LONG TERM DANGER IN MICRO MANAGING POLICE OFFICERS AND EMERGENCY PERSONNEL

Recently Ban the Cams have had some post on emergency personnel being cited by photo enforcement.

I can understand why most people would love to hammer those on the photo enforcement side for being hypocritical.  In fact a most entertaining example was when ATS President Tuton and ATS Executive John Petrozza Ignored PHOTO TICKETS THEMSELVES! (Tuton dealt with it after  it was posted all over the web by www.camerafraud.com  and Petrozza claimed “he never received the ticket and he would never have intentionally ignored a citation.”).    http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/25/2597.asp

But it is important to remember that not all Law Enforcement Officers support photo enforcement or are even part of the SCAM! 

In fact a vote by The St. Louis, Missouri Police Officers Association STATED THEIR OPPOSITION TO PHOTO ENFORCEMENT:

http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/27/2714.asp

Quote:  The St. Louis, Missouri Police Officers' Association on Monday spoke out against the use of red light cameras as a revenue raising tool. The police union adopted a resolution opposing automated ticketing as state lawmakers consider measures that would authorize use of the devices statewide. The group representing rank-and-file police officers stands in opposition to the high-ranking officials represented by the Missouri Police Chiefs' Association.

"Police chiefs serve at the pleasure of the mayor -- they're political jobs," said Jesse Irwin, co-founder of Missourians against Red Light Cameras. "I'm not surprised that the Missouri Police Chiefs' organization would be for the cameras. I'm also not surprised that the men and women out on the street enforcing the law would be against them -- they don't work."

It is important to remember that most Officers are hard working people who put their lives on the line protecting the public!

That is why I want to POINT OUT THE LONG TERM DANGER IN MICRO MANAGING POLICE OFFICERS AND EMERGENCY PERSONNEL TOO (in addition to drivers). 

DO WE REALLY WANT THEM BECOMING PARINIOD to the point that Ambulance drivers are afraid to run lights or speed WHEN A LIFE MIGHT DEPEND UPON IT for fear of being cited for a technical foul in the MAIL? 

Do we want police officers having to enter in to their decision process whether to break a technical law in responding to a call BECAUSE OF THE PAPERWORK IN DEALING WITH ALL THE PHOTO TICKETS IT MIGHT GENERATE?

Yet photo enforcement MAKES PEOPLE PARINOID.  Photo enforcement’s main bread and butter are TECHNICAL FOULS!  Not safety ones.  That is fact.  Go look at the many towns that write over 50% of their RLC tickets for right turns on red.  (SOME EVEN AFTER FLORIDA law was supposedly changed to outlaw the practice of citing for safe right turns on red).

I DESPISE PHOTO ENFORCEMENT as well as the players WHO DARN WELL KNOW PHOTO ENFORCEMENT IS BEING DONE FOR CASH!  But what we don’t want is making Emergency personnel AFRAID to do their job because they might “get a ticket” for a technical foul in the mail.

Quote from this 2008 article:    “Officials in charge of ambulance services believe the situation is making drivers concentrate more on saving their jobs than the well-being of the patients under their care, even when they are not responding to an emergency call. Receiving just a few speed camera tickets can result in a driver losing his license.”  http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/12/1202.asp

Bottom line PHOTO ENFORCEMENT IS A SCAM, more about generating long term tickets, than safety.  SAFETY IS PULLING SOMEONE OVER WHO DRIVES DANGEROUSLY.  NOT SENDING A BILL WEEKS LATER!

Making Police Officers and Emergency Personnel paranoid is just as bad as citing the general public for technical fouls too!   In fact it is more dangerous for it increases response time for the police and medical personnel.

TIME TO BAN THE CAMS!