Revenue stream is no excuse for citation abuse
For many municipalities, tickets and fines make up an alarming percentage of revenue — up to 90% in some instances. That’s the startling finding by C. Jarrett Dieterle, who examines the issue of “Citation Nation” in the Manhattan Institute’s City Journal. “Washington, D.C. collects more than $200 per-capita in annual law-enforcement-related fees and has floated proposals to increase certain traffic penalties to $1,000,” Dieterle unnervingly notes. Moreover, nine in 10 mayors are exploring alternative revenue streams. You can imagine how ticket revenue must tempt mayors like candy does a child. As Dieterle writes, “The attractiveness of tickets and fines as revenue generators is underscored by the fact that most people who receive tickets simply pay the fine and move on.”