Juno Beach Speed Trap (Jupiter, Palm Beach: crime, neighborhoods, taxi)

[pieseed]

On September 11th, I was driving through Juno Beach, and on September 21, I received a letter from the town indicating I was speeding, 56 in a 45 on US 1. The area of the highway is virtuallly emply, no cross traffic, or buildings, basically driving through a wilderness area.
The town is using an automated van to monitor speed, and imposing a fine of $125 for the first offense, and $250 for the second offense, and an additional penalty of $50 if you go to court and don't win.

I have spoken to the Mayor and town manager. Both say the purpose of the van is to make the town safer. It was mentioned by the town clerk that there was a fatality on US 1. He did not mention the fatality was due to a drunk driver. In fact of the 5 traffic fatalities in the town in the last nine years, most were from drunk drivers, not speeding.

The reason for the program is primarily to raise revenue for the town. The budget for the year including money from this program to plug a hole in the budget, as shown on their website.

Does anyone else have any information about this issue?

[michaeldematto]

I received a similiar ticket from the Juno beach police van. I have not paid and I refuse to pay the ticket. it is completely illegal for them to issue such ticket, it's against the state law. There is nothing they can do about collecting that money, nothing, so do not pay it. And do not even bother to go for hearing because it is like going to Hitler's court, you are not going to win. I already asked them what happens if I don't pay, the answer was, nothing. Don't let a bunch of sleazy burocrats take $125 bucks from you.
Michael D.

[NathanSmith]

That sucks. I'll watch out for that. Thank you.

On a similarly related note - I think WPB (at least) needs to put out a ton of red light cameras. Having moved here from a larger city - where the cameras are ubiquitous - I'm flabbergasted be the casual red-light runners around here. It's definitely not the norm! Had quite a few near miss accidents from people just sauntering through red light intersections.

I would support that kind of revenue generation for a city. But that automatic van business .... that's some shady stuff.

[Irishrdhd]

I have never heard of the automatic van..............that's just shady!it sounds like entrapment to me.I never,ever speed in the Juno Beach/Jupiter area.The cops have very little to do so any time you see one around you know they are troling for tickets.

[MoItaly]

Well, it's funny to me how all the comments are geared toward how bad and tricky cops are and nobody made the comment that comes to my mind first: don't speed.
I am not a cop but how can someone knows he's speeding and feels like he got "taken" by the cops? Curious also the use of "shady" in this matter. Would you prefer to have the cops call you on your cell to inform you in advance where they are going to be?

Now, I don't like getting tickets either, but I when it happens I know it's mainly my fault.

That said, the automated van is a white van; it was also on the news last week. The issue is not that it's "shady", but that apparently the County feels it's parked in a dangerous position. I did not hear how it ended but city and county are arguing about it.
I think that if you do a search on google or the palm beach post website you shouild fine some information about it.

[NathanSmith]

It's shady to me because it takes the human element out of the whole ticket-issuing process.

Therefore, I assume that if you are going 1 mile over the speed limit because you might be cresting a hill and traveling downhill - then you get an automatic speeding ticket mailed to you. That's no bueno, imho.

[migratingredtail]

I don't know about the Juno Beach van specifically, but most automated speed cameras are set up to ticket people who are driving 10 mph or more above the speed limit. Most police officers who do traffic stops use the same criteria. Florida traffic law, like the laws in most states now, reflects this difference. Drivers who are found guilty of speeding but who were travelling less than 10 mph over the speed limit don't get any points on their licenses. It doesn't happen often because these drivers are almost never stopped. Drivers who are found guilty of travelling 10 mph or more over the speed limit get three points on their licenses. Because I am sick of getting tickets, I pay a lot of attention to this 10 mph "rule."

[KoZmiC NinJa]

I live in the heart of Juno.
I think the van is great.
People in Florida drive horrifically. Statistics bear this out.
A1A is usually Ok until the weekends, but if you live in a
neighborhood off of US1 you regularly suffer for people who
are too selfish or angry to slowdown while you start your turn.
Its different when you live here.
The ticket is issued like a parking ticket. It doesnt matter who was
driving the car. Im glad the 'human' element is taken out. I dont
want to pay cops for radaring cars. Its open to debate about
what constitutes "too fast", but in S. Florida there are quantifiable
statistics proving that it is one of the worst accident /road rage regions
in the country. Any steps toward taming these crazies, Im for.
The van is H-U-G-E...You cannot miss it. It has several defining
features and is in the news regularly...if you miss it, you arent
paying attention. In places that are far more civilized and educated
than Florida, like the UK for instance, cameras are a way of life. They
are everywhere. Do I agree with it, of course not, but people reap
what they sow. If people drove responsibly, this wouldnt be an issue.
I wish more cameras and vans would be purchased by counties.
With the staggering number of violently insane drivers in Florida, "taxing"
them for their selfish and dangerous driving would make Florida as rich
as Dubai.
We would never see a tax rise in anything. Sounds good to me

[33458]

The Juno A1A/US1 drive has always been known as an area NOT to speed in. (R.P.B. used to be another sure-fire ticket.) They didn't have a van there back when it was a regular route for me, but enough patrols were visibly in force to see why doing the speed limit is a good idea.

Fly on '95 or the much-missed Turnpike, slow down on the scenic roads and neighborhood streets.

[mortal57]

I too was busted by this van - 57 in a 45 - $125 - no points. Not happy.

I understand the need for communities to control speeding. However, when the need goes beyond public safety to pure revenue generation, I have a problem. One of the posters from Juno Beach doesn't want to pay to have an officer troll for speeders. I'm sorry, but that is exactly what you pay them for.

I found this quote online ...
http://myfloridalegal.com/muni/junobch/gen.html]Town of Juno Beach Police Department

"The police department has firmly dedicated itself to Community Oriented Policing. It has initiated ideas such as bicycle patrol of business and neighborhoods, as well as ATV patrol of the beach. This community oriented approach has created a hometown atmosphere and has fostered good-will towards the police department within the community. Residents often know their police officers who actively patrol the community. Departmental goals stress the highest ethical standards of behavior, respect for all persons regardless of their status, providing professional service, pursuit of excellence and use of innovation to improve effective problem solving."

I would say the van puts some distance between the department and the community. Foster good-will? I'm not feeling the love.

And ...

"The Department currently has 15 sworn personnel, 6 civilian personnel, and 1 active volunteer. Sworn personnel include the Chief, one Captain, four Sergeants, one Investigator, and eight Road Patrol Officers. Civilian personnel include one Administrative Assistant, one Communications Supervisor, and four Communications Records Specialists."

EIGHT ROAD PATROL OFFICERS to patrol an area of approximately 2 square miles. Juno Beach must be the crime center of Palm Beach County, or they have six too many patrol officers. Maybe trimming that patrol fat is where they should look to improve the bottom line.

This information about the staff compliment is likely old. It was published before the town had a URL of it's own. If you go to the current site (see URL below), there may be more current information about the police department - I couldn't find it in just a cursory scan. Oh, if you have a Mac, use Firefox. The site in not very Safari friendly.

The web site also states that the van is going to be placed at intersections to stop "red light running". (Go to http://www.juno-beach.fl.us and click the link for traffic violations) Like another poster, I was flagged in the middle of nowhere on US 1. There was no intersection nearby and I was the only one on the road in either direction for at least 1/2 mile in front and behind. More evidence that this is purely for revenue generation, not public safety.

As a matter of fact, state law requires that the location of the infraction be pinpointed and I can't discern what the location is from the ticket other than someplace on US 1. If I didn't recognize the location from the photo where this was, I wouldn't know.

My biggest peeve about this whole thing is that I have an objection on principal about this type of traffic enforcement. It was my understanding that one has the right to face their accuser. This is fundamental to our legal system. How do you confront the in-human?

My only recourse is to drag the van into court and challenge all the equipment, its accuracy, its calibration, the company that made it, the person that installed it, the last time they were certified, if the van was legally parked (I'm guessing not), any cases where the equipment was previously challenged in court, and anything else that I can think of that may call the equipment or its operation into question. Florida state law has specific rules for these things, I'm bound to find something.

Maybe all of us scofflaws should do this, then they will discover that the cost of responding to hundreds of public records requests may be counterproductive to plugging those budget gaps.

If Juno Beach is really dedicated to "Community Oriented Policing", maybe they should get their officers back out on the road where they can interact with the public and council violators on the importance of staying within the speed limits. Maybe even give them a warning the first time. Then I would believe that they are truly interested in public safety, not revenue generation.

Respectfully,
mortal57