Traffic cops haging out at 6th and Mc Bride

WARNING!!
to all you speeders there has been a Traffic Cop sitting at the stop sign at 6th and Mcbride right across the RCMP/library he has been there for the last two days (i guess when he is on shift) sitting, waiting, eating his dohnuts wishing he had friends and a real job :smile:

Just to let you all know dont get caught by this guyā€¦ he likes to give tickets.

Donā€™t speed and you wonā€™t get caught speeding. Seems simple enough.

Agreed. Plus, were such a small town what possible benefit could you gain from speeding? 20 seconds?

im not a speeder myself, i wish my old VW could go over the speed limit :smile:

Just letting all the ones that do speed or drive a lil faster than normā€¦He will pull you over, even if you go 1km over the limit.

[quote=ā€œstinkyfeetā€]WARNING!!
to all you speeders there has been a Traffic Cop sitting at the stop sign at 6th and Mcbride right across the RCMP/library he has been there for the last two days (i guess when he is on shift) sitting, waiting, eating his dohnuts wishing he had friends and a real job :smile: [/quote]

The last time I was in Rupert, he was there every weekend. I thought heā€™s checking for stop sign violations.

Anyway, good on the cop.

Ummmā€¦ isnā€™t this the purpose of the Integrated Road Safety Unit? =.=

he likes to give out tickets for newly expired insurance as well so check your insurance papersā€¦ :smile:

[quote=ā€œPLAā€]

[quote=ā€œstinkyfeetā€]WARNING!!
to all you speeders there has been a Traffic Cop sitting at the stop sign at 6th and Mcbride right across the RCMP/library he has been there for the last two days (i guess when he is on shift) sitting, waiting, eating his dohnuts wishing he had friends and a real job :smile: [/quote]

The last time I was in Rupert, he was there every weekend. I thought heā€™s checking for stop sign violations.

Anyway, good on the cop.

Ummmā€¦ isnā€™t this the purpose of the Integrated Road Safety Unit? =.=[/quote]

Ya but hes a real douch about it!
He thinks heā€™s a real copā€¦ but what he doesnt know that traffic cops are put there on traffic because he cant do the job of a real police officer.

[quote=ā€œstinkyfeetā€]

Ya but hes a real douch about it!
He thinks heā€™s a real copā€¦ but what he doesnt know that traffic cops are put there on traffic because he cant do the job of a real police officer.[/quote]

Isnā€™t it wonderful we have another member in our society who has their Masterā€™s degree in criminal justice from the University of Television.

[quote=ā€œstinkyfeetā€]Ya but hes a real douch about it!
He thinks heā€™s a real copā€¦ but what he doesnt know that traffic cops are put there on traffic because he cant do the job of a real police officer.[/quote]

Odd. I never get caught by this guy whenever heā€™s around and not busy writing a ticket. I usually drive 50km/h Ā± 5 km/h on those stretches even when heā€™s around, but Rupert being Rupert, I donā€™t think driving 60 and over is a good idea (ie. jaywalkers, small city, kamikaze drivers, ZDX).

Anyway. If you donā€™t want to get caught, at least donā€™t drive like a psycho. How many times I had people tail gating me when they wanted to drive 50 in the school zone?

*[size=80]Edited for kamikaze drivers[/size]

[quote=ā€œDexā€]

[quote=ā€œstinkyfeetā€]

Ya but hes a real douch about it!
He thinks heā€™s a real copā€¦ but what he doesnt know that traffic cops are put there on traffic because he cant do the job of a real police officer.[/quote]

Isnā€™t it wonderful we have another member in our society who has their Masterā€™s degree in criminal justice from the University of Television.[/quote]

Sorry Dex i dont watch Television didnt you know its bad for your health?

Just as the internetā€¦

I donā€™t know about this particular officer, but itā€™s been well established here on HTMF that in the past:

  • Prince Rupert RCMP wrote a disproportionate number of tickets compared to other locations (ie: Terrace).

  • Prince Rupert RCMP had a number of officers that were funded by ticket revenue, while other locations (ie: Terrace) use the ticket revenue for other projects (community policing, crime prevention). Hence the incentive to write more tickets in Rupert.

  • Prince Rupert RCMP would ā€œstretchā€ the definitions of certain offences to write more tickets. ie: you had to stop for a certain amount of time at a stop sign, or youā€™d get a ticket. Or youā€™d be given a ticket for failing to signal, even when there was no traffic. Most people wouldnā€™t fight these bogus tickets that the officers felt free to write as many of them as they could.

  • There was no doubt in my mine that Prince Rupert RCMP were told (either by the City or by their leadership) to write as many tickets as possible to generate revenue.

  • Prince Rupert RCMP once wrote a ticket to a guy who was rushing to the hospital because his wife was in labour. Thanks to that particular officer, the man missed the birth of his child by a few minutes.

  • Prince Rupert RCMP, on multiple occasions, used multiple undercover officers with radios to ā€œstake outā€ a stop sign, and gave anyone who didnā€™t stop for a certain length of time a ticket.

  • Prince Rupert RCMP essentially ignored a downtown broken window streak, while manning the 2nd-Avenue Stop Sign Toll Booth almost around the clock.

That was in the past, though. I donā€™t know about the present situation. Letā€™s hope itā€™s not the same now.

I donā€™t think anybody has a problem with writing tickets for speeding, but in the past, it was just writing tickets for the sake of writing tickets. And putting a lot of resources and effort into writing bogus tickets.

Hereā€™s an HTMF thread on the topic from 2008: RCMP ticket on the way to the hospital

And: Daily News article on the officer writing a ticket to the guy taking his wife in labour to the hospital: tinyurl.com/princerupertrcmplovetickets

Iā€™m sure there were other threads, though, with the actual ticket revenue posted, etc.

Very well put MIG thank you :smile:ā€¦ to let you know, nothings changed!

The irony is the traffic cop who gives out the most tickets also owns (or at least used to) a crotch rocket (Buell I believe) and a BMW roadster but Iā€™m sure he never speeds or breaks any traffic laws. If he did Iā€™m sure he was fined appropriately and paid his fines.

Reallyā€¦ nothing? Mig did put it very well. At least he takes the time to post facts. All you post is venom.

[quote=ā€œMiGā€]I donā€™t know about this particular officer, but itā€™s been well established here on HTMF that in the past:

  • Prince Rupert RCMP wrote a disproportionate number of tickets compared to other locations (ie: Terrace).

  • Prince Rupert RCMP had a number of officers that were funded by ticket revenue, while other locations (ie: Terrace) use the ticket revenue for other projects (community policing, crime prevention). Hence the incentive to write more tickets in Rupert.[/quote]

There doesnā€™t appear to be an abundance of Police Officers in Rupert, so it seems to me this added revenue is going to a good cause.

BC Motor Vehicle Act:

Definitions

119 (1) In this Part:

ā€œstopā€ or ā€œstandā€ means,

(a) when required, a complete cessation from movement, and

(b) when prohibited, the stopping or standing of a vehicle, whether occupied or not, except when necessary to avoid conflict with other traffic or to comply with the directions of a peace officer or traffic control device;

What is there to stretch? They either came to a complete cessation from movement or they did not. If the officer wrote something on the ticket about not stopping for a ā€œcertain amount of timeā€, you wouldnā€™t even get a court date if you fought it. And if you donā€™t use your signals because you thought there was " no traffic around" then you deserve a ticket!! The BC Motor Vehicle Act does not become automatically amended when there is no traffic on the roads. Not to mention there WAS traffic on the road or they would not have received a ticket!!! If you did not commit the traffic offense and did not attempt to fight itā€¦complain?

Which apparently gave us more Police Officers. Listening to the police scanner from this town it sounds like they need them.

If the man was speeding it was a good thing he was stopped. His situation likely impaired his driving ability and could have been a danger to himself and/or others by speeding to the hospital. Iā€™ll leave that judgement call to the officer. You wouldnā€™t accept that defense if he ran over someone would you?

I would really like to see what the Officers wrote on these tickets. Anyone have any copies left?

I donā€™t have a problem with the police writing tickets for any Motor Vehicle Act violations. I do get amused by people who receive these bogus (?) tickets yet do nothing about it though.

[quote=ā€œMiGā€]
Hereā€™s an HTMF thread on the topic from 2008: RCMP ticket on the way to the hospital

And: Daily News article on the officer writing a ticket to the guy taking his wife in labour to the hospital: tinyurl.com/princerupertrcmplovetickets

Iā€™m sure there were other threads, though, with the actual ticket revenue posted, etc.[/quote]

I should read the 2008 thread to get a better picture of what happened in the past and more details. At any rate many cities in BC and across Canada use Motor vehicle tickets to generate revenue. The trick is to obey the rules of the road. It is not hard to do. If you believe the ticket is bogus, fight it.

Thereā€™s always at least one nutter, in every thread. Usually itā€™s meā€¦

Iā€™m curious, we always talk about speeders. But what about people who drive way below the speed limit, like, twenty to thirty k in a 50 zone. They always seem to be older people. I donā€™t mean to be an ageist here, but driving slower than the speed limit often causes road rage. Why arenā€™t people like that ticketed, just as much as people driving fast? Or, slowing down to a crawl, before a corner, or on a highway, without putting a turn signal on.

Donā€™t get me wrong, I do follow speed limits, and traffic laws. But Iā€™ve often thought that people should be re tested when they reach retirement age. Because we donā€™t know how well their brain is reacting to things anymore. Or if dementia is starting to set in, or something like that. Iā€™d like to hear other peopleā€™s thoughts on that. And if you do reply, please try to be serious, and objective.

When my father was a little over 70, he got lost driving from Vancouver into Surrey to visit a friend who had just moved. He never found the house, despite spending his entire life living in Vancouver and knowing the Lower Mainland like the back of his hand.

I am not sure if there were similar events before that, (signs of dementia were obvious a few years later) but the next day he sold his car.

I hope I am as wise as my dad when it becomes time to give up driving.

Sure, I donā€™t think that was the issue. It was that there seemed to be a real, and measurable push to increase the revenue. And at least some of it was with ā€œbogusā€ tickets. This included the use of undercover officers and the constant manning of the ā€œStop Sign Toll Booth.ā€

At a time when Prince Rupert was seeing a lot of different ā€œcrime waves,ā€ the local Mounties seemed to be putting a heck of a lot of effort into catching people who stopped for 2 seconds at a stop sign instead of 5 seconds, for example.

The officer would say that you ā€œdidnā€™t stop for 5 seconds.ā€ Most people didnā€™t question it, and I doubt anybody fought it.

We went over this a couple of times in 2008 :smile: The MVA states that you must use your signals when your turn will have an effect on traffic. A parked police car does not count as traffic. If thereā€™s no traffic, you donā€™t need to signal, according to the MVA.

Again, the trick was to park a police car, usually hidden, and see if anybody signalled going through that yield sign. Iā€™ll bet you can go there right now and watch traffic to see if anybody signals with traffic. I doubt they do, since thereā€™s really only one thing you can do when youā€™re there ā€“ turn right. But anyway, itā€™s not an offence unless there is traffic.

Again, that wasnā€™t the problem. It was the bogus tickets.

I said in the other thread that the undercover stakeout of the stop sign was essentially a shake down. The drivers werenā€™t doing anything illegal. They were stopping, just not for 5 seconds. Every single one received a ticket.

Thatā€™s just not right.

[quote]
If the man was speeding it was a good thing he was stopped. His situation likely impaired his driving ability and could have been a danger to himself and/or others by speeding to the hospital. Iā€™ll leave that judgement call to the officer. You wouldnā€™t accept that defense if he ran over someone would you? [/quote]

Read the other thread. He wasnā€™t speeding. He failed to signal. I donā€™t know if it was a case of a bogus ticket or not (ie: was there traffic).

The detachment was so embarrassed by the guy that they publicly withdrew the ticket.

Mainly because they donā€™t know theyā€™re bogus. The ā€œ5 second ruleā€ being the prime example. In 2007-2008, that became the local meme ā€“ ā€œbetter stop for 5 seconds or youā€™re going to get a ticket!ā€

The usual reaction was ā€œoh, I didnā€™t realize the law said you had to wait 5 seconds.ā€ And then youā€™d be reminded that youā€™d get a break on the fine if you paid it right away.

[quote=ā€œMiGā€]
I should read the 2008 thread to get a better picture of what happened in the past and more details. At any rate many cities in BC and across Canada use Motor vehicle tickets to generate revenue. The trick is to obey the rules of the road. It is not hard to do. If you believe the ticket is bogus, fight it.[/quote]

Yes, I agree.

But I do have a problem when writing bogus tickets seems to become policy. Again, this was in the past, I have no idea about the present. Thereā€™s a thread on HTMF with the actual numbers.

[quote=ā€œCrazyMikeā€]

Reallyā€¦ nothing? Mig did put it very well. At least he takes the time to post facts. All you post is venom.[/quote]

Mmmmmmmmm Venom!