Motives for a new crackdown in Detroit questioned
The Detroit News reports that recent correspondence from a top police department commander in Detroit, Michigan has angered civil-rights activists. An e-mail message was sent and it promised to discipline Detroit police officers who don’t write enough traffic tickets.
First, critics argue this simply amounts to a quota system. There may be no official “number” of tickets mentioned, but it’s a reasonable conclusion that whatever police officials consider to be “enough” tickets essentially constitutes the quota.
Second, the traffic ticket push is connected to a campaign by the department to crack down on moving violations in high-crime areas of the city and at the same time check the drivers for warrants and weapons. Residents are complaining that there is now overly aggressive policing where, for years, officers on patrol overlooked many minor violations such as a broken taillight. Residents and civil-rights leaders are concerned that using traffic stops to search for warrants, etc. simply encourages racial profiling of drivers.
While police officials will always argue that they have every right to pull over any motorist the see commit any violation of any size, their motives for these increased car stops are certainly worth questioning.
Submitted by NY traffic lawyers
Feifer & Greenberg, LLP
At least he didn’t get arrested in Arizona. They have some of the most severe penalties in the US. Read about the penalties enforced under Arizona DUI law, not too pretty.