Increase in the RICH getting pulled over?

[statusquo]

I've noticed far more expensive cars getting pulled over of late than the piles of junk that used to be the mainstay. I've seen what amounts to realtor's cars (Cadillac CTX, etc.) being the meter-maid's targets lately. Bad enough that 3 MPH over PSL is a "Really big deal" now in some towns in California like Chico.

Seems they need to feed their wallets and they are targeting the rich verses the poor who won't pay or can't. A $100 fine is $476 here now with their value added county and court fees stapled onto the $100 fine.

This whole "We need more cops" thing is getting out of hand. If 86% of what they do is "Victimless crimes" (like silly seat belt laws or improper child seat), then why do we need so much patrol if for nothing more than money for the government and their personal wallets? One would think the life insurance companies lobbied for this victimless crime enforcement.

I saw more cops on the local lake than regular folk a few weeks back: Lake patrol, sheriff's on ski-doos, game wardens, forestry service, bureau of land management, contract patrols, search and rescue with helicopter patrol, and even the U.S. Coast Guard are on inland lakes now. This is just a complete waste of money, but they were all enjoying their complete free access to the lake whereas any normal person pays through the nose to boat or fish there and ultimately ends up getting some sort of lake citation for their effort like a stupid buoy violation.

Government needs to cut back on all this stuff, but seems they have a vast appetite to feed themselves with more revenue off the non-government populous. I never thought the law enforcement in this country would become like what is in Mexico.

I won't mention their ridiculous retirement benefits packages of $250K that our local police chief gets at age 50. Let them teach the rookies at that age rather than retiring. That "The old guy can't catch the crook" is a bogus argument when they could do something else like become a detective, work in a crime lab, or become a trainer. Veteran crooks don't even reap that much. Just insane!

/rant.

sq~

[v1user]

Of course nicer looking cars probably mean the owner mean the owner is willing to pay more taxes. The leos in the high end areas tell me that they go after cars that don't fit with the neighborhood. The only expensive cars I hear on the scanner pulled over are the BMW 3 series.


They may be pulling the rich over more but what's really important is what happens after the stop.

Richest city in Missouri. All the big name politicians and CEO's live there.

The suit, filed Monday in St. Louis County Circuit Court, claims that Holmes and council members told White to avoid ticketing Ladue residents, including those who were caught driving drunk.

The mayor suggested that officers "did not arrest Ladue residents who were stopped for driving while intoxicated but instead took them home," according to the suit.

Ladue article on racism & dui's

[Solidjake]

Lol, they do tend to go after nicer looking cars.

[supercowpowers]

I'm surprised. I thought the rich would be more likely to invest in a $500 lawyer to get out of a $200 ticket if it would affect their license, which would be a deterrent to spending to spending too much time on them.

I never thought the law enforcement in this country would become like what is in Mexico.

We're in a pretty rough transitional period if that's where we're headed - all of the half-hearted enforcement of trivial offenses with none of the ability to bribe on the spot to get out of it. That would be true justice for the rich, which is what we'll get if that's whom they crack down on long enough.

[category4]

Of course nicer looking cars probably mean the owner mean the owner is willing to pay more taxes. The leos in the high end areas tell me that they go after cars that don't fit with the neighborhood. The only expensive cars I hear on the scanner pulled over are the BMW 3 series.


They may be pulling the rich over more but what's really important is what happens after the stop.

Richest city in Missouri. All the big name politicians and CEO's live there.

The suit, filed Monday in St. Louis County Circuit Court, claims that Holmes and council members told White to avoid ticketing Ladue residents, including those who were caught driving drunk.

The mayor suggested that officers "did not arrest Ladue residents who were stopped for driving while intoxicated but instead took them home," according to the suit.

Ladue article on racism & dui's

I loved Ladue when I was in St Louis, never had to worry about much. They kept all the riff raff out and pulled over anyone that did not look like they belonged.

I've had several people tell me they got pulled over there and told they didn't belong there!!

[TRun]

I believe that more expensive cars get more tickets. I had an epic experience with a meter maid a few months ago. I was at an office collecting some papers and I put in 15 mins on the meter thinking I should be out in 5 mins tops. I come outside and next thing I know the meter expired with the maid checking it out. I'm thinking crap this is gonna suck but nope, she just smiled at me and slapped a ticket on the Hummer H2 that was parked in front of me(his meter was at 0 even when I first got there). I just laughed the whole trip home that day I even have a few pics on my phone of a Ford GT with a poorly mounted V1 and a parking ticket on the windshield. I should upload those soon.

[Eloi]

I think this trend is real for 2 reasons :

a) unrealistic psl

b) most rich owners drive powerfull vehicules ...
I have just a less $ 30,000 suv with 270 hp
and I easily break any city psl in the first gear

We have psl of the 1960's era when cars were much
less safe , much less well built.

I dream of the day all psl will be set by the 85% centile rule ...
not by greedy politicians

[swarga]

It has always been true that cops will target those that are least likely to fight the ticket in court. Out of state plates? You ain't driving back from wherever you live just to fight a speeding ticket. Rich guy with a Porsche? You'd lose more money by taking the time off from your real job than this ticket will cost you.

OTOH, if you look poor and drive a junker, you're more likely to get pulled over in certain neighborhoods because you look like you have no business being there.

[The Chariot]

Rich people don't drive cars like the one's generally described here. The average millionaire in the USA drives a basic American car, several years old, or a pickup truck. The majority of people driving nice cars are pseudo-rich and their life is mortgaged to the hilt. Read the book "The Millionaire Next Door"... the majority of people with money don't show it with both their vehicles and their home (take a look at what Sam Walton drove and where Warren Buffet lives). If people in nicer cars are pulled over its because of the class warfare/class envy mentality that has come about in this country in the past couple of decades and the LEOs who do it either consciously or subconsciously being a part of that problem. Instead of striving harder to become affluent themselves, people would rather do what they can to drag the affluent down to their level, which is completely counter to the American dream.

[Stealth Stalker]

LOL! You guys SO don't understand cops.