In Search of a Scandal
Times must be desperate in the media.
Even the Tribune, which has inadvertently been supporting the police by accurately quoting "mom" and "dad" following the most recent justified shooting of an assailant, are stretching with this pay-walled story:
- School bus drivers and public employees, including members of Mayor Rahm Emanuel's security detail, were caught speeding by the city's robotic speed cameras nearly 8,000 times in the past two years, a Tribune examination has found.
In most instances the fines were passed along to the employees who were behind the wheel, but that wasn't the case with two sets of workers: CTA bus and van drivers and police officers in unmarked cars.
Bus drivers used to have to pay their own traffic fines. But their union successfully sued to stop it on double-jeopardy grounds because the drivers also are subject to internal discipline, according to CTA spokeswoman Tammy Chase.
The agency is now responsible for the fines. The Tribune found 714 speeding cases among CTA bus and minibus drivers.
The paper's analysis also found that more than 2,000 tickets were issued to unmarked police vehicles, including those driven by detectives or supervisors. Those police employees did not have to pay the fines if they could explain to supervisors that they had a good reason to be speeding.
And this is a story why? If it's merely to generate outrage against the lack of a reasonable appeal process, the complete disregard for who is actually driving the vehicle or the method by which the crooked contract was awarded, then, "Hooray - sign us up!"
But if it's about city employees driving city vehicles on city time, then....well, what's the point? There's a process in place to internally discipline bus drivers and cops who disregard the rules and get caught. The video and/or pictures are evidence against their wrongdoing, but it's true in all walks of life that you shouldn't be punished twice for the same offense. If the process is being abused, fine, write about that. It's Chicago after all.
We know there is a process for de-listing certain license plates from being tagged by a camera - the city already had to send one letter to the camera operators about "M" plates after the city switched to "MP" plates. But the actual cost to the taxpayers of the city? Zero - just electrons. It's all digital cameras, so if the plates/vehicles are removed from the system, the actual loss to everyone is some charged sub-atomic particles in a digital storage medium.
But if it's about city employees driving city vehicles on city time, then....well, what's the point? There's a process in place to internally discipline bus drivers and cops who disregard the rules and get caught. The video and/or pictures are evidence against their wrongdoing, but it's true in all walks of life that you shouldn't be punished twice for the same offense. If the process is being abused, fine, write about that. It's Chicago after all.
We know there is a process for de-listing certain license plates from being tagged by a camera - the city already had to send one letter to the camera operators about "M" plates after the city switched to "MP" plates. But the actual cost to the taxpayers of the city? Zero - just electrons. It's all digital cameras, so if the plates/vehicles are removed from the system, the actual loss to everyone is some charged sub-atomic particles in a digital storage medium.
posted by SCC at 12:01 AM
23 Comments:
Not only is there a process for delisting certain types of plates, there probably is a secret phone number that the politically connected can call to have their photo speeding tickets quashed. Find the file, click DELETE and that's that.
So Mr. Citizen: If the choice comes down to me maybe speeding a little bit to get to your assistance or driving totally legal, even tho that means you might take a few more lumps, try to hang on for those few extra minutes. Or punches. Or kicks. Or stabs. Or bat whacks, guess what I am going to decide.
Hope you have good medical insurance.
It's about turning the public against public employees. Cheap, lazy story.
And, really, if the City fines the police department, all it means is shuffling money from the left hand to the right hand. In other words, no actual money is involved. No income is derived. It's an exercise in futility.
The only purpose of this article is to engender more hatred of the police. Haven't they already beaten us into the ground? Is it now a question of how deep they can pound us in?
In all honesty, no friggin city or county or state vehicle should get a pass.
The city Policy is that all vehicles used by city employees are to be operated Legally at all times, Period.
We all know the story, back in 2009 several marked vehicles around Clark and Lake St got ticketed for being parked in the bus stops and turn lane around the Thompson Center. And it was the result of a memo from a then Deputy Director about how enforcement of all vehicles was city policy regardless of what type of license plate they had. I seem to recall that was due to the fact that at the time the MSM did a story about all the CTA vehicles that were parking on the meters and in the tow zones around Jefferson and Clinton and were not getting enforced by Revenue or the CPD. Of course the director at the time was none other than the niece of Alderman Cochran as I recall. And one of the district cops that witnessed this ticketing threatened the revenue PEA with a bike ANOV for it being on the sidewalk.
I also have heard stories about city vehicles getting RLC tickets and being the driver getting told to pay the ticket or eat a 5 day suspension for outstanding fines to the city.
Personally, I say ticket all county and state vehicles that are not parked legally and also the Media.
"... The video and/or pictures are evidence against their wrongdoing, but it's true in all walks of life that you shouldn't be punished twice for the same offense. If the process is being abused, fine, write about that. It's Chicago after all. "
You mean like... Bill Cozzi?
So what you're saying, SCC, is that there could be an entire universe of red light cameras in sub-atomic particles underneath my fingernail? My mind is completely blown!!!!
They'll get something to write about when I give them something to write about, and not a New York minute sooner.
Chalkie
Rahm' s umbrella holders at it again?
What a complete non story. 2000 tickets over 2 years. 365 X 2 equals 730 days Divide that into 2000 and you have less than 3 tickets a day for the whole city. Not even one a watch. Man are they abusing the privilege.
but those coppers didn't shoot an unarmed black person while they were lead footing it through the clap trap speed zones.... So we got that going for us.....
American journalism at it's finest.
Just a tip, if you want to read one of these pay walled articles, just enter the article headline into google. The article should be the first result that comes up, just click on that.
The owner of the vehicle is responsible for the fine, that's the law. So why in the hell are we, the "employee" responsible for the fine?
Well I think UPS drivers should be disciplined by their employer instead of the City of Chicago too!
While we're at it why not:
FedEx, U.S. postal drivers, taxi drivers, Uber drivers, all the truck drivers for various freight companies, workers that are driving to/from work for WalMart, Kmart, Target, Dollar Stores, McDonalds, KFC, etc.
Let each corporation decide who and how to punish the violators in their own kangaroo courts of opinion and when to issue out the so-called "professional courtesy" wink and nod bypass.
The first rule of the privilege is to not talk about the privilege.
BTW, when is Rahm gonna get written up for not shoveling the snow in front of his house?
Well I think UPS drivers should be disciplined by their employer instead of the City of Chicago too!
While we're at it why not:
FedEx, U.S. postal drivers, taxi drivers, Uber drivers, all the truck drivers for various freight companies, workers that are driving to/from work for WalMart, Kmart, Target, Dollar Stores, McDonalds, KFC, etc.
Let each corporation decide who and how to punish the violators in their own kangaroo courts of opinion and when to issue out the so-called "professional courtesy" wink and nod bypass.
The first rule of the privilege is to not talk about the privilege.
BTW, when is Rahm gonna get written up for not shoveling the snow in front of his house?
========
You realize this already happens, correct? For violations of company policy, workers are punished according to company rules. For violations of government policy, fines may be passed down to the workers who violated it on company time as per their individual contracts. But I do like you're idea of fining Rahm for his non-shoveling. Go write the ANOV there Sparky.
Rahm' s umbrella holders at it again?
1/01/2016 07:16:00 AM
Hey leave they valets alone, they say they can do whatever they want to do. Rules don't apply to them!
I disagree SCC, the loss is to the company with the contract,in the companies eyes anyway. They feel it's lost revenue for them. They don't care if it's a public vehicle they want theirs.
These cameras should be gone. But they won't be. But at the most the companies that operate them should only be paid a flat fee. Not a pecentage of every ticket.
The day cameras began operating, I haven't wrote a single ticket for a red light or speeding. Both of which I wrote regulary.
When the parking meters were sold I stopped most parking tickets too.
I was written up once and not again.
City workers ticketing city workers. Tax money paid out in salaries to "snatch back" more tax money that was paid out in salaries.
BANG BANG BANG over in the next block...can't get a grip on the real problems, so the place is eating itself alive instead, like a gut-shot hyena snapping at its own dangling insides.
Not pretty.
The "unmarked" cars they are talking about are coverts and exempt cars. Not cars with m plates or actual "unmarked" detective or tac cars. Usually coverts are blowin lights or speeding because they are doing revolving tails or trying to catch up to a tail they are doing... But that would be boring news and justify it...
When they start handing a roll of quarters out at roll call are start paying the parking meters for my unmarked police car. And when they provide ample parking at 35th street I'll park in the lot. All of these city agencies have fleet vehicles and nowhere to park them. It's crazy. Here's a car to do you're job but don't get a ticket or you'll hVe to pay. How about you keep the cricken car and I'll take the bus to my assignments. May only get to one or two a day but I can't afford the parking, speed and red light tickets.
And how many traffic violations are committed by the delivery drivers every hour during the delivery of these papers that are so quick to attack us? Write em all.
The school bus drivers were auditioning for Rahm's Roll-A-Thon...he's got many people and departments to throw under busses, no need for traffic signals to slow down busses...enough people underneath will slow them just fine
Anonymous Anonymous said...
City workers ticketing city workers. Tax money paid out in salaries to "snatch back" more tax money that was paid out in salaries.
BANG BANG BANG over in the next block...can't get a grip on the real problems, so the place is eating itself alive instead, like a gut-shot hyena snapping at its own dangling insides.
Not pretty.
1/01/2016 02:12:00 PM
I will go one better:
City Workers (Police) fighting to get to tickets before other City Workers (Finance).
Police driving the wrong way down Winthrop or Kenmore in 20 and 24 to get street cleaning tickets .
Cops walking a beat in 018 around the Mag Mile checking meters and writing meter tickets.
As for the "City workers ticketing city workers" hang on to your crown cap. Would you rather get a ticket from a City worker doing their Job...or a scab non-union contractor with a quota?
Finance contracts the RLC and Speed Cameras staff to IBM. They are supervised by Ald. Chochrans Neice...Turanna Persons.
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