Brevard a police state? (Tallahassee, Palm Bay: crime, home, neighborhoods)

[TestEngr]

I recently moved to Brevard County. Before we moved our realtor showed us at least 20 neighborhoods. Each time I noticed police cars in most of these neighborhoods, including most of Cocoa, Melbourne, Suntree, Lake Washington, W Mel, etc. I thought it odd but felt perhaps lots of police live here for some reason. Now that I have moved here I am totally unimpressed with what I have found in Brevard County with regard to police.

I would say there is plenty of crime here, some neighborhoods look poor and dangerous in the older Melbourne but I do not see police in those places at all. No patrols or anything. I stopped for gas in one place and an aggressive panhandler started kicking my car because I did not give him money. But were the police there when I needed them? No.

But what are police here to do as far as I can see as a new resident? Write speeding tickets what else. Right from the day we came down and saw red light cameras in cocoa beach (I did not get caught but watched about 20 people get the camera light flash), to nearly every neighborhood we go into we see many police cars.

And what do the police do? They patrol these small neighborhoods right next to 25 MPH signs on the main road into neighborhoods and write tickets where every single person turns in and goes much higher. In two days, suntree -st andrews, now Merritt island, I got two speeding tickets. I have not had a speeding ticket for 20 years. I lived in two other counties in Florida for nearly ten years and never got a ticket. I tried speeding up to get around a bike rider instead of pulling up on him. I gave him a quick pass to get out of his way and got a ticket. Second I was in a line of five cars going onto lower end of Merritt island. I was just the last car on a small road so I got caught, but I was behind a line of people all going same speed. Both times on roads I never was before though. And where were these police when the aggressive panhandler started kicking my car and screaming? Nowhere in sight.

What does this say about Brevard? This is a police place like I have never seen before. Maybe I have new resident bad luck but I am real unimpressed. Too many police not doing what is needed or where I needed them, and probably told to sit there writing speeding tickets all day.

[1hyplady]

What it says is there is $ to be made w/traffic tickets. When I 1st lived in Sausalito, CA I got a speeding ticket. At least I learned not to speed when I moved to St. Helena, CA. Smaller communities that have their own police forces tend to write more tickets. When ever I am in Indialantic, Indian Harbour Beach or Satellite Beach I go the speed limit.

I don't know where you were when approached by a pan handler, so I can't comment on the area.

[cfo.evo]

TestEngr, I would say your observations are about normal.

[MartinEden99]

Well, I'm sure the police would likely just tell you that if you are not speeding, you won't get a speeding ticket. It actually has been a bit of a problem in the area for as long as I can remember with people nearly drag racing on major roads.

But I agree it does seem like the police have a real issue with prioritization. I suspect the recession & desire to not raise property taxes is leading to the police putting their efforts into revenue generation mode, unfortunately. There are other spots they sit & wait for people, like on Americana in Palm Bay. I've seen this in other areas of the state & the country, once again...unfortunately.

I dont know where the panhandler incident occurred but it can certainly happen anywhere, so that in itself is likely just bad luck.

[TestEngr]

I saw a few more things perhaps of interest on this thread.

I live in a development with 25 MPH speedlimit right off a road with much higher limit. I watched one of our resident police officers return home, and though I have no radar gun, I can assure you he headed into our development more than 25 MPH. I'd hate myself if I were like that, go out all day trying to establish the LAW giving out tickets to people who go around bikes in Suntree at 34 MPH, then I go home and go 35 in my own development. I don't think I could face the world like that if it were me.

Second Observation: I stopped at the Sears off Babcock, and saw a guy pulling at a car door, did not think much of it, probably just checking his own lock I thought. Then I watched him go about 5 cars away and pull on another car door. Maybe they were both his cars, but I doubt it.

It is not problem here finding something more serious in my opinion than going around bikes in Suntree. I have not even been in Brevard a month, but I can say the real suspicious stuff is certianly ignored in favor of money operations by police. That is a real bad thing. People will HATE Brevard if it becomes like that, a corrupt police state. If the government needs revenue the appropriate way is tax, because that is tax with representation. Cameras and useless speeding tickets that the cops do themsleves when they go home are a form of deceiving, and tax without representation. Something an authoritarian government might do. I hope Brevard deverts away from these wrong paths, or we are leaving.

[Squiffynole]

I do not know how prevalent they are in Brevard County but many local governments in Florida are rushing into red light cameras. We all want better driving safety but in someways they resemble a speed trap, that is, here in Tallahassee if your car creeps inches across the stop bar at an intersection you will receive a ticket.

[waterlou]

TestEngr it sucks that you got two tickets in two days. I’ve been ticketed for things that I see the police do everyday. Doing a slow and go through a stop sign for example. So, while I can understand your frustration with the double standard I’m curious, did you call the police in either of the 2 parking lot instances? The ‘never a cop around when you need one’ adage is sort of unreasonable. Would you expect that there should be a cop watching every parking lot of every business in the county?

I know they’re heavy handed at times with the traffic stops but I’m fairly certain that if they knew about it most cops would be more interested in stopping someone commiting an assault than stopping someone for speeding.

[TestEngr]

Originally Posted by waterlou

The ‘never a cop around when you need one’ adage is sort of unreasonable. Would you expect that there should be a cop watching every parking lot of every business in the county?

I know they’re heavy handed at times with the traffic stops but I’m fairly certain that if they knew about it most cops would be more interested in stopping someone commiting an assault than stopping someone for speeding.

Well they weem to have no trouble hanging around some neighborhoods behind the 25 MPH or 30 MPH sign, and they are there all the time just about. I think it would make more sense if we saw them driving by some shopping malls, or areas where there are problems. For example you put a dressing and pressure on a wound/cut, but you would not put at arm sling on somebody's arm if there foot was hurt right? So in other words, police spending 24 hours a day writing hundreds of tickets in neighborhoods where people come home too eager and go 35 is crazy, when there are places where the problems are much more serious than speeders going 35. Of course no body expects them to patrol everywhere 24 hours but they do seem to break out the latest high end police cruisers with built in laser systems and who knows what other high tech stuff in there and deploy them to catch a mom running home after school, or a dad eagerly coming home after work going 35.

Police here are more than heavy handed, they are super heavy handed on speeders, and now with the red light cameras coming in it is even worse, but they seem to not care a hoot about real crime. I have been back to Sears about 3-4 times and never saw a police anywhere nearby, but I can tell you 10 neighborhoods where the police are just about 24/7. And I have not even lived here a month!!! Clearly there seems to be an element of corruption in there, money seems to be the issue, and unfortunately in Brevard the police are being used as a source of revenue by somebody high up or maybe not so high up. Pure corruption somewhere in the food chain. That they are 100% ignoring serious crime for writing tickets - NO QUESTION HERE THAT IS TRUE. Who is responsible for this might be the question. I have no idea being a new resident. Seems like the long time residents who know how it works locally need to act, and act soon. Otherwise expect red light cameras and more 24/7 patrols catching dads running home and this is everywhere in Brevard folks. Tell your representatives to get their priorities straight. It isn't ok for police to be expected to be like this.

[cfo.evo]

Melbourne/palm bay has been crooked for a long time, dont even stop at thinking it ends with what you've described.

[Hatehumidity]

I can understand your frustrations..but, Take something into your own hand..go talk to the Sheriff or Chief of the Town..voice your frustrations your suggestions,ideas..If people start running like a bat out of hell on the roads than you will have another frustration..more people die in a car on a roadway than in a parking lot,shopping center..The idea is to save a life not to write tickets..but revenues are needed and if taxes go up..oops more frustrations..It's all an act of balance and not necessarily corruption unless you know for a fact.