SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES
SPD on tickets: ‘It’s not about revenue, it’s about safety’
Jun 24, 2015, 3:55 PM | Updated: Jun 25, 2015, 10:19 am
A large fight involving self-inflicted injuries took center stage in Ballard Saturday night. (AP)
(AP)
Daniel got a $138 ticket because he made a sign to warn drivers that police were ahead and to stop.
“I thought it was really unfair of the police,” he told KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson. “If they really wanted to deter people from doing that, they should put themselves in plain sight and not behind a corner.”
Daniel said his sign read, “Police ahead. Stop at sign and light.”
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Dori doesn’t exactly think it’s fair that Daniel got slapped with a fine because, after all, he was also slowing down drivers.
Sgt. Sean Whitcomb said he thinks it’s important to note that police officers were in the neighborhood because there were several complaints from parents worried their kids could be struck by cars while in the marked crosswalk.
“There are other ways to alert the public that we’re doing enforcement,” Whitcomb said. “By the way, when we stop people and write them a ticket, there’s no cloaking device that we have using Klingon technology. It’s all right there in the open.”
The officer Daniel saw was ‘hidden in plain sight,’ Whitcomb explained. It’s when there’s a marked motorcycle with an officer in uniform.
But if the motorists follow his sign, isn’t the man also making roads safer?
Whitcomb said it could confuse drivers.
Dori wanted to know why neighbors are also allowed to post signs to tell drivers to slow down, when it’s one of the prohibited words in the statute used to cite Daniel.
Whitcomb said those are also technically prohibited by law.
“What about the ones that we’ve all seen — a yellow plastic little kid holding a bright, orange flag and it says ‘Slow, children at play?'”
“Technically prohibited.”
Whitcomb could not immediately recall a time when a homeowner was ticketed.
He said that education plays a primary roll when it comes to traffic safety. Enforcement is secondary.
“We give so many more warnings than tickets.”
Whitcomb said it would be OK if the man wanted to take to social media to let his neighbors know of the officer’s location.
“It’s not about revenue, it’s about safety. It’s not about writing tickets, it’s about people not driving through a stop sign and putting children at risk.”
