12/24/2018
Jim Evancho
In our article on December 21, 2018 titled “Fines and Tickets Dramatically Increase in Jacksonville – City Council Work Session and Meeting” City of Jacksonville Municipal Judge Jennifer Weems addressed the City Council regarding traffic citations being higher than in the past.
The City of Jacksonville experiences a large number of traffic collisions that result in injuries to the drivers and passengers. Many of these collisions are due to speeding, ignoring traffic control devices, and distracted driving according to Police Chief Marcus Wood.
Chief Wood stated “The majority of the speeding tickets being issued, over 50%, are for exceeding 15 miles per hour of the posted speed limit”. Chief Wood also explained that the increase of traffic tickets being issued was initiated by the officers and supervisors that oversee them and not as a mandated from his office or the previous Chief’s office.
The sudden surge in traffic violations being written was addressed by Judge Weems who stated “In the last four months they have collected over half of all the monies that they collected in fiscal year 2018”. Broken down by month – September $54,723 October $49,000 November $73,000 December $23,000. Chief Wood was officially sworn into office in December and Chief Tommy Thompson (Ret) was leading the department prior to that.
Chief Tommy Thompson (Ret) explained the increase in traffic tickets was due to filling officer vacancies in the department. Chief Thompson (Ret) advised, when the new officers were hired and were trained they were able to direct more time to working traffic.
Chief Wood stated “There are no quota’s and he has not directed the officers to increase the number of traffic tickets written”. The officers of Jacksonville have the ability to use discretion during traffic stops and may issue a warning if they feel its more beneficial than writing a ticket with a fine.
Vehicle collisions can be very costly to the taxpayer. The fire department has to be sent to the crash scene with all of the appropriate equipment, an ambulance or helicopter must respond to the scene, just as law enforcement must respond. If a vehicle is uninsured the first responders still provide services to all parties that are involved.
Chief Wood’s final statement was, “We have a responsibility to make sure the citizens and visitors of Jacksonville are safe while driving here”. “As always, my door is always open to anyone in the community that would like to speak to me about any concerns or issues”.
