Choose your victims well (continued)
More from the “everybody does it” department. A Missouri sheriff was sentenced to six months in prison for tracking important people instead of nobodies. There is a massive infrastructure dedicated to tracking Americans. The sheriff used a private company, the ironically named Securus. They do not keep your information secure. Why should they? You are […]
Reducing the profit motive
Missouri Representative Shamed Dogan filed a bill to make police stop stealing your stuff. The title is boring: “Prohibits law enforcement agencies from transferring seized property to a federal agency in forfeiture litigation.” The effects would be huge. The bill aims to take some of the profit out of policing. Letting police keep the revenue […]
Funding Infrastructure in Rural America—a Snapshot of Three States: NMA E-Newsletter #463
Whenever the media reports on infrastructure, much of the time the discussion centers on urban cores and highways. Small towns and rural roads are often left out of the discussion but related infrastructure needs can be just as critical. Securing adequate funding for road and bridge maintenance requires the active involvement and cooperation of rural, […]
Paging Congressman Hobbs
Palmyra, Missouri city prosecutor James Lemon just got caught extorting drivers caught in a speed trap. He agreed to drop one demand after he was contacted by KMOV reporters. US 61 through Palmyra is a limited access highway (crossroads but no driveways). In much of the country it would be posted 65 or 70, but […]
Real reforms
Missouri lawmakers recently approved bill SB765 banning ticket quotas and SB 572 limiting fines for some traffic offenses to $200. I doubt they will solve the problem. I’ve read too many stories from other jurisdictions. Two simple reforms would force most traffic law enforcement in America to be about traffic law enforcement by eliminating the […]
If you speed we’ll smash your car
I just read one of those “how did anybody think that was a good idea?” stories. A DPW director explained the strange design of a city street. It was designed to make speeding drivers crash. And it has. Planting trees to form a canopy over the road is traffic calming. A stop sign forest is […]
How To Make Traffic Cameras Legal But Useless
By John Carr, NMA Massachusetts Activist Pyrrhic victory — A victory where the losses outweigh the gains. Missouri appeals courts ruled that cities are free to use cameras to enforce traffic law the same as they would use any other equipment. For practical purposes these decisions killed cameras.
How To Make Traffic Cameras Legal But Useless
By John Carr, NMA Massachusetts Activist Pyrrhic victory — A victory where the losses outweigh the gains. Missouri appeals courts ruled that cities are free to use cameras to enforce traffic law the same as they would use any other equipment. For practical purposes these decisions killed cameras.