FC: Cameras nab DC city cops, send speeding tickets to miscreants

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

[Also sent along by C.M. and M.S. Let's parse this article: DC city police 
are only permitted to run red lights when responding to "Code One" robbery, 
violent crime, etc. calls. They do this with their sirens and lights on. 
The cameras are set up to detect flashing red lights atop a car and not 
send a ticket, and tickets are manually inspected by police before they're 
issued. Further, undercover cops are exempt from tickets. So the logical 
conclusion, most likely, is that Washington's finest habitually run red 
lights and speed illegally, in non-emergency situations. --Declan]

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Date: Thu, 29 Nov 2001 10:18:07 -0500
To: declan () well com
From: Jonathan Gewirtz <nqn () ix netcom com>
Subject: Re: Will DC Traffic Cameras Ticket Cops?

Declan,

A few months ago I asked what would happen when DC police vehicles were
caught by speed- or red-light enforcement cameras. It appears that this
question is now being answered:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/metro/20011129-13345237.htm

---

   Cops get speeding tickets from cameras [blackline-small.gif]
   By Brian DeBose
   THE WASHINGTON TIMES

        Some D.C. police officers say they are slowing their response to
   emergencies because photo-radar cameras are ticketing them for
   speeding on Code One calls, and they are being forced to pay the
   fines.
        At least three D.C. police officers told The Washington Times
   they were caught by the cameras and ticketed while on official police
   business. They said they and other officers have been forced to pay
   the fines, and are now on edge about speeding to a crime scene and
   running red lights in emergencies. Like area motorists, they have
   little chance of getting a reprieve from the D.C. Bureau of Traffic
   Adjudication without evidence to present in their defense.
        "Officers are getting crazy tickets, in their cars on duty from
   the speed and red-light cameras," said Sgt. Gerald G. Neill Jr.,
   chairman of the Metropolitan Police Department's union labor
   committee. "A lot of them have actually had to pay the fines," he
   said.
        Some officers have paid so many tickets that they are no longer
   speeding or running red lights to get to their dispatched calls even
   in emergency situations, Sgt. Neill said.
         "The threat of the flash is in their heads, but more so the $100
   to $200 fines," Sgt. Neill said.
        One detective, with 12 years on the force and currently working
   in the Fifth District, said he was flashed by the cameras once for
   speeding and once for running a red light all on dispatched calls. Two
   other officers said they also have received tickets while on emergency
   calls.
        "I got two speeding tickets and one red-light ticket," said a
   detective who did not wish to be named. But he said he didn't remember
   to fill out a 775 form a log sheet used to keep track of officers
   using police vehicles. Without the form to back up his statement in
   traffic adjudication, he was forced to pay the fines.
   [...]




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