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NetQuarterLatte t1_iyig71u wrote

>“We as officers can only write summonses to vehicles we personally observe — not a picture,” said Souffrant

That's actually a legit argument because the summons requires the officer to attest to personally observing the covered plate.

But since the attorney got arrested, if the attorney later introduces those photos as evidence, and that's accepted by the court, can't the police use that evidence to issue the violation to the driver retroactively?

I think the driver would also have to attest to what was damaged in the first place, and by doing so, admit that the plate was covered, right?

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Oslopa t1_iyim6db wrote

I think the point is more that the cops specifically avoid looking for these infractions. You can’t issue the ticket if you didn’t witness the infraction? Fine, whatever. But then respond to the 311 or issue the tickets when you do witness the infraction. Why do you think these drivers are so confident in their scofflaw approach, anyway?

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NetQuarterLatte t1_iyj5vwp wrote

From the article, it seems that the issue is the lack of personnel to respond to 311 calls appropriatelly.

>“The problem is there isn’t an additional set of officers, … so in terms of priority, we’re gonna respond to [a 911 call] first and then once we’re done we eventually return and respond to the 311,” said Souffrant.

I think the solution is to have more people who have the power to issue summons?

On another post we had officers with guns to check fare evasion. I don't think a full blown cop should be needed to issue a citation.

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PKMKII t1_iyja8l9 wrote

If only there was a division of the police that was charged with handling just traffic and vehicle related issues and not the whole spectrum of police responsibilities

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nonlawyer t1_iyjgkst wrote

Maybe we could call them “The Police Who are Charged with Handing Just Traffic and Vehicle-Related Issues And Not The Whole Spectrum of Police Responsibilities”

Or “TPWACWHJTAVRIANTWSOPR” for short

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Turbulent_Link1738 t1_iyk891b wrote

But god forbid you’re within coughing distance of a fire hydrant and traffic will write you before you even step out of the car. They just stand around make traffic worse than actually write people that deserve it.

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Oslopa t1_iyjaqpf wrote

Yeah, uh-huh, like I believe a word out of a cop’s mouth.

This is just a way to dodge responsibility. If personnel were a problem, they wouldn’t falsify public records by closing 311 calls out so quickly as “no issue observed.”

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NetQuarterLatte t1_iyjbip4 wrote

>“no issue observed.”

lol, that may be factually true, but it doesn't say they didn't send any person to try to observe it.

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TeamMisha t1_iyjkaew wrote

There were reports by Streetsblog if I recall of 311s getting closed in minutes while the complainant was still watching the offending vehicles. I suspect both cases happen, officers close a case without doing any action (such as observing), and they are so delayed they do drive by at some point and the original issue is gone.

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Jahaza t1_iyk3wry wrote

They regularly falsify 311 call records. They say they responded and the offender was gone or that no action was necessary when the condition is still observable.

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elizabeth-cooper t1_iyikgmw wrote

It's real. It says this on a summons:

>I personally observed the commission of the offense charged herein.

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NetQuarterLatte t1_iyilbb3 wrote

That tracks: https://www.nycourts.gov/mysummons-nyc/Summons.pdf

>I personally observed the commission of the offense charged herein. False statements made herein are punishable as a Class A Misdemeanor pursuant to section 210.45 of the Penal Law. Affirmed under penalty of law.

So if the officer attested to that falsely he/she would be committing a misdemeanor.

I've edited my original comment to reflect the above.

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Crimsonwolf1445 t1_iyintm8 wrote

No because the officer would still need to state they observed the original violation personally. Photos of a violation even if used as court evidence would not enable an officer to issue the summons

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HalfDryGlass t1_iym0k9y wrote

So why do we have so many speed cameras auto ticketing cars?

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NetQuarterLatte t1_iym6nd1 wrote

Good question.

Is there a specific legislation that enables tickets to be issued based on speed camera evidence?

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vxr1 t1_iymmyp5 wrote

What about speed/red light/toll cameras?

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TegrityBoots t1_iyiwae5 wrote

Just call his cell phone a "traffic cam" and that should fix it.

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