By JASON BABCOCK
After three years with the Maryland State Police, trooper Matthew Pitcher has heard most of the excuses for speeding.
I’m late for school. I’m late for work. I really have to go to the bathroom.
"The bathroom deal — we hear that all the time," he said.
Some motorists complain when they see Maryland State Police on the side of the road, scanning for speeders.
Without traffic stops, there wouldn’t be as many criminal arrests, though.
"The majority of criminal arrests come from traffic stops," said Lt. Michael Thompson, commander of the Leonardtown barrack. In Maryland there are about 250,000 people walking around free with open warrants for their arrest. They are getting from place to place somehow, and they’re often not found until they are pulled over for a traffic violation.
"It all starts with the traffic stop," Pitcher said.
Major arrests can stem from a simple traffic stop. Timothy McVeigh was caught after bombing a federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995 because a trooper stopped him for driving a vehicle with no license plates.
"It may be easy to say, ‘Why aren’t they doing something else?’" Lt. Charles Parlett said, until someone becomes a victim of a crash or a crime. "Ultimately we’d like to get drunk drivers off the road, find guns, find drugs and make everyone a little bit safer," he said. Parlett is the commander of the Maryland State Police La Plata barrack.
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"That’s not our point, to generate money," Parlett said. "It’s more to make the citizens of Charles County a little bit safer."
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He moved to another location farther south on the highway and hit the speeding jackpot. The first one was a young man going 73 mph, who admitted he was speeding. Pitcher wrote him a ticket, but reduced the speed, which reduces the fine and the points off the driver’s license.
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A woman in a Chevy Cobalt was pulled over for going 70 mph. She had a list of driving offenses including texting while driving in Charles County. Pitcher gave her a citation, but reduced the speed.
[B’ Spokes: Personally I think misrepresenting the seriousness of a crime by police does not do anyone any good. Reduction of fines and points in a court of law is one thing … oh wait, I don’t think courts have that discretion but the police do? ]
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https://www.somdnews.com/stories/05212010/indytop173344_32238.shtmloldId.20100522102605430
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