4 ms·
> Councilman Felix Barker pointed out that the extra cash the city had brought in far exceeded the cost of jailing all those people. “We increased the profits,”
by warmwaffles 11y ago
> Councilman Felix Barker pointed out that the extra cash the city had brought in far exceeded the cost of jailing all those people. “We increased the profits,” he said.
Uh, that's not what police are supposed to be. They are not supposed to be a revenue source.
> “You have a heart and you feel for those people,” he said. “The judge could charge a dollar. I don’t care.”
Except he can't, there are minimum fines and they will only go down to that level. Other times it could be a dismissal fee, but other than that, no.
- tfinniga 11y agoReminds me of this article about the link between excessive policing of traffic offenses, police as a profit center, and getting a huge chunk of your budget from your poorest citizens: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/07/police-shootings-traffic-stops-excessive-fines http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/07/police-shootings... Once you lose sight of 'Protect and serve', things can go very wrong.
- Aloha 11y agoIt really depends on the nature of the fines levied, on its face, you'd not convince me that speed enforcement alone is disproportionately levied on the poor. There is another class of fines, like Failure to Appear, fix it tickets resulting in a warrant (warrants shouldn't be issued for non-moving violations ever), unable to provide proof of insurance, and failure to pay fines - that are very likely levied excessively on the poor.
- biomcgary 11y agoSimply require local police/court systems to turn fine money over to the state, which will move the incentive for abuse from the local level to the state. Or, require that it is sent to the Federal government. Better yet, burn the money (but that is still akin to giving it to the money printers).