tt post jul 9, 2017

Jul 9, 2017 - Toledo Blade editorial - "Councilman calling to get speeding ticket “fixed” looks bad because it is bad":http://www.toledoblade.com/Editorials/2017/07/09/Councilman-calling-police-chief-to-get-speeding-ticket-fixed-looks-bad-because-it-is-bad.html

This part of the editorial, however, is bad:

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And to *his credit,* Toledo Police Chief George Kral has said the city will refund the fines of others ticketed along with the Ludemans that day.
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Nope. No credit for the chief who apparently hid this error from the public for months. 


br. Other parts of the editorial were well-written:

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A Toledo city councilman calling the police chief to get speeding tickets for himself and his wife “fixed” looks bad because it is bad.

*But if the city is making a habit of wrongly citing innocent drivers* because they know those drivers are unlikely to fight the tickets, *that’s worse.*

... the city is apparently stooping to send *++a tax collector with a speed gun in his hand++* out onto the streets of the city, *mostly in order to raise funds for the city.* 

*_Somebody_ made that call, and it was not an individual cop.*
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"A tax collector with a speed gun in his hand." Valid description. 

And that's a good place for an investigation. Did someone higher-up in the police department make that decision, or, as I believe, did the decision come from the mayor's office?

That section of the editorial indicates a slight change in the editorial board's thinking, regarding these so-called safety cameras. I infer that this one editorial writer seems to be admitting that Toledo's use of the handheld cameras is for a money-grab.


br. More from the editorial:

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Meanwhile, the lowly everyday citizen feels he must pay the ticket from one of these encounters, rightly accused or not. The average Joe has to go through the hearing process set up for such citations. He probably has to take time off work for that. 

So, considering all those factors he most likely will simply pay the fine, especially if he lives out of town. And evidence has shown that more than half of such tickets are issued to out-of-towners.

*The privileged person can apparently just make a call to the right person.*
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And that privileged person, councilman Rob Ludeman, participated in the alleged cover-up to hide the error from the public.

Ludeman, like other privileged dead weight, needs bounced from council this fall by the voters.  And if the voters replace mayor Hicks-Hudson this fall, then we might have a new police chief next year. 

The citizens have _some_ power to make decisions.


br. More from the editorial:

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Every community has its powerful cliques of movers and shakers, but *the sense of entitlement for those people in Toledo seems especially brazen.*

Toledo’s handheld speed cameras really _could_ be used to make the city safer. They could be deployed to *construction zones* or to *residential streets where police have received complaints about speeding.* 
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Fuckin' A.



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*But that is evidently not how Toledo is using them.*

Moreover, these tickets are the source of some of Toledo’s *magically appearing piles of found money* this summer. 
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br. Here's the good closing from the editorial writer, and hopefully, the Toledo Blade hounds the city for answers. The Blade is most likely the only local media org that is capable of making city government nervous.

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Here is the question: 

bq. Did the ticket revenue exceed expectations because *officers have been directed to nab drivers who are not actually speeding?* 

Fair play and the city’s good name are at risk.
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br. An investigation could reveal that the practice of ticketing people who obeyed the law was not an isolated incident. An investigation could reveal who made the decision to place tax collectors with speed guns along Toledo roadways. An investigation could reveal who all knew about the one known error, and why it was hidden from the public for so long.