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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsRural FL town writes $600,000 in traffic tickets. Can't account for money. 1 cop for 25 citizens
Be sure to watch the video. There are many more outrages in the video that are not in the story. One of the officers would get out of his car on a traffic stop with an AR15 strapped on his shoulder and wearing tactical gear.
From CNN
Speed trap city accused of corruption, threatened with extinction
Hampton, Florida (CNN) -- How off-the-charts corrupt do you have to be to capture somebody's attention in the Sunshine State?
You can lay claim to a 1,260-foot stretch of busy highway a mile outside of town and set up one of the nation's most notorious speed traps. You can use the ticket money to build up a mighty police force -- an officer for every 25 people in town -- and, residents say, let drugs run rampant while your cops sit out by the highway on lawn chairs, pointing radar guns at everybody who passes by.
..."It became 'serve and collect' instead of 'serve and protect.' Cash register justice," said Sheriff Gordon Smith. "Do y'all remember the old 'Dukes of Hazzard'? Boss Hogg? They make Boss Hogg look like a Sunday school teacher."
...Hampton cops were a fixture out on U.S. 301. They sat on lawn chairs, pointing radar guns at unsuspecting motorists. They hid behind recycling bins. As more and more money came in, they idled in slick SUVs, trolled the median strips in riot gear and toted state-of-the-art firepower. Locals gave one the nickname "Rambo" because he slung an AR-15 rifle across his chest.
More from The Gawker
Welcome to Hampton, the Most Corrupt Little Town in Florida
A little landlocked city in Florida is so outrageously corrupt that state officials are trying to abolish it.
And critics say the small town exists solely so that its police force can control a 1,260-foot stretch of highway that they've turned into a speed trap, reaping hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines.
According to the audit, the city racked up around two dozen violations, including:
Failure to track where the ticketing revenue went.
Lax controls and terrible record-keeping led to one clerk getting overpaid nearly $9,000.
Misuse of city credit cards: city employees charged more than $27,000 "with no public purpose" and racked up a $132,000 bill at a convenience store next to City Hall.
Failure to keep records of assigned vehicles for employees.
Uninsured city police cars.
City officials admitted other records were "lost in a swamp."
A crumbling water infrastructure, with nearly half the water supply lost.
"It's like something out of a Southern Gothic novel," state senator Rob Bradley, whose district includes Hampton, told Time.
Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)BadgerKid
(4,555 posts)madfloridian
(88,117 posts)Probably part of a county district like schools in our area are. One thing I noticed..the one school is 90% white. Just saying. Interesting.
S_B_Jackson
(906 posts)at one point they were writing over 1,000 tickets a month to non-residents. A local radio station KLOL 101FM ran one of their remote transmitter vans through the speedtrap, got stopped, and broadcast the whole shakedown live on-air. lol.
About 3/4ths of the way through the stop, the cop finally wondered what the guys in the back of the van were doing....man was he pissed when they told that the whol damned city of Houston had listened to the stop...
madfloridian
(88,117 posts)Lurker Deluxe
(1,038 posts)One of the others is coming into Magnolia on 1774 where the speed limit changes 3-4 times in a 3 mile stretch. The cops will sit on the change and get people coming and going.
Ghost in the Machine
(14,912 posts)Mayor, City Clerk, a Councilman, 3 active duty cops and (iirc) 4 former cops were arrested and charged with a multitude of crimes. Somme of the former cops were even charged with crimes in other towns they had worked in!
Peace,
Ghost
S_B_Jackson
(906 posts)happened in the early 1980s when they were and AOR (album oriented rock) station. The station changed ownership a couple times in the 90s, ultimately acquired (and ruined) by Clear Channel...who in early 2000s changed to Spanish language and of course, pre-digital which means it was on tape somewhere........
Ghost in the Machine
(14,912 posts)I tried looking on Google, but no luck there either....
Peace,
Ghost
jakeXT
(10,575 posts)boston bean
(36,223 posts)Hundreds of dollars. Said I was going 45 in a 20-25. A two lane highway.
The fuckers!
mercuryblues
(14,537 posts)that stretch of highway be warned. Hampton, Stark, Lawtey etc. they will ticket you, even for 4 MPH over the limit. When I drive through there, I usually go 5 MPH under the limit, to give myself some cushion. The problem is that the speed limit changes so much it is crazy. It can change 4 or 5 times in a 1 mile stretch.
I am willing to bet that if they audited all the towns along that route they would find similar problems.
boston bean
(36,223 posts)a two lane highway, where the speed limit goes from 20-25-40-45 in a matter of feet going back and forth between limits.
I was going to Tampa that year. I'm like, I guess the state of Florida doesn't want out of state people traveling in their state.
mercuryblues
(14,537 posts)is more like, if you don't live there you get a ticket. My FIL got his ticket in Lawtey for 3 miles over, he lives in the Ft. Myers area. Driving through there is when I regret trading in my Charger. Cops would wave to me like I was one of them. What I drive now is a ticket magnet.
cpwm17
(3,829 posts)I've never been pulled over by any cop.
I've been on I-40 in eastern Oklahoma four times. I got pulled over three times, the last time allegedly for having a frame around my license plate. They were looking for drugs due to my Florida plates, I'm sure.
I've lost track how many times I've been pulled over in Texas in my travels through that state. It has to be at least ten times. I expect to get pulled over on I-10 in west Texas whenever I travel to my family in San Diego.
Eleanors38
(18,318 posts)Even if you are aware, you get 'em. There is a large billboard which warns you when you approach this Twilight Zone along U.S. 301. I beat the one I got in 1974! After contesting it from Texas!
Eleanors38
(18,318 posts)madfloridian
(88,117 posts)Looks like it was put up by AAA.
Eleanors38
(18,318 posts)madfloridian
(88,117 posts)The kids used to entertain themselves with the Stuckey signs, keeping up with the distance. Also when I was younger the Burma Shave signs...
http://www.fiftiesweb.com/burma1.htm
1963 was the last year for them. So much fun.
Eleanors38
(18,318 posts)Elixer of the gods, but unavailable in Texas. No one harvests peanuts out here which are green and pliable. So I suffer!
madfloridian
(88,117 posts)They are good, too. Roadside stands and mom and pop restaurants used to sell them....but haven't seen any for ages except Red Elephant.
http://www.redelephantpizza.com/chooselocations.php
Eleanors38
(18,318 posts)"traditional" place of sales by black purveyors since the late 50s. Also on U.S. 301, 441, Waldo Flea Market, and state hwys in N. Central Fla. But, I can still get green nuts in Publix, and just do 'em myself!
teenagebambam
(1,592 posts)To get to and from UF from the northeast corner of the state. They nab lots of college kids and visiting parents, I'm sure.
JimDandy
(7,318 posts)(45 40 20 25 mph) outside tiny Colfax WA to catch Washington State U. students and parents going to Pullman WA. Police and muni court there don't even try to hide it or deny it.
Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)I got careless and let them nail me the last time I went through...
You know it's a racket when you get no fewer than TWENTY unsolicited letters from law firms in town offering to "settle" the ticket for a fee (because they know damn well nobody in hell is driving an hour or two or more back to Emporia to appear in traffic court)...Naturally, ALL of the settlement fees offered were flat rates which were more expensive than me just paying the fine outright....
JimDandy
(7,318 posts)bluestate10
(10,942 posts)auto insurance premium?
Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)There's no guarantee that the premium wouldn't still go up after the attorneys took my $$$
(if it did go up, it wasn't by a noticeable amount)...I'm a very clean driver and can count on one hand the number of times I've been stopped for speeding -- and one of those speeding tickets was a DWB)
jsr
(7,712 posts)mnhtnbb
(31,402 posts)down 95 to Jacksonville, FL and then across the center of Florida on Highway 301--through Lawtey--to 75 south . So I saw the speed
trap signs! I paid close attention--and got through there (and back) without a ticket.
I couldn't believe some of rural Florida. Talk about right wing billboards! But that drive on 301 was the most pleasant, relaxed,
scenic part of the entire trip. It was much different than driving 95 and 75.