further more driving is a privilege that can be taken away to those that don't follow the law. Its not a right!

Dead Marxist

Drive carefully, obey all the laws, make sure to carry all documentation.

Heather I

Make sure you are not speeding or doing anything illegal they have to have a reason to pull you over.

Lavrenti Beria

Are they giving tickets for violations or not? You may be able to complain to the Captain or Seargent, but don't expect much sympathy or help. I advise that you obey the traffic laws.

evans_michael_ya

More than likely someone in your neighborhood has complained about constant speeding problems in your area. If you can get enough people in your area to push the local government for speed bumps, the cops will find less need to target your area.

shalwechat2000

There can be many reasons. Perhaps one of your neibors complained to the local police about speeders and they stepped up enforcement. Maybe an incident happened: bad accident, a child got hit and speeding was a big factor. Maybe there is a unique feature in your area where the police can hide to catch speeders. Thought the police cannot sit in private property that is reasonably presumed to be closed off to public use. IE. sitting on a person's driveway. a residential driveway is presumed to be closed off to public use. A strip mall parking lot is private property, but the public and police can form a reasonable presumetion to enter the lot. unless the enterence is blocked off. (and probable cause and reasonable suspition for the police)

"it feels like they are targeting the people who can afford the tickets."
I understand your sentiment, but many also say the reverse is true, poor areas are singled out because are are more prone to speed. You are just saying your area is targetted because they are more prone to pay the fine.

if there is a community club etc. Attend and listen to the meeting before asking your area residents. More then likely, someone will mention chronic speeding problem, concern for the safety of pedistrians, children, schools, parks or a terrible traffic accident where speeding was a big factor.

Bosspooba

Take a bus. Or wave and let the cops know that you know what is going on.

intolerablethirst

Drive safely and carefully. If you reunied your perfect driving records there is obviously something that you are doing that is illegal.Perhaps you can call your police chief or form a neighborhood group to talk to your city council. Perhaps there were other reasons behind it. Maybe there are a large number of children or it could be a sting. Maybe there is a drug bust going on. It could be anythign but before you do anything rash be sure you go though the proper channels and do it legally.

fr_chuck

Perhaps call them and thank them for keeping your area safe. And of course don't speed.
But normally the better areas will get better police protection over the other areas.

woodyhou

If you are following all the traffic laws why would you be scared of getting a ticket? I doubt they are "targeting" people that can't afford tickets, that's not the point. Police often target hot spots due to citizen complainants, crime statistics etc. I would think regular citizens would like having the extra protection making their neighborhood safer. Bottom line is this, if you are a law abiding citizen you have nothing to worry about.

451

well of course your best action would be to not break the law. You can also call your counselperson to gain some insight. I'd also check with neighbors to see if someone has been calling in about people speeding.

booman17

Seriously, there is nothing you can do, except since you are aware of the location they like to hunt in, drive carefully and under the speed limit when approaching the area. Just obey all traffic laws and you won't have a problem.

this_takes_awhile

Well you slow down. When people stop speeding the police stop looking for speeders. You must be ademocrat. Always looking for way out that does not include your inconvenience...

charlsyeh

the only thing you can do is not break any traffic laws. the police are not doing anything wrong

tnmack

Obviously, they have received numerous complaints about traffic violations in your area. If they are continuously writing tickets - it is because there are numerous violations taking place. Traffic laws are designed to make the roadways safe - not so that local municipalities can make money.
You mentioned that you had a previous perfect driving record - does that mean you always obeyed the traffic laws - or - just that you never got caught. There is a difference.
Officers target offenders and areas where numerous offenses take place. For instance, if everyone in your block would obey the law for a couple of weeks - the officers would move to better hunting ground.
Some traffic laws may seem silly, but they are designed to try to make neighborhoods safe from accidents.

Linda D

It appears most residents, in your neighborhood, have extremely bad habits of speeding and lack of law obedience.
If you both obey the laws - then why worry...............

Charlie

The obvious solution seems to be to obey the road rules. It may be that the police are targeting the area because of high accident rates or something like that.

Marissa U

nothing. it doesn't matter whether the police have a bad subjective reason for pulling someone over/ticketing them (like racial profiling) if there exists articulable objective probable cause (he was actually speeding/he was running a stoplights, etc.).

So, i guess I'd just drive really carefully....good luck!

you might consider donating to the local police department and getting one of those stickers to put on your car...they tend to be more lenient when you have one of those...

copswife

check your city ordinances for parking violations and just make sure that you are not in violation of any of them. If you feel that you are ticketed unjustly then bring it to your local department with the ordinance proving your case, you should have no problem getting the ticket negated.

bbasingal

Generally, neighborhoods get an increase in police presence when someone has complained to the police department, city council, alderman, or mayor's office. Specific targeted areas are visited often to keep the taxpayer's happy. You can try to contact the same resources above and explain that you don't appreciate the increased presence in your neighborhood. However, I wouldn't mention that it's because you and your wife have been cited repeatedly for vehicle code violations.

Hope this helps

BPD Wife

My husband's department focuses on areas that have high accidents or citizen complaints when they are doing "targeted" traffic stops. It very well could be that the police are receiving complaints about driving habits in that area or have another reason to suspect that they need to focus on that area. I wouldn't necessarily look at it from a "targeting" people who can afford tickets standpoint, but rather the police department trying to make your neighborhood safer for you and your neighbors.

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