speeding ticket SCAM! (Emporia, Blue Ridge: condo, attorneys, beach)

[Gosox05]

Originally Posted by StopCorruptioninEmporia

All:

Just yesterday morning, while my cruise control was set to 68 mph, a police officer pulled me and my wife over in Emporia. He claimed I was doing 80 mph. No chance!

It was refreshing to know that others are in the same boat. But we can fight back against corruption in Emporia, VA. This cottage industry - especially on interstate highways profiling out of state travelers - is a disgusting abuse of the public trust.

But we can fight back.

Here's how:

1. Email the Metro Editor for the Richmond Times Dispatch and tell him what is happening. Ask these reporters to investigate the Corruption in Emporia:

Clay, Pauline
Editor
Richmond Times-Dispatch
pclay@timesdispatch.com

Hallman, Randy
Deputy Metro Editor
Richmond Times-Dispatch
rhallman@timesdispatch.com

Kelleher, Edward
Deputy Metro Editor
Richmond Times-Dispatch
ekelleher@timesdispatch.com

Pritchard, Keith
Deputy Metro Editor
Richmond Times-Dispatch
kpritchard@timesdispatch.com

Taylor, Andrew
Editor
Richmond Times-Dispatch
ataylor@timesdispatch.com

2. Call the US Attorney's office in Richmond and ask them to investigate corruption in Emporia. Call 804-819-540. Click here to learn more: United States Attorney's Office - Welcome to the Easterm District of Virginia.

Under their mandate, they can investigate public corruption.

NO JUSTICE! NO PEACE!

Public corruption is what it is! I bet, that is the only way they can pay for their police force. They need to find other ways to raise the money for the department and leave us alone. I would even agree to pay a toll on that road.

[crux]

lol - that has to be emporia. You lost the moment the lights came on behind you. When traveling there it's best to do 5- 10mph under the speed limit. They'll get you even if you creep into 1 digit over.

[MommaCat]

It seems all VA police officers - state, county, town - are focused on speeding tickets these days (easy money). Ten miles or more over the limit, I can understand a ticket, but below 10 miles, it just creates a lot of bad feelings toward officers. I understand there must be a "push" for meeting their quota -but ????

[daniel roberts]

only near lacrosse va, suggest you dont rely on a gps to record your trips speed have three of them never accurate

[zax_mom]

Sounds like you have a good case of a bad cop. Hope you fight it and win.

Looking through some of the other replies makes me a little worried though...... sounds like people are trying to figure out where to speed and where not to. Why can't people just do the speed limit? Not criticizing, just observing.

[Fighter 1]

Originally Posted by Gosox05

I was coming home traveling west bound on route 58, when a policeman pulled me over. He told me I was going 78 mph with a limit of 60, until I showed him my GPS, which showed my top speed of entire trip was only 67 MPH. He then joked and then wrote me a ticket for improper equipment instead of a speeding ticket. I told him that the car I was driving was a brand new rental car and he said "let them pay it". He told me no to go to court because it won't help.

Has anyone had problems with the police on 58/13 from VA to NC?
If they need money that bad they should put up a toll booth.

IT happens all over the country . Don't waste your time arguing with the cop. Simply at your arreignment demand your constitutional rights to a VERIFIED COMPLAINT be filed on the NOTICE to APPEAR , you see thats what the cop gave you , and don't laugh but he can't give you that verified complaint and the court has to DISMISS.

[Beenaroundabit]

IT happens all over the country . Don't waste your time arguing with the cop. Simply at your arreignment demand your constitutional rights to a VERIFIED COMPLAINT be filed on the NOTICE to APPEAR , you see thats what the cop gave you , and don't laugh but he can't give you that verified complaint and the court has to DISMISS.

I don't know exactly how it works in VA, but in most cases, a citation IS a criminal complaint - or constitutes one. It's a substitute for going to a prosecutor and having one issued. You can argue that the officer didn't go to a prosecutor and have a formal complaint sworn out, but lots of luck on that, since citations are written and adhered to every day.

If you're already going 68 (and you state that on the post where you're complaining about speeding - ?), it doesn't take a "good" or "bad" cop to know that you're in violation. He may say "you were going 80" at the time of contact, but that could be just a tactic to get you to admit to speeding to begin with, which is perfectly legal (he's verbally accusing you to gain an admission). The kicker is what the ticket says on it and what he presents in court, and even if it's 68 and not 80, you were still speeding. The entire argument presented here is like saying "I was innocent of drug possession because I only had 1 kilo of cocaine and the officer said he thought I had 5..." And again, you actually SET your cruise control to an illegal speed, so the "knowingly" caveat comes into play. I wouldn't blame the cop, but the guy behind the wheel who set out to go faster than the posted speed limit and is now arguing about how much fatser he was going. If you were knowingly speeding, you won't get a ton of credibility with the judge, IMO.

But this thread is old enough that I'm sure it's been sorted out by now.

[jakemass48]

Got my first speeding ticket in over 20 years in Emporia. Little did I know it was an infamous speed trap. Wonder if my Mass. plates had anything to do with it? It almost ruined my trip to Florida. Be advised when driving through this dump.....

[Anders15]

You'd should go ahead and sticky this. People within the state know about this, people outside the state don't.

It is no secret that cops basically park on the sides of the interstate and pull over random people (that they know) not from here.

[vman650]

I drive on Interstate 95 all the time and am passed by cars going 80mph. I hate to think what it would be like if police were not out there writing tickets. On some of these interstates, I wish that the police would write far more tickets than they presently do. I think what really angers a lot of people are the speed traps that are set up by local police to raise money. Most of the time these traps have absolutely nothing to do with public safety. They give all police a bad name and this is really very unfortunate. Most of Virginia's state troopers are fair and are not out to do anything but enforce the law.