Traffic Squad Ticket Quota

Pay the ticket anyway

Speed limits on major neighborhood thoroughfares were changed from 35 or 40 mph to 25 mph, thereby creating speed traps.  Drivers who did not notice the new sign were ticketed by officers who hid further down the road.  One driver complained that he was ticketed for 15 mph speeding after a speed limit sign was changed from 40 mph to a temporary 25 mph speed limit sign.  Tampa changed the speed limit back to 40 mph, but told the driver to pay the ticket because he was speeding on the day it was issued.

Embellished the speed to meet the threshold

My neighbor knew he was driving at 11 to 12 mph over the speed limit, when a traffic squad officer ticketed him for speeding at 15 mph over.  Apparently, traffic squad officers are expected to target 15 mph or more speeding tickets, a threshold that adds an additional driver’s license point (and auto insurance increase), meaning the officer allegedly embellished the speed to meet the squad’s 15 mph speeding threshold.

Alleging a DUI

Another driver claims a squad officer arrested him for DUI, despite the officer not having probable cause to stop him.  The officer claimed the man’s tail light was broken, resulting in the traffic stop.  However, the light was not broken.  The driver claims the officer actually followed him out of a parking lot at a bar and subsequently stopped him, alleging a broken tail light and then reporting to smell alcohol. 

After believing he passed the field sobriety test, the driver refused the alcohol test because in Florida, if an officer believes a driver failed the field sobriety test, a DUI conviction is achieved with an alcohol level of only 0.05 (rather than 0.08).  In court, the officer claimed the driver had been weaving across the center line, absent any video evidence. 

Mid-trial, prosecutors proposed a plea deal after the jury watched the field sobriety test – agreeing to drop the DUI charge if pleading guilty to some lesser charge.  The man still lost his driver’s license for a year for refusing to be tested for alcohol, and his truck became the property of the Tampa police, as they wanted $1,000 in fees for its return. 

Faster than a speeding bullet

This same traffic squad officer gave a ticket to a driver for allegedly going 70 mph in a 50 mph zone; however, the circumstances were physically impossible.  The driver was stopped at the intersection adjacent to her apartment building and turned left onto the road.  The traffic squad officer claims that within a distance of one to two blocks, the driver accelerated to 70 mph in a 4-cylinder car, the officer then took a laser reading, which he later crossed out, then he paced the car at 70 mph, and then caught up to the car to make the traffic stop, which would require exceeding 70 mph and would violate Tampa police policy. 

This all supposedly occurred within a one to two block distance.  Further, the officer incorrectly listed the speed limit as 45 mph, thereby embellishing the speeding charge. This occurred after my lawsuit, but is evidence that drivers continue to allege Tampa’s traffic squad is engaging in ticket fraud.