City profits off crime!

[A l t e r E g o 9]

Last week at least 3 cars on my block were hit by registration sticker thieves. Two of us were cited for not displaying, the third escaped citing by being gone when the City Shark attacked.

 

So after paying for (overpriced) sticker replacement I found out that doesn't dismiss all the ticket costs. Even with Proof Of Correction, a "$10 processing fee" still needs to be paid on the citation bringing the total profit from me for the city off the thieves to about $25. Then add the neighbors costs, I assume another $25. Multiply that by, who knows how many other people the thieves struck that day, multiplied by how many times this happens across the city every day & I see the city raking in potentially thousands a day off the thievery of stickers.

 

Here in CA, it's illegal to put anything on the plate, (hard clear plastic cover for example) which may discourage the thieves in the first place because, heaven forbid, you might get away with running a camera enforced stoplight, (something the Mythbusters proved is impossible short of not having a plate on the vehicle) thus cheating the city out of that citation $$$. So the city/state is essentially forcing many people to tape at least $25 to their license plate and walk away hoping it won't get taken.

 

Another thing that burns my ass is something the A-Hle at the citation telephone center said about how they justify the $10 processing fee. He said; "Someone has to go in there and clear it in the computer." So I asked, Wouldn't that cost be covered in said persons salary???. He responded, "It doesn't work that way."

 

Are we really expected to believe someone only goes to that PC terminal to do the clearing every so often, once a day, once a week perhaps and that person isn't on the payroll & it's their only purpose in the office for which they are paid by the fee??

 

Lets go back to the City Shark issuing the citation in the first place, why in hell can't they use the plate # to verify the vehicles current registration status... if clear, leave a courtesy notice to replace the sticker instead of citing on otherwise legal vehicle???

 

Screw you City!

[He Who Shall Not Be Named 2]

I share your resentment.

 

However, unless your city has some unusual circumstances, most of the people who are ticketed, or stoped and ticketed, for missing registration really are not registered. Many then go on to register their cars and pay the $10 fine to keep from being a target in the future and it is cheaper than paying the full ticket and still being a target. The city shouldn't have to absorb the administrative cost of keeping their cops from more important duties.

 

I agree it makes more sense to run the registration report and give a warning to people who may not know their sticker had been stolen. A cop did that to me once.

 

The real solution, however, is to privatize the roads and leave enforcement to the road owners. Take the government out of the equation entirely.

[A l t e r E g o 9]

However, unless your city has some unusual circumstances, most of the people who are ticketed, or stoped and ticketed, for missing registration really are not registered. Many then go on to register their cars and pay the $10 fine to keep from being a target in the future and it is cheaper than paying the full ticket and still being a target.

 

Just to illustrate how on the job the meter maids here are, we were cited within hours of the crime! No one gets away with not being legal for long.

 

Here, anyone not legally registered could not simply claim sticker theft because 1. a legally registered vehicle has a paper kept with current registration info in the car to show proof if requested, (like during a traffic stop) and 2. any cop can tell right away if someone is lying about being legal when they are not, (if someone claims to have forgotten the paper, for example) with his connection to the DMV database. It shows them the legal status of the vehicle. If they say they are legal and they are not, that's another crime.

 

That is what pisses me off so much about this, I KNOW they know or could easily find out my car was legally registered and issued a warning about the stolen sticker but instead I was treated like a criminal, like I intentionally left an illegal vehicle parked on the street. After proving my innocence, I still had to pay!

 

The city profits off the thieves and refuses to allow us any recourse which may offer us protection!

[He Who Shall Not Be Named 2]

Then again it could be all a part of God's plan.