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Profiling Atherton (the dark side of that funny little police blotter)
Kent Brewster
Atherton, California is consistently one of the USA's top three most expensive places to live, and is (moderately) famous for its police blotter, which features an ongoing parade of first world problems.
....
While it's fun to giggle at all those suspicious circumstances, mysterious disturbances, construction complaints, parking hassles, and miscellaneous town ordinance violations, the data takes a sobering turn when we examine vehicle code violations from February through July of 2013.
....
Observations
175 out of the 182 drivers cited have Hispanic names.
Almost nobody from Atherton ever gets a ticket. Here are the stats:
Redwood City: 96
East Palo Alto: 23
Menlo Park: 11
Atherton: 2
At least 64 result in the vehicle being left at the scene.
At least 31 result in the car being confiscated. Cars towed under 14602.6 VC (20 on this list) are impounded for 30 days, costing around $1800 ($180 to tow, at least $50/day to store, $130 to bail) to recover.
If you'll look on a map, you'll notice that El Camino Real crosses Atherton at its narrowest point. 56 citations were issued along less than a mile of road in under six months. 43 more were written on Middlefield Road, the other main access from Redwood City to points south of Atherton.
.......
Questions
Why were so many (over a hundred) of these citations filed as misdemeanors instead of infractions, under 12500(a) VC instead of 12500? A misdemeanor charge means that the subject must report for booking, including mug shots and fingerprints, and will retain a misdemeanor arrest on record unless (massively expensive and time-consuming) legal action is taken.
Where are the non-Hispanic drivers? Are they all let off with warnings, or are they simply never pulled over in the first place?
More
Atherton, California is consistently one of the USA's top three most expensive places to live, and is (moderately) famous for its police blotter, which features an ongoing parade of first world problems.
....
While it's fun to giggle at all those suspicious circumstances, mysterious disturbances, construction complaints, parking hassles, and miscellaneous town ordinance violations, the data takes a sobering turn when we examine vehicle code violations from February through July of 2013.
....
Observations
175 out of the 182 drivers cited have Hispanic names.
Almost nobody from Atherton ever gets a ticket. Here are the stats:
Redwood City: 96
East Palo Alto: 23
Menlo Park: 11
Atherton: 2
At least 64 result in the vehicle being left at the scene.
At least 31 result in the car being confiscated. Cars towed under 14602.6 VC (20 on this list) are impounded for 30 days, costing around $1800 ($180 to tow, at least $50/day to store, $130 to bail) to recover.
If you'll look on a map, you'll notice that El Camino Real crosses Atherton at its narrowest point. 56 citations were issued along less than a mile of road in under six months. 43 more were written on Middlefield Road, the other main access from Redwood City to points south of Atherton.
.......
Questions
Why were so many (over a hundred) of these citations filed as misdemeanors instead of infractions, under 12500(a) VC instead of 12500? A misdemeanor charge means that the subject must report for booking, including mug shots and fingerprints, and will retain a misdemeanor arrest on record unless (massively expensive and time-consuming) legal action is taken.
Where are the non-Hispanic drivers? Are they all let off with warnings, or are they simply never pulled over in the first place?
More
Thanks to Wonkette for tipping me off to this.
*shockface*
1 replies
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