Beware of CHP air units

[5OUTTA6]

Anybody we may know?

"CHP air, ground units nab suspected reckless motorcyclist on Mount Tamalpais

By Paul Liberatore
Marin Independent Journal
Posted:   05/26/2012 10:29:29 AM PDT

A California Highway Patrol aircraft spotted a motorcycle driving recklessly on winding Shoreline Highway near Stinson Beach Friday afternoon, passing cars at more than 80 miles an hour.

The CHP's Air-37 plane kept track of the motorcyclist as he changed course due to heavy traffic and one-way construction on Highway 1. With guidance from the plane, a CHP car was waiting to intercept the cyclist at Pan Toll on Mount Tamalpais, stopping him at about 2:25 p.m. as he sped east on Pan Toll Road off Panoramic Highway. Another CHP car was in hot pursuit two seconds behind, officers said.

The motorcyclist, Joseph Peulen, 57, of Novato, was arrested on suspicion of reckless driving and booked into Marin County Jail. His 2006 Suzuki GSXR 1000 was impounded."

[rgbeard]

.................. Another CHP car was in hot pursuit two seconds behind, officers said.

*snerk*

[Formerly Known as Bigfoot]

Anybody we may know?

"CHP air, ground units nab suspected reckless motorcyclist on Mount Tamalpais

By Paul Liberatore
Marin Independent Journal
Posted:   05/26/2012 10:29:29 AM PDT

A California Highway Patrol aircraft spotted a motorcycle driving recklessly on winding Shoreline Highway near Stinson Beach Friday afternoon, passing cars at more than 80 miles an hour.

The CHP's Air-37 plane kept track of the motorcyclist as he changed course due to heavy traffic and one-way construction on Highway 1. With guidance from the plane, a CHP car was waiting to intercept the cyclist at Pan Toll on Mount Tamalpais, stopping him at about 2:25 p.m. as he sped east on Pan Toll Road off Panoramic Highway. Another CHP car was in hot pursuit two seconds behind, officers said.

The motorcyclist, Joseph Peulen, 57, of Novato, was arrested on suspicion of reckless driving and booked into Marin County Jail. His 2006 Suzuki GSXR 1000 was impounded."

Wow.  Must have been a little more to the story for the arrest and tow.  Suspended OL?  Pursuit?  

[Rogue]

I was just on that very same road just days ago.

I can see him doing 80 mph on Shoreline Highway in short bursts.  What I would like to know is how in the hell can an aircraft tell how fast he was going?  That highway is NOT a highway like the 101 freeway but a very twisty road with very short straights.  

In any case, that road and everything around it is spectacular and very challenging for even an experienced rider.  It's also chock full of Bay Area sightseers and motorists alike on weekends.  Not a good place to get the cobwebs out on any given sunny Saturday or Sunday.  I was there last year on a Saturday too and it was a cluster fuck.  The road into Stinson Beach had a line of cars that snaked along the narrow mountain road.  Not fun.  

[Blunder]

That's part of the infamous Sunday Morning Ride. Early hours on a weekend and the road is fairly clear of tourists and even locals. A weekday afternoon? The dude's an idiot and getting arrested for what the cop in the air witnessed sounds about right.

Oh, no, I don't know him.

[knobnose]

Those guys can be really sneaky. A couple of years ago my son and I were heading South in his cage on 395 just S. of Bishop when I noticed a plane cruising between the highway and the mountains and told him to cool it.It was a Sunday afternoon toward the end of ski season with hundreds of LA skiers heading home. A couple of miles later there were four CHP with 20+ cars pulled over. Five miles later there were more CHP with another half dozen who thought they had escaped the trap and put the hammer down.

[Rogue]

CA is bankrupt.  The state needs to collect more taxes and the CHP is one of their top revenue generators.  

[Blunder]

CA is bankrupt.  The state needs to collect more taxes and the CHP is one of their top revenue generators.  

CA is not alone. I've noticed it all over the country. Indiana must have had everyone with a badge out on the Saturday of this Memorial Day weekend. Ohio, too. Especially in construction zones of which there are plenty.

[DogBoy]

CA is bankrupt.  The state needs to collect more taxes and the CHP is one of their top revenue generators.  

This a wildly inaccurate and ridiculous statement rogue. Just try to back it up with some facts. Income tax and property tax bring in tens of billions of dollars. Show me where traffic tickets written by the CHP (not other agencies) generate anywhere near that kind of revenue for the state government.

[daremrc]

When I lived in the Bay area, I witnessed the same type of operation taking place on Hopland Grade coming out of Lake county.  They have a cessna 182 with CHP clearly emblazoned on the wings, if you pull over and take the time to examine the plane..

FTP...

[5OUTTA6]

That's part of the infamous Sunday Morning Ride. Early hours on a weekend and the road is fairly clear of tourists and even locals. A weekday afternoon? The dude's an idiot and getting arrested for what the cop in the air witnessed sounds about right.

Oh, no, I don't know him.

I've had bikes pass me at lightening speeds over the double yellow on the curves along Bolinas Lagoon.   There are a lot of crazy riders out there at all times.

[Rogue]

This a wildly inaccurate and ridiculous statement rogue. Just try to back it up with some facts. Income tax and property tax bring in tens of billions of dollars. Show me where traffic tickets written by the CHP (not other agencies) generate anywhere near that kind of revenue for the state government.

It's not ridiculous.  Exhaggerated yes.  The CHP generates a lot of revenue for the State of CA.  And yes, next to the State Board of Equalization, the CHP is one of the biggest "tax collectors" in the state.  Income, property, and sales tax are the top three.  Even that is NOT enough for the huge black hole running the show up in Sacramento.

[DogBoy]

I'm not buying it. Come up with some numbers to back up your claim.

Funds from tickets are split between the state and local municipalities. The state gets a third or less. Add in the fact that several other agencies (city police and county sheriffs) write tickets and its obvious that the CHP is not one of the top revenue generators and pales in comparison to tax revenue.

[Rogue]

I'm not here to convince you of anything.  If you want to know then you have the power of the internet at your fingertips.

[DogBoy]

I'm the only one stating facts. I thought you'd like to give it a try.  

You know why government and law enforcement procedures never improve? Because the people would rather make up stuff that suits their opinions instead of doing the research to find how things really work.

[daremrc]

This a wildly inaccurate and ridiculous statement rogue. Just try to back it up with some facts. Income tax and property tax bring in tens of billions of dollars. Show me where traffic tickets written by the CHP (not other agencies) generate anywhere near that kind of revenue for the state government.

Then maybe they could piss off and enforce failure to yield, improper lane changes, Passing lane usage, red-light violations, etcetera...  

Because those things would make us, the public, safer.  Pointing a speed gun at someone and saying "this number is bigger than that number, therefore you owe use $340" doesn't do anything for us.  And it makes those of us that get cut off and have to dodge cell-phoners have a general disdain for the cops.

[Hambonee]

Then maybe they could piss off and enforce failure to yield, improper lane changes, Passing lane usage, red-light violations, etcetera...  

Because those things would make us, the public, safer.  Pointing a speed gun at someone and saying "this number is bigger than that number, therefore you owe use $340" doesn't do anything for us.  And it makes those of us that get cut off and have to dodge cell-phoners have a general disdain for the cops.

All those would be much harder to get to stick. The gun makes it easy....something thats very hard to contest. You should be going X miles an hour..you were going Y...

I am sure the motorcyclist was doing much more wrong than passing at over 80mph..here again..just the easiest excuse to nab him. I notice on local roads everyone is always going significantly over the speed limit(75 in a 55 is standard..lol). Cops just use it to nab the jack asses who are doing the improper lane changes, failure to yield, stupid aggressive crap..Would guess it would hold up better if someone fights the ticket..more cut and dry.

Not a cop though so don't have the full skinny on it..

[Rogue]

I'm the only one stating facts. I thought you'd like to give it a try.  

You know why government and law enforcement procedures never improve? Because the people would rather make up stuff that suits their opinions instead of doing the research to find how things really work.

I don't have time to go digging around the internet just for you Dogboy.  

I can tell you that the CHP has acknowledged for a while that the State of CA has given them a mandate to increase their speed enforcement to help the revenue shortfall.  This info has been out and about for a few years now and quite frankly, I'm surprised you still have your head in the sand.  I recently went on a ride with a CHP officer who rides a Buell and even he admitted to me that the State has leaned hard on them to increase their enforcement for this very same reason.  Do you want his badge number too?    BTW, enforcement methods have not changed because it generates revenue and keeps them employed.  That's a fact.  The CHP spends of $$ equipming and training their officers in the use of radar to nab speeders yet they ignore the cell phone usage and other bad driving behavior we witness daily.  If it's all about safety, trust me, there are many other ways to do it right.

[DogBoy]

WTf rogue? Try to stay with one argument before jumping to a new one. 

I called BS on your statement that the CHP is one of the top sources of state income and somehow that affects the the state's financial condition.

I never said tickets weren't a source of revenue generation. They certainly are. Nor did I say anything about speeding tickets and safety. I don't know why you brought that stuff up.

The majority of ticket revenue goes to cities and counties (mostly counties). Of the portion that goes to to the state, not much ends up in the general fund as most of the "fees" are reserved for particular programs like courthouse construction that are outside of the general fund. The fact is that CHP is not a major source of income FOR THE STATE because most of that money never makes it to the state coffers.

Article on ticket for using a handheld device :http://www.ocregister.com/articles/fine-241024-state-base.html

excerpt:

WHERE DOES THE MONEY GO?

 
Of the $20 base fine, 83 percent goes to the city where the violation occurred. Another 15 percent goes to the county, and 2 percent goes toward court automation.
Next, there's the state penalty assessment of $10 per every $10 of base fine. For a $20 base fine, the state penalty assessment is $20. Most of this money goes to various state funds, including the Victim Witness Assistance Fund, the Restitution Fund and the Peace Officers Training Fund. Some goes to the county.
There's also the county penalty assessment of $7 for every $10 of base fine. For a $20 base fine, the county penalty assessment is $14. This money goes to the county.
On top of that, there's an assessment of $5 for every $10 of base fine for the State Court Facilities Construction Fund. This adds $10 to a $20 base fine.
Then there are separate assessments of $2 for every $10 of base fine for the DNA Identification Fund and the County Emergency Medical Services Fund. Together, they add another $4 on a $20 base fine.
The 20 percent surcharge ($4 on the original $20 fine) goes to the state's general fund.
Finally, the court security fee, conviction assessment fee and night court fee, which together add another $66, regardless of the amount of the base fine, go to fund the courts.

http://glendora.patch.com/articles/glendora-breaks-down-traffic-ticket-fines
Article about how Los Angeles County makes a huge portion off tickets written by cities within the county (with some disingenuous quotes from the police chief):

Police Chief Rob Castro said the city – curious over its declining revenue from traffic tickets – conducted an audit with Los Angeles county to track down where the dollars actually end up, and the results were surprising.

“There’s a huge misconception that we’re writing tickets for the purpose of generating revenue, and that’s not the case when it comes to vehicle violations,” said Castro.

Cities usually receive about 80 percent of the baseline fee for traffic tickets. Castro said the city went through the cumbersome process of tracking down the money trail through different county departments and found the county’s added fines were four or five times greater than the baseline fee, with much of the fees going toward items such as court construction costs and night court.

The audit showed cities receiving just a small percentage of the final costs of a traffic ticket.

On a $160 seatbelt violation, the city receives $16. For a $286 speeding ticket, the city receives $30. For a $194 jaywalking ticket, the city receives $24. On a $50 ticket for an unregistered vehicle, the city receives $3.

Castro said each year, the revenue generated from the roughly 4,000 tickets Glendora Police write each year has steadily decreased, with added fees increasing while the baseline rate continues to remain the same. Many times, said Castro, cities are not aware of new fees tacked onto traffic tickets.

Castro said the police department budgeted $220,000 this fiscal year for revenue in traffic violations. However, with just a few months left in the fiscal year, the city has received $89,000 in revenue, way off their target revenue, said Castro.

“[Writing tickets] is not a money making operation for cities at all,” said Castro. “Actually, we end up losing money.”

 

Here's a story that almost supports your theory except the $50 million figure mentioned is laughable in the face of a $10 billion dollar shortfall. This shows that even an increase of 200,000 additional citations (all types, not just speeding) only generates a drop in the bucket of the state's income which is near $95 billion from state taxes and other income (where ticket revenue falls).

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2011/04/01/blame-the-budget-chp-officers-issue-200000-more-tickets/

Finally, this PDF is the state budget summary prepared by the state government (note .ca.gov URL) . See CHP ticket revenue listed anywhere?
http://www.ebudget.ca.gov/pdf/BudgetSummary/SummaryCharts.pdf

[Rogue]

Well you see?  U don't need me for all that info.  Just point and click.