Christien

You're right, and I think Jim did a good job pointing that out. There's no doubt there are lots of cops making the world a better place.

Still, the vast majority of the average person's contact with the police amounts to thinly-veiled tax collection.

theiceman

the government is addicted to driving infraction revenues like Whitney was to crack .. end of ...

Targatoo

Here's one that really drive me nuts:

The CBC morning radio program announces that the OPP will be running a blitz, focussing on distracted driving. Presumably, the OPP issued a press release to this effect. Also, it could be presumed that they publicize the 'blitz' in an effort to reduce the behaviour. We all know that there's no way to suddenly catch more people texting behind the wheel, unless they have been overlooking it in the past, so they really must hope that the fear of enforcement actually drives a reduction in the behaviour.

How come the OPP never issues a press release stating an upcoming focus on speeding? On any given 'distracted driving blitz week' how many tickets do they issue for distracted driving v. speeding. I'm pretty sure I know the answer. Why shouldn't publicity reduce speed too?

It is really a disservice to the public that they are effectively lying about the focus of their efforts.

LastMezger

What few people understand is that traffic infractions fall under what's called "selective enforcement".

The bottom line of course is that any driver is responsible for being aware of the HTA. Blitzes are done to increase awareness.

Frankly they're doing you a favour.

fbgh2o

Not to detract from the premise that police activities have become increasingly focused on revenue generation, but

Did anyone notice that the article writer seems to have had an inordinate number of issues. Multiple break-ins, multiple fraud, multiple parking infractions....

Perhaps one needs to examine the behaviours of the writer. Perhaps he is the architect of his own challenges in some ways.

JimV8

Anyone correct me but I believe that parking tickets are paid to the municipality but HTA offences are paid to the receiver ( Provincial).

theiceman

don't know Jim but i can tell you this .. when the coffers start to get low .. it's time for a " zero tollerance " weekend. Also somewjow we as Canadians have allowed police forces to get away with writing more tickets on long weekends just as we allow Gas prices to go up on long weekends .. Canadians are overly tollerant and just accept it and move on ..

fanny bay r1

Funny we get a similar blitz in BC every May - the RCMP call it "motorcycle awareness month". What it really is is motorcycle harassment month, where the RCMP pull over every bike they see and try to issue tickets for any modification they can find. I just don't ride much in May as a result!!

Luxter

I was a city cop in Calgary, and left after 8 years in large part due to the politics of the job.
At issue is how policing is funded. In Calgary, a significant percentage of department funding is derived from fine revenue. To ensure stable funding, traffic officers are forced to write 20 tickets per day. Patrol officers are forced to write 20 tickets per month. There is a quota, and it's not hidden.
As often happened, the traffic officer, the 'experts' on accidents, would not get called out to injury accidents, as they were busy writing tickets. Patrol officers would have to attend the scene instead, and would often have to put criminal investigations on hold to do so.
Now, 20 tickets per month for a patrol officer doesn't sound like much, unless you're working in a busy part of the city and like to focus on Criminal Investigations. Then, as often happened to me, I would get a reminder that there was two shifts left in the month, and that I was short 17 tickets. To the fishing hole! I would feel like a cheap prostitute for the city handing out tickets, not related to safely, but related to traffic control measures, such as attempting to keep rush hour traffic out of a residential neighborhood.
Failure to write the tickets resulted in career restrictions. Want to apply for promotion? Not if you haven't written your quota. Want to apply to work in Robbery? Not if you haven't written your quota.
I never once had a problem writing tickets to those that pulled bone-headed stunts in front of me....thing is, most people slow down and otherwise drive better when their is a marked police vehicle around....which, of course, forced me to hide in an 'ambush' position.
The solution is very simple. De-coulpe fine revenue from department funding. If a portion of funding no longer comes from fine revenue, there is no longer the pressure from management onto the officers to write tickets. My suggestion, at the time, was that fine revenue should be donated to the Cancer Society.
Essentially, there is a massive conflict of interest. I now live in Mexico, where the average city officer collects a 'fee' when pulling someone over. They have to do so, as they don't make enough to live on. I marvel at the efficiency. In Canada, we do the same, but both the Province and the city get a cut of the action.
In Mexico, the fine goes straight to the officer = no middleman.