What is a San Antonio Marshal? (Howe: insurance, condo, deductible) - Texas (TX) - City-Data Forum

SnappyBob · 06-12-2011, 06:23 PM

I have seen the patrol cars marked San Antonio Marshal and I saw a couple of officers eating in a resteraunt today with San Antonio Marshal uniforms on. The uniforms are almost identical to SAPD except for the title 'Marshal". What is that and what are their duties? I couldn't find anything on a quick Google search.

Hedgehog_Mom · 06-12-2011, 06:28 PM

News Release - New Marshal Unit

Merovee · 06-13-2011, 12:16 AM

So are the ticket roundups that used to be announced to the public giving them a chance to pay off their fines a thing of the past? Sounds like a good way to exploit another revenue source. I wonder if ticket giving is now going to be upped as well. Who here welcomes more traffic enforcement lol?

Soviet · 06-13-2011, 12:26 AM

I certainly don't welcome it. It's more tolerable in San Antonio city limits because the speed limits are at least appropriate, but I still don't want to risk being harassed by revenue generators. When I do 70 mph on 410, I am going the same speed as a LOT of other cars and we aren't putting anyone in danger. There is no reason to pull us over unless.....surprise, surprise, one is trying to generate revenue.

Oh, well. Easy solution: don't drive!

edit: I just read over the whole thing & all I saw were dollar signs. REVENUE GENERATION!

What if every San Antonian complied with all codes & laws tomorrow? What would these punks do? They'd just change the law so they can keep making revenue.

That's my problem with a lot of laws. It's not about safety or common sense. It's about garnering money for incompetent bureaucracies.

L210 · 06-13-2011, 12:59 AM

Um, the article posted says the offenders are given fair warning to come in and pay off their fines before the marshals come after them. The marshals will even drive them up to a community link center to pay off their fines or to the court to make payment arrangements if they don't come in on their own. This seems more straightforward than expecting that offenders are watching the news for announcements on ticket roundups or tricking people by making them believe they won some kind of prize. A phone call and a letter in the mail is a much more reliable way of getting the message out.

I was hit last year by a driver with no insurance, no driver's license, and multiple warrants. Why wasn't he arrested on the spot? I don't know. A member on here claims that the officer probably didn't see it necessary to waste time and crowd up the jails on someone with misdemeanors. So now the city has to spend even more money and time looking for him. Yeah, that makes sense. He never showed up for his court date for not having insurance. I hope the marshals go after him. I might not get my deductible back, but at least he'll finally be punished for his irresponsible behavior. Luckily, my insurance covered my medical expenses. This isn't just about revenue generation. I had serious back pain for a month and it took a couple of more months before my back was 100% again. If the man had been picked up in a reasonable amount of time, maybe he wouldn't have been on the roads to cause this accident. If I didn't have uninsured motorist protection, I would have been out thousands of dollars.

Soviet · 06-13-2011, 01:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by L210

Um, the article posted says the offenders are given fair warning to come in and pay off their fines before the marshals come after them. The marshals will even drive them up to a community link center to pay off their fines or to the court to make payment arrangements if they don't come in on their own. This seems more straightforward than expecting that offenders are watching the news for announcements on ticket roundups or tricking people by making them believe they won some kind of prize. A phone call and a letter in the mail is a much more reliable way of getting the message out.

I was hit last year by a driver with no insurance, no driver's license, and multiple warrants. Why wasn't he arrested on the spot? I don't know. A member on here claims that the officer probably didn't see it necessary to waste time and crowd up the jails on someone with misdemeanors. So now the city has to spend even more money and time looking for him. Yeah, that makes sense. He never showed up for his court date for not having insurance. I hope the marshals go after him. I might not get my deductible back, but at least he'll finally be punished for his irresponsible behavior. Luckily, my insurance covered my medical expenses. This isn't just about revenue generation. I had serious back pain for a month and it took a couple of more months before my back was 100% again. If the man had been picked up in a reasonable amount of time, maybe he wouldn't have been on the roads to cause this accident. If I didn't have uninsured motorist protection, I would have been out thousands of dollars.

Well, I'm sorry that happened to you. I hope you're feeling better these days. However, THESE are the people that law enforcement needs to be dealing with, not the insurance & registration holders who are driving 70 mph on 410.

Of course, one may say that a lot of irresponsible people get caught by pulling them over for a lesser infraction. That doesn't mean I want to be harassed during the search for these people.

L210 · 06-13-2011, 01:16 AM

He was speeding even though there were multiple warnings that there were lane closures ahead. Because he wasn't paying attention to the signs (like many San Antonians), he slammed on his brakes at the last minute and skidded right into me. While we were waiting for the police and even when the police were there gathering information, we saw several near accidents from people skidding. They had warnings from several miles back that lane closures were ahead. The drivers here are just stupid.

Soviet · 06-13-2011, 02:00 AM

Sadly, that is so true. Again, my condolences for having to put up with that.

L210 · 06-13-2011, 02:03 AM

Thank you, but I'm still alive. It could have been worse, so I can't complain too much. I'm done with my ranting.

txtea · 06-13-2011, 12:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by L210

He was speeding even though there were multiple warnings that there were lane closures ahead. Because he wasn't paying attention to the signs (like many San Antonians), he slammed on his brakes at the last minute and skidded right into me. While we were waiting for the police and even when the police were there gathering information, we saw several near accidents from people skidding. They had warnings from several miles back that lane closures were ahead. The drivers here are just stupid.

Well, when people can't (or won't) read English, the signs are useless.

And i'm sure yapping on the phone contributes to the problem as well.