Colorado State Patrol to crack down on drivers this weekend

[TC626]

http://kdvr.com/2014/04/25/colorado-state-patrol-to-crack-down-on-drivers-this-weekend/

[Drama2]

Wish they did this everyday...

[Matty]

Well there goes having fun this weekend!!! Hahaha.... Hope this is used for actual safety vs earning revenue.

[GMR]

This is only going to get worse with the red light/speed camera ban if it moves through. Coming down the hill from Gennessee has been really bad. Always police there and they are going to pull over somebody

[Aaron]

This is only going to get worse with the red light/speed camera ban if it moves through. Coming down the hill from Gennessee has been really bad. Always police there and they are going to pull over somebody
Actually, that ban will have little to do with street patrols. An agency is not going to change it's priorities, and it's manpower, because of the cameras. Cameras vs street patrols are entirely different entities within the agency, neither one affecting the other at all. The only thing I could see is some city's wanting to increase ticket production to make up for the lost revenue. However, by the time this reaches the Officers, it's a very low priority, and most Officers revolt anyway. And the city can't force the issue because it'd be a PR nightmare. You will not see a change in the actions of uniformed Officers based on the cameras.

[UHATEIT]

Shit. I was thinking of hitting Deckers this weekend, there seems to be no rides getting posted on this forum anymore, and the weather is high 70s tomorrow!

[Aaron]

They weren't kidding. Drove I25 from Pueblo through Springs today, and saw 3 CSP Troopers (Normally see 1). And every highway sign had a different message.

[FZRguy]

They won't be looking for impaired drivers in the canyons, so I would expect a normal LEO presence on the roads we like to ride....maybe less!

[KennyFish]

I rode a bit tonight in the springs, and there were way more patrol units out, saw 7-8 state patrols on academy near academy and I25. County Sheriff and CSPD have stepped up they're presence already. Everyone be safe this weekend they are out in full force waiting for revenue!!

[milehizx6r]

So anyone want to ride today. Lets meet up

[Clovis]

We could meet up and race from stop light to stop light down Academy... and then hit I-25 to race down to Pueblo and back!

Wuff Ryders!

[NZ Darren]

Been at least 1 checking speeds between Springs and Monument, so don't speed there.

[Clovis]

I had to go up to Castle Rock from The Springs Around noon today. Heavy traffic.

3 troopers at monument and another 2 at N academy and I25.

the state is broke people, it's all about the benjimens!

[Drama2]

I just rode I25 up and back to Milliken and saw only 1 cop the entire time. I think they were hiding....;)

[Wrider]

Or you just suck at spotting them haha.

Two on I-25 just south of the northgate exit in the Springs.

[Drama2]

Probably that...I was more focused on the people on cell phones, wome doing their mascara and the firemen oh dear Lordy those firemen.


Or you just suck at spotting them haha.

Two on I-25 just south of the northgate exit in the Springs.

[FZRguy]

Firemen find 'em hot, leave 'em wet.

[Aaron]

Cops find them wet, leave them unable to breathe.

[BikesRider777]

I saw 3 cops consecutively within 10 miles on P2P on Friday evening. Then I think about the time my very expensive mountain bike was stolen and the cops didn't have time to look into it even though I pointed them to the craiglist ad with my stolen bike on it.

[FZRguy]

They rather write $150 tickets than help recover $4k mtn bikes.

[Cars-R-Coffins]

I rode Friday and Saturday and didn't see any cops. Well, unless you count the Jeffco cop in the F-250 with the ATV in the back driving north on 285 from Pine Junction.

[milehizx6r]

Went for a ride Saturday with Troyb. Left 711 Golden at 9:30 took clear creek canyon to Blacjhawk and spotted 4 State Patrol (one in an unmarked red charger). I was actually glad traffic was heavy on the way up or I probably would've been pulled over. Came down Golden Gate no cops. Then went back up Coal Creek, none. Then on the way down Boulder canyon, saw 2 more. Overall not bad. Road conditions were actually pretty good.

[ezrider]

This is only going to get worse with the red light/speed camera ban if it moves through. Coming down the hill from Gennessee has been really bad. Always police there and they are going to pull over somebody

red light/speed camera ban is DOA http://thecoloradoobserver.com/2014/05/hickenlooper-crashes-red-light-cameras-bill/

[Clovis]

Gotta get that tax money one way or another.

[BikesRider777]

The problem, as I see it, is the conflict of Interest. The article mentions that Hickenlooper would face opposition from the police groups over signing the bill, which is crazy when you think about it. The police shouldn't have an opinion, their job is to enforce. And that's where the conflict of interest comes in. Police stations and law enforcement divisions benefit from the revenue made by these tickets. Look at Morrison, why do they have some of the nicest cop cars around? Cause ticket revenue provided them a nice bump. I don't know the exact statistics on which police divisions get portions of the revenue, or how much portion they get, but anything over 1% is too much to me. Conflict of interest!!! They collect revenue from writing tickets? Are you kidding me? Anyone else see a major problem with this? The solution would be simple, and this bill was a movement in the right direction. The solution is to remove the conflict of interest. Propose a bill that turns all ticket revenue over to non-profit's/charity's. Who's down? Think about the good that would come from that too?

[limespeed]

so whats the deal with smoking pot and driving, any one know if they can do roadside tests yet?

[Drano]

If you want to keep tickets from generating revenue, the answer is simple: don't give law enforcement a reason to pull you over. Sure, it's an oversimplification, but the logic is pretty simple. Less crimes committed, less fines, less money to law enforcement, not to mention, less need for officers for enforcement.

It's like saying, "I like breaking the law, but I don't want police departments to have a higher incentive to catch me doing so." It's the price you pay if you choose to play. Regardless of whether the police steps up their vigilance, you choose (most of the time) to draw their attention.

Flame on, flamers!

[Tykho]

As long as you actually pull over, the cops have seemed to really loosened up in Colorado Springs. I haven't been pulled over personally this year (yet lol), but I've been with someone else who was pulled over on 2 instances and were let off with warnings, and heard of two others this week alone. The officers were also MUCH more polite and courteous than I've experienced in the past few years.

[Clovis]

Colorado Springs police have a mandate from their chief of a minimum of 1 ticket per night or 30 per month.

Coincidentally, I always see cops out in full force come the end of the month... not just in the springs. The state patrol are the worst offenders of the end of the month push.

Everyone knows that the reason behind tickets is 90% revenue generation and 10% "safety" yet the most cited reason for speeding tickets is "Well, more people die on the roads from any other cause".

If the state really wanted to get serious about traffic safety, they would take a lesson from England and make obtaining a driver's license a serious endevor... not this "Cool, you're 16... take this test... score at least an 80%... okay great, come back in 6 months later and drive me around the block and there's your license kiddo!"

Our tax/fee system is simply a matter of feeding the machine.

[FZRguy]

Be great to see a much more rigorous license process. Last time I was at the Taj to pay a fine, the cashier area was like a casino with folks lined up 20 deep at each station to pay plea deals.

[tecknojoe]

If the state really wanted to get serious about traffic safety, they would take a lesson from England and make obtaining a driver's license a serious endevor... not this "Cool, you're 16... take this test... score at least an 80%... okay great, come back in 6 months later and drive me around the block and there's your license kiddo!"


the driving culture is completely different in the UK, people are very courteous and don't fuck each other over the way they do in america.

but they also have speed cameras everywhere. its much more relaxing to drive there, just go the speed limit or a few over and you get there when you get there

i just got back from a 6 month trip there, and wow i never realized how awful people really are to each other when driving here

[Cars-R-Coffins]

Colorado Springs police have a mandate from their chief of a minimum of 1 ticket per night or 30 per month. Otherwise known as a quota.

[Aaron]

The problem, as I see it, is the conflict of Interest. The article mentions that Hickenlooper would face opposition from the police groups over signing the bill, which is crazy when you think about it. The police shouldn't have an opinion, their...
Police Officers shouldn't have an interest in public safety?


Until you have been involved in Law Enforcement, you can't say that ticket revenue goes to the agency. First off, when Officers cite you, at least Municipal Officers, they can write you into one of three courts. If written into county/district court, the city gets none of the revenue generated by that charge. Not a dime, it all goes to the county or district. And none of that money goes to the Sheriff or CSP either. They have set budgets, they will get a set amount of money, revenue from citations goes to the general fund. Now if the general fund of that particular county/district/state is high enough at the end if the year, or if voters or leaders want better Law Enforcement, they may allocate more or less money to the agency. But it's not direct, it's not guaranteed, and it isn't based off how many tickets were written.


If written into Municipal court, all of the money goes to the City's general fund, but same as above, it doesn't go right back to the agency. The fact that Morrison has nice cars means nothing. So does CSP (They have the nicest by the way), but yet their ticket revenue doesn't even go to the state.



so whats the deal with smoking pot and driving, any one know if they can do roadside tests yet?
They have been able to forever, and yes, still can. You can get a DUI from being under the influence of ANYTHING that impairs you to the slightest degree. I think what you're referring to is whether they can use the chemical test against you like they can for alcohol, and to be honest I'm not sure. They established levels, but there was some litigation over those levels being easily held for a long period of time after the ingestion and impairment.


Colorado Springs police have a mandate from their chief of a minimum of 1 ticket per night or 30 per month.

Coincidentally, I always see cops out in full force come the end of the month... not just in the springs. The state patrol are the worst offenders of the end of the month push.

Everyone knows that the reason behind tickets is 90% revenue generation and 10% "safety" yet the most cited reason for speeding tickets is "Well, more people die on the roads from any other cause".

If the state really wanted to get serious about traffic safety, they would take a lesson from England and make obtaining a driver's license a serious endevor... not this "Cool, you're 16... take this test... score at least an 80%... okay great, come back in 6 months later and drive me around the block and there's your license kiddo!"

Our tax/fee system is simply a matter of feeding the machine.
Kind of. It's 1 per shift worked for Patrol only, not 30 a month, and it is flexible. But it is in place, and it is used as a revenue generator for the city. It won't be in place for long.

You rode with me for 10 hours. I was a straight Patrol car, and didn't hide anything from you. Was I under ANY pressure to write tickets? How many did I write? The ones I wrote, did I do that so I'd get my paycheck?

Tickets generate revenue, there's no way around that. Tickets absolutely make a difference in public safety too. I wouldn't be opposed to directing the revenue generated away from the city or county, but where? I am opposed to the "workload expectation" like CSPD does. But like Drano said, don't give them a reason and it won't affect you.

[BikesRider777]

The police shouldn't have an official opinion on Politics (not safety), that's a clear conflict of interest. You shouldn't have a system set up where you have the enforcement wing of the state lobbying for laws. If that's not clear to everyone then some research is in order on the very reason we don't allow a military personnel to be commander in chief, it has to be a civilian by law. It's for the same reason we separate the courts from the law writers, or the courts from the police for that matter.

You can certainly ask the police for technical opinions on safety due to their experience or training, but the police by their nature are to protect and serve - not govern (lobby).

Besides, safety isn't the end all be all. If it is, we should have speed limits enforced at 5mph on every road. "It would be worth it to save one additional life." Right? Wrong.

To the point about needing to be in law enforcement to know where the ticket revenue is going is like saying that you have to be a trash collector to know how they finance the purchasing of trash trucks. Granted, I know that revenue sharing with police stations isn't happening across the board but from my research it's more common than many realize. A quick google on it found this article from PA showing that police agency's directly share in the revenue. I'm not going to do a bunch more research, but clearly if this post showed up on like the 5th or 6th result on google it's a somewhat common practice around the country. And also the freedom of information act would allow almost anyone to track the distribution of finances within any city or municipality in the country.
http://www.witf.org/news/2012/02/pa-budget-plan-sends-traffic-ticket-revenue-to-state-police-not-communities.php

And to Aaron's point though, it must be especially obvious to the smaller police agencies that increasing ticket revenue will benefit them even if revenue sharing isn't a direct practice.
The fact that Morrison has nice police cars (for such a small municipality, anyway) is related to ticket revenue - I remember reading it in the denver post - I just can't find the article anymore. Maybe the city decided to buy them nicer police cars as opposed to them buying themselves nicer ones, but either way the result is the same - Conflict of Interest!

What I really want to know though is why it seems like the Police spend sooo much more time on the road policing our driving habits, which oh by the way just happens to increase revenue to the state, than they do investigating crimes and such? I could give you all multiple examples in the past 5 years of the police telling me that they were way to backed up to do any serious investigating. But then I see so many cops writing tickets. Seems very wrong to me.

I would like to clear up that if it seems like I'm hating on the police I'm not...I have a lot of respect for the police and what they do. For sure I've been very happy when they've shown up several times in my life. But it's frustrating when as a motorcyclist who likes to go fast, the majority of my tickets in my life are driving in my car on 25 or 35mph roads and accidentally losing focus for a minute, speeding, and getting busted. On a bike, I'm 100% focused so this rarely happens. And it pisses me off, especially considering there is this undefined gray zone where everyone goes 5 or 10mph over the limit and it just depends on the cop and the road, and perhaps what you're wearing.