Public Safety or Revenue Enhancement? You Decide

I had planned a post about my recent Sunday afternoon of getting ticketed for not wearing my seat belt when I received an email from a reader indicating another revenue enhancing action by the Fort Thomas Police.  Two stories to be aware of to avoid paying fines and penalties to the city or county.

1. Click it or Ticket – I heard the radio commercials like everyone else and generally I buckle up.  I don’t have a new car that beeps incessantly until you buckle your seat belt but I am pretty good at remembering so I ignored the commercials.  That is until Sunday.  I was driving home from Tower Park (which is .4 miles from my home) with my wife, 14 month old twins, and my three year old son.  I hit the intersection of Highland and Fort Thomas Ave and came to a complete stop at the 3 way intersection.  I noticed a Campbell County officer (as a side note – why is a Campbell County officer necessary when the Sheriff and Fort Thomas City Police patrol?) stopping as well and since it was his turn I paused to let him go.  He waited, and waited, and finally I went.  As I entered the intersection he went as well and did a wide turn and flipped on the lights.  To compound the embarrassment my three year old asks from the back seat if I was going to jail.

The officer was polite but indicating he was patrolling for the purpose of writing tickets for Click it or Ticket.  Despite no moving violations they are apparently pulling over anyone they see and writing tickets.  I doubt this was truly for my safety since it is 25 mph through town and I was traveling exactly .4 miles to my house (normally we walk but since we were hiking the trails with the kids we decided to drive) and the whole scene definitely created a bigger safety situation than I created by not buckling.

2. I received an email from a reader of Fort Thomas Matters who had this to say:

They just went down Ohio Avenue and gave out $10 tickets to all cars that are parked in the wrong direction.  The office said it was a city directive and to let them know if we disagreed with it.  He said they would be doing it through out the town. 

Has anyone else had this happen?  For your feedback I am opening up the posting restrictions – you don’t have to be a registered user.

You have been sufficiently warned – be sure to buckle up and make sure your car is in the right direction.  This will clearly keep the mean streets of Fort Thomas safe and secure.