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NEW YORK STATE POLICE CHANGE IN POLICY
IN MY TRAVELS
In my travels, I speak to a lot of people in the system….Troopers, Court Clerks, and Judges. The following is based upon multiple conversations in multiple locations, all over the downstate area.
There has been much misinformation concerning the current policy of the New York State Police. Here is the real situation. Please note
no other police agencies are affected by this, meaning the other 75% of tickets written by your Town and Village Police, City Police and County Sheriffs are NOT changing policy as of this writing.
The immediate effects of the NYSP Brass "no pleas" policy statewide have been to sow confusion and destroy the even administration of Justice. This disaster is not a “get tough on motorists”
measure...it is to save Trooper Overtime…(what !?)….more on this later.
Troopers are quite unhappy. Productivity is down, as Troopers sit in court while the Prosecutor negotiates tickets. The Trooper loses much of his or her control over these negotiations, as a mere "witness". Little overtime is actually being saved, and Troopers who spent 45 minutes in Court and went out to the road are now still on the Clock, but not working, spending three hours standing around in Court. I’ve had ten year plus veterans wonder how they are going to make ends meet without the overtime-based on my observation over fifteen years of ticket defense, Road Trooper morale is at an all time low. Troopers usually had a shot at lecturing the driver they cited in Court, and they can no longer have the "drive safe" discussions they had with the public before-being lectured by a Trooper in a Court has a clear effect on most drivers, for positive public safety…but no more.
The amount of tickets written this year by the NYSP has dropped significantly in the downstate area. Court Clerks in multiple jurisdictions in multiple Counties have advised me that they are getting a lot of 60/55 or “no seatbelt” or “cell phone” tickets- far below the normal ticketing thresholds. These are "roadside reductions" as the Troopers try to balance public safety, their need to work and be productive, while trying to keep Albany getting as little money as possible by writing under six point tickets (hence no DRA tax). This also means that most will pay the "reduced" ticket without making the Trooper go through a Trial.
The Court Clerks are unhappy-their calendars have jammed up, and trying even a fraction of the cases has caused a lot more work-they are the ones who actually work the stage that the Judges, Attorneys and Police are the actors upon, so they are now facing large case loads, a ruder than normal public (if possible), and more complaints directed at them about the DRA tax-over which they have no control.
Without the Troopers in Court, even the Courts in the wealthy towns who have hired Prosecutors are running calendars half what they used to…and the cases pile up, not being processed.
The Judges are very unhappy. Some Judges have tossed out entire Court Calendars, or quietly dismissed hundreds of tickets. Other Judges have announced that as "negotiation is at the discretion of the State Police, but scheduling is at my discretion", and adjourned entire calendars with an exhortation that "it will take QUITE some time". Many towns are quietly just not scheduling Trooper speeding tickets, and holding them on the docket. The Bench has publicly called the new policy a disaster in many forums-which it is.
In some Towns, normally the less well off rural ones with small calendars, citizens are being tried, and there are no deals, so those in the poorest parts of the state are disproportionally paying the DRA tax, and bearing the brunt of a "points system" that was designed in the old days of the 55 mph speed limit. (Our current points system was radically stiffened back when the State of New York was going to lose Federal Highway Money due to massive noncompliance with the unloved national 55 mph limit-we got a pass for a year (and the money) by raising the points drastically-thank you Governor Cuomo and DMV Commission Patricia
Adduci.)
Every Judge, Clerk and 98% of the Troopers I have spoken to want the system to go back as it was. The Courts had set schedules, the Troopers were out of Court fast, and the motorists who deserved them got a break, while those who don’t did not. All was fair-it was never a zero point giveaway like some press reports, although many of the Towns who hired a Prosecutor are NOW giving deals that mean the Town keeps the money…so another distortion is made in a stable system, the money tail wagging the traffic safety dog.
All of this trouble comes from one guy in the administration at State Police Albany, who began his career in the Brewster area, and never liked facing the public he had ticketed on the side of the road…and that’s the real story.
This is being sold as an effort to reduce the NYSP overtime budget. In their zeal to save money, they have caused chaos in the Court system, increased local expenses, and caused every other player in the system to do everything they can to minimize State revenues. It was well summed up by one professional "they will save ten million dollars in overtime but lose twenty million in revenue".
Many Court Clerks, in towns big and small, built-up and rural, have told me their monthly reports to the State of their Court’s activities show a huge drop in fine revenue as a result of all these factors.
In any event, the situation changes literally day by day, Court by Court. (please note that this is NOT the way the legal system normally works !) Our firm is “on the ground” every day, and we can let you know your Court and
your situation. Call us to discuss the matter.
There is a chance that the Legislature will act to put the Troopers back in Court-and the new Governor may view things differently, as Pataki vetoed a bill putting the Troopers back in Court. I am advised the Legislature is going to introduce an override bill shortly.
In a worst case scenario, we are Ready For Trial. We fully prepare for and intend each Trial to take quite some time, with a full and substantial cross examination of the Trooper, including case law and legal briefs to be submitted to the Court. We don’t just show up and stand there…we intend to litigate your traffic ticket as if your Driver’s License was the most important thing in the world…which it is.
Don’t plead guilty….ever….fight every ticket..
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W. Raskob, PC.
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Copyright (c) 2007 - Casey W. Raskob
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