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Local governments use traffic citations to make up for revenue shortfalls. Researchers examined 14 years of data from 96 North Carolina counties and found that for every one percentage point decrease in local government revenue, there is a .32 percent increase in tickets issued the next year.
While that number might seem small, it is statistically significant. "There is ample anecdotal evidence that local governments use traffic tickets as a means of generating revenue," the study's authors write. "Our paper provides the first empirical evidence to support this view."
To those who grew up watching Hazzard County commissioner Boss Hogg operate, these findings come as no surprise.
Far be it from us to point out the obvious, but if you don't pay your parking tickets you might go to jail. We wonder if any of these ladies forgot to pay the meter maid?
Hottie Mugshots
This photo provided by Val Verde, Texas, County Sheriff's Office shows one-time NFL cheerleader and reality TV bride-to-be Mary Delgado who is out of jail after being arrested in a Del Rio, Texas, bar, Sunday, Nov 16, 2008. Delgado, who accepted a televised proposal from "The Bachelor," or professional bass fisherman Byron Velvick, in 2004, was arrested in Del Rio early Sunday after refusing to leave a local bar. She was arrested on charges of disorderly conduct, public intoxication, and resisting arrest and released about an hour later.
Val Verde County Sheriff's Office / AP
Before they were famous, Hugh Hefner's new twin girlfriends Karissa and Kristina Shannon, 19, were arrested in 2007 after a bar fight. Double your pleasure, double your felony aggravated battery.
She really has that "girl next cell" quality, don't you think?
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Hey baby, why the long face?
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So sultry. She must've been booked for a crime of passion.
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We know this type. Crazy and crazy in bed. You want to break up with her, but you're afraid of her reaction. We don't blame you.
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If you want to impress the jury it helps to button up your housecoat.
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Is it us, or does she look like Eva Longoria's naughty little sister? Score!
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Hello, kitty! Bringing cute back to the booking room.
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A former child beauty pageant star, Karen still loved having her picture made, regardless of where it was.
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Thursday 15 January
By Ted
Interesting article to be entered into the "Useless Trivia" file. Of course, towns, cities, and counties use traffic-violation fines to generate revenue. Any fool knows that.....
My question is: Why are an assistant VP of a Federal Reserve Bank in St. Louis and some guy from the University of Arkansas wasting their time and our money studying data from 96 North Carolina counties? Did they get a Federal grant to vacation on the beach for a few months while they downloaded state files to their laptops, drank margaritas, and oogled the women in bikinis?...
Are there not more useful and beneficial statistics to be gathered and analyzed in Missouri and Arkansas? You know...., things like crime, unemployment, wasteful government spending, political graft and corruption, or even a governor coersing prostitution from state employees.
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Friday 16 January
By Al Tam
Why don't you ask the researchers that question, or even get their paper and read it for yourself to see if it has any real value instead of taking the high and mighty road of questioning it and declaring it a waste here, on a totally unrelated site?
Sunday 18 January
By LookBothWays
Oh, I think the article has worth. Although many of us already were aware of the correlation between an increase in traffic citations and ticketing, some don't. I guess you could also view it as the "Side B" of economics.
Now what I'd really like to read about is proof that the state lotteries subsidize localities by "planting" the majority of instant lottery tickets in the districts with substantial shortfalls... and that's just one thing I'd like to read about; many more economy-related "scandals" are waiting to be revealed, I'm sure.
Thursday 15 January
By Tomball
I guess this will inadvertently result in some actual law enforcement.
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Thursday 15 January
By mike
So much for "to serve and protect" this has been going on in too many places. Most of these local police need to be thrown in jail themselves for extortion policies like this.
Thursday 15 January
By DL
Of course they will write more tickets, there is no money in busting gang bangers so lets make a criminal out of everyone doing 66 in a 55.
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Thursday 15 January
By paesanopt
You are exactly right. Crime doesn't pay (for the cops), but traffic tickets do. The law needs to change. The money should be send to state's general fund, instead of local money barons (cops).
Thursday 15 January
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Thursday 15 January
By Walter
Quotas!
They don’t have no quotas. Yea right and all cops are honest too.
Where does the money go? It is not accounted for in the budgets and we know that all monies in the general funds accounts are just pissed away. If citizens have, money that is unaccounted for the government calls it criminal. Americans are stupid to allow law enforcement and the court system to steal from us in this way, its legalized crime and someone should be held accountable.
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Thursday 15 January
By Frank
Maybe they will cite people for following too close. After all you can speed safely if you have enough stopping distance. I'm so glad justice is based upon quotas.
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Thursday 15 January
By observer50
If this really was going to result in some actual law enforcement that would be fine, but it won't. Just more of the same. the law enforcement we'll get will be the kind that makes them money. roll through a stop sign pay a fine, go a little too fast on the freeway, pay a fine, talk on your cell phone all you want, have a wreck because of it or give fifty people road rage on the way to work because you're too busy talking to drive that's ok. No justice in the law enforcement world, just fines like an illegal tax. The cops sit on the side of the road watching people speed by all day or tailgate others with impunity and then at the end of their shift hurry up and stop some people and write a few tickets so they can say they 'worked' that day. Pick a good looking chick, unless boys are your thing, you know so you can mix al ittle social life in there with your 'job' sometimes if you let them go you get a twofer, people actually seeing you 'work' and maybe a date! From my personal experience having been broken into twice with no suspects ever found, hit and run on my vehicle right in front of my house plenty of evidence laying around on the street no suspect ever found. Left a bar one night after one too many beers spent the night in jail, seems they can catch people leaaving bars, but they can't catch real crooks. (All you tee totalers that want to cry out in indignation because I drove after one too many forget it, cops do it all the time,because the law doesn't apply to them until they wreck.) and it seems the only crimes they can solve are the ones where someone rats the person out, they actually catch them beating their wives or husbands (must be politically correct here)or stop them and give them a breath test. Just look in the local newspaper and read the police report. it is full of dui arrests, domestic violence arrests, and many officer took a statement reports, these are the ones they won't solve, they will be the breaking and entering, vandalism, hits and run, etc that require actual police work, you know real effort. but they make 50000 dollars a year to drive around and be control freaks, yay team!
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Thursday 15 January
By screwall
You are so right.I recently received a ticket for supposedly cutting through a store parking lot to avoid a traffic control device and the cops were not sitting on the other end of the lot after you exited the lot..no...they were sitting in the middle of the lot handing out tickets for avoiding the traffic light.I was actually going into the store and I did in fact go into the store after receiving the ticket...but the judge ruled that it was highly unlikely that I was indeed going into the store even after I produced a receipt stating that in fact I did purchase products in that store.Problem here in New Jersey is that you need to be able to demand a jury trial because as the municipal court system as it stands now a judge who works for the town is paid by the town and do you think that he is not going to produce for the town?Law needs to be taken out of the hands of a judge and put into the hands of a 5 man jury for municipal charges,but no,that takes too much time and they cannot control what a jury will render. Cheers!!!
Thursday 15 January
By capt3957
Sounds like you have had more then your share of traffic stops. I would think that if you have all the answers you would learn to drive like the 73.6% of people that have never gotten a ticket. With your attitude I think it will not be long before you see the otherside of law enforcement that you claim don't exist. Your bound to step up to real criminal time.
Thursday 15 January
By SJSVOB
And do you think they'll be writing tickets to the people doing the dangerous maneuvers, the ones cutting you off, doing the bizarre u-turns, the tailgating, the people who think an exit lane is a passing lane, the ones jamming on the brakes for no apparant reason, the ones drifting in their lanes, etc. No, they'll sit on a nice wide boulevard with a radar gun.
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Thursday 15 January
By KEN
BEHAVIOR LIKE THIS WILL JUST MAKE THINGS WORSE,,,AND PEOPLE WILL BE FORCED TO GIVE UP THE LAST LITTLE BIT OF MONEY THEY HAVE,,,,LOCAL GOVERMENT WILL JUST HAVE TO DO WHAT WE ARE ALL DOING ,,,, LEARN TO LIVE WITHOUT...THE CAUSE IS CLEAR,,, LAW MAKERS HAVE MADE A SYSTEM ,THAT WE MUST LIVE BY THAT WHEN ITS PUT TO THE QUESTION , SIMPLY EATS ITSELF....ALL WE NEED IS TO PUT CREATIVE PEOPLE IN THEIR SEATS THE NEXT TIME AROUND
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Thursday 15 January
By wayne
Sure kick the working class in the ass just a little deeper to support wastful spending of political corruption
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Thursday 15 January
By Jerry
I hate to say it - NOT ! ! ! People who speed are threatening the lives of everyone else on the road and their vehical is the weapon. SO, Put them in jell for assult with a deadly weapon. It is criminal to speed and thats that. Stop crying and being a little baby. Face the music. IF YOU SPEED YOU PAY ! ! ! ! ! ! !
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Thursday 15 January
By screwall
hey Jerry... you must lead a very boring life indeed.
Thursday 15 January
By manderso222
So THAT's the reason I keep getting tickets at 3 in the morning on the Garden State Parkway when the only two cars for as far as the eye can see are--literally--me and the cop.
Thursday 15 January
By Fred Burcaw
So much for the B.S. from the local cops that their only interest is in our safety and not making money. We all know different, so why do they keep up the pretenses ?
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