Detroit area mayor gets pulled over, demands speeding ticket
Our reaction would be markedly different after getting busted for 5 mph over. Rather than excoriate the revenue enhancement agent for harassing a man of the people, Warren, MI mayor Jim Fouts was worried that the verbal warning he initially received might be viewed as favoritism by some. Amidst chatter of questionable sanity, the mayor rang up the police department later in the day, at which point he reportedly demanded to receive a citation. Police obliged the $100 ticket, which Fouts promptly paid by dispatching a staffer to make the cash drop.
The mayor may have rightly assumed that some might view a warning as lopsided justice, but it's not like he was street racing his Dodge Charger. The gesture is clearly garnering good publicity (which cynically, could have been the objective as well). Further, we have to wonder if all the ceremony and special trips by staffers of both the police and the mayor's own office ended up costing more than the $100 he put back into the revenue pot.
At least it wasn't a red-light ticketbot.
[Soure: WXYZ, Photo: Washington Times]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
llburndie 5:41PM (4/17/2009)
So cops are "revenue enhancement agents?" Kind of offensive. Not gonna lie.
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Sektor 5:43PM (4/17/2009)
That's what cops are there for. Especially in those small towns.
rsfourever 6:07PM (4/17/2009)
i'd say "revenue enhancement agent" is a pretty factual analysis of what cops really are...
larry a 2:05PM (4/18/2009)
Oh yeah you should go to California, that state is so bankrupt the cops are pulling people over left and right
beanspants 5:34PM (4/17/2009)
unless he pays that government staffer out of his own pocket, he's still a jerkhole for sending someone to pay it rather than taking time out of his own busy day. Maybe not a $100 jerkhole, but at least $30.
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BoxerFanatic 5:37PM (4/17/2009)
When you are paying the ticket with a government salary, and are also being fed by special interest lobbyists, and maybe even paid the ticket with government funds... the money gets cycled right back into the government... what exactly is the loss, vs. the political fake face-saving?
It is no sweat to keep up appearances.
Whoopity-doo!
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montoym 5:38PM (4/17/2009)
$100 for 5mph over?
Wow, and I thought the $10/mph over rule we have here was bad.
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izorro 5:44PM (4/17/2009)
I'v done + 17 and only got 75 or was it 70 but still I was shocked at a 100 dollars for 5mph over....seems silly...
Dan 6:05PM (4/17/2009)
The real cost isn't in the ticket itself, it's in being held down and raped by the insurance industry afterwards.
Two or three minor speeding tickets can raise your premiums by 100% or more and that surcharge sticks for years. 300 bucks to the court cashier is nothing compared to the extra $3000 you're about to give to Geico.
There's a reason insurance companies are so happy to give out free radar guns to any department that'll take them.
montoym 6:29PM (4/17/2009)
Strangely enough, I've never once seen my insurance rates go up due to speeding tickets I've received.
Granted, I don't get too many, but nonetheless, my rates have not changed other than being on a downward trend for the past several years.
I couldn't imagine how many tickets you'd have to get or how fast you'd have to be going to warrant doubling your premium. That's definite reason to shop around right there.
I guess I should consider myself lucky.
joegibes 7:26PM (4/17/2009)
I was driving in warren earlier this week on one of the mile roads (12 perhaps) during a not-so-busy hour (right after morning rush hour). I was going probably 47 in a 40, and there was a guy next to me in a black sedan (sadly, it was an impala, not a sebring) who must've been going a good 50+mph. All of a sudden I see an unmarked cop car (to be fair, it had a push bar and blackwall tires/wheels) pull a crazy u-banger in front of me. He zooms ahead to pull over the other guy... I lucked out that day. He probably was itching for some action and would've pulled me over instead.
k.w.a 5:45PM (4/17/2009)
... and i thought kilpatrick was crazy. lol
I see his point, but on the other hand im sure he was let go because 1.) the state of michigan can't handle any more bad press ( especially involving another politition breaking ANY law, regardless of what the law might be) and 2.) 5mph over just inst a big deal
I see he was trying to do the noble thing, but at the expense of making the Detroit area seem even more questionable than it already is just to make yourself look noble just might be the ultimate selfish act. he shouldve lectured the police officer about it and continued on his way without making a big scene about it
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Tyson 5:48PM (4/17/2009)
"street racing his Dodge Charger..."
lol
i got it.
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pmalik 5:51PM (4/17/2009)
Probably the way way to spend $100 bucks to get positive publicity. Good for him.
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Herkimer 6:01PM (4/17/2009)
He had two choices: verbal warning or ticket.
You can argue his motives, but I think he choose the lesser of the two evils.
Give him a break already....
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Silly Pickle 7:02PM (4/17/2009)
Who the H stops someone for 5 friggin mph over! Seriously...that's inane. If he was driving a V-8...that's what...1mm of pedal travel too much in 1/3 of a second? Sheesh. Highway robbery brought to you by the man in blue.
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gerrrg 7:14PM (4/17/2009)
Wait a minute...did he just use the City's dime to deliver his ticket payment? That's illegal.
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pmiddle5 7:33PM (4/17/2009)
Pretty sweet.
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Matt 7:38PM (4/17/2009)
But did the ticket count towards the cop's quota?
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BrianM 9:01PM (4/17/2009)
Doesn't anyone find it ironic that he used govt paid resources to deal with a personal ticket because he was worried about the potential view of improprierity? To me sending a staffer out to pay your ticket is worse than getting let off with a warning, it was far more wasteful and inapropriate. Should have just asked the cop to go get him a donut.
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