MontCo wants cops to pay speed camera tickets
By: Alan Suderman
Examiner Staff Writer
September 28, 2009
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| (Examiner file) |
Montgomery County is asking the state's highest court to require on-duty police officers to pay speed camera tickets, saying the issue has "far-reaching ramifications" as Maryland readies for the cameras to be used statewide.
The Examiner first reported that a Montgomery County Circuit Court judge tossed out speed camera citations issued to four speeding on-duty police officers in July, including two who were driving 50 mph and 51 mph in 25 mph zones.
Judge Ronald Rubin said the police department didn't have a clear, written policy about when on-duty cops would be expected to pay any speed camera tickets. He also added that the county's speed camera policy was nothing more than a "tax machine."
"That's what this revenue is: It's a revenue raiser," Rubin said.
But the county disagreed and said Rubin was incorrectly saying that police officers were above they law when it came to speeding. The county is asking the Maryland Court of Appeals to review the case.
"The circuit court's decision and reasoning are incorrect as a matter of law, and if not corrected will likely be repeated not only in Montgomery County but throughout the state," Associate County Attorney William Snoddy wrote in court records.
Speed cameras are currently allowed only in Montgomery County, but will be allowed in other parts of the state starting Thursday.
Lawyer Jim Shalleck, who represents the police officers, said the county wasn't following the proper legal procedure for transferring liability for the ticket to the officers. And he said that speeding was a regular part of police officers' jobs and they shouldn't be expected to remember why they were speeding weeks or months after a speed camera catches them.
But Snoddy said state law was clear that police officers had to obey the "rules of the road" when not responding to the an emergency call or pursuing a suspect. If county dispatch logs show that an officer is responding to an emergency or in pursuit of a suspect, they aren't given speed camera citations, according to county officials.
Montgomery County's elected officials and police supervisors have been critical of rank-and-file police officers' efforts to have their tickets dismissed, saying those efforts hurt the county's image.
If police officers don't have a valid reason for speeding, "they need to be held accountable," said Council President Phil Andrews.
