Beaverton Oregon -- Officer Jessica hall, 29 of the Beaverton police department was cited by photo radar for speeding while on patrol and issued $125 fine for doing 40 miles an hour in a 30 mile an hour zone last April.
Typically, officials dismiss photo radar citations in the cases of on-duty police officers, however, city AttorneyAlan Rappleyea said Hull had no reason to break the speed limit.
"Just because you're a police officer, you don't get special treatment," Rappleyea said. "We don't want the public to think we don't prosecute our own people."
the photo radar program is opposed by police union leaders because drivers are ticketed without contact from an officer, which according to Mark Makler, an attorney who represents the Beaverton Police Association, the system eliminates the discretion of officer to issue a warning and the radar vans are typically staffed by retired police officers, not sworn police.
Oregon Revised Statute (ORS) 810.438 - .439 photo radar can only be used by authorized cities, it is not allowed to stay in the one location for more than four hours a day, cannot be used on controlled access highways and cities must post signs notifying drivers a potential photo enforcement on major routes entering the cities. Additionally, photo radar units must be operated out of a marked police vehicle by trained police officers.
In 2006, the city of Beaverton issued 6,820 photo radar citations with a conviction rate of 74%
Cities that are authorized to use photo radar include Albany, Beaverton, Bend, Eugene, Medford, Portland, and Tigard.{Oregon vehicle code}--
the only use for photo radar in my opinion is revenue enhancement, not law enforcement. As my father, who used to work for the Oregon State attorney's office used to say, "you cannot catch people with an outstanding warrant or a felon with photo radar."
1 comment:
I used to be a vault teller for a national bank and one thing I remember is that Police officers and Preachers were the worst financial managers. They were the biggest check bouncers. And as we all know from our congressmen and representatives, too many in public service think they are above the law. Just think how much money we would make if ALL offenders were fined. THis is just a drop in the bucket.
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