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Tickets issued by Lawrence police hit five-year low
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You all must have been a bunch of angels in 2012.
There’s a new report out at City Hall, and it shows city police officers in 2012 issued the fewest number of citations — everything from speeding to noise violations — in at least five years
The Municipal Court’s annual report total citation activity checked in at 28,707 citations, down 7.6 percent from the approximately 31,000 tickets issued in 2011. The new totals mark the first time in at least five years that ticket volume has fallen below the 30,000-ticket level. The city’s recent high was 2010, when 39,699 tickets were issued.
One area where you perhaps weren’t so good is feeding that parking meter downtown. The city issued 94,064 parking meter tickets, an increase of about 5 percent from a year ago.
Here are some other facts figures from the recent report:
• Speeding tickets checked in at 2,268, up slightly from the 2,221 issued in 2011. But the city is issuing far fewer speeding tickets than it used to. In 2008, for example, the city issued more than 6,000 speeding tickets. It issued more than 5,000 tickets in 2009 and 2010, and then the totals plummeted.
In past years, city officials have said the decline has been caused in part because there have been several vacant positions in the city’s Police Department, although the past couple of city budgets have included funding to hire additional police officers. Still, Police Chief Tarik Khatib has told city commissioners on multiple occasions that the department still has serious staffing needs, and he says the department is having to shuffle its priorities in order to respond to the number of emergency calls coming into the city’s dispatch center.
I haven’t had a chance to talk to city officials yet about the report, but perhaps that is what is going on here. Or, maybe, everybody is just being so safe and courteous out on the roadways these days.
• Tickets for operating under the influence of alcohol hit a five-year low at 394. That’s down from the recent high of 798 in 2010. Minor-in-possession tickets also declined to 341, which is below the five-year average of about 375 tickets.
• Noise violations hit a new low at 176 tickets, down from the five-year high of 286 in 2008. I went a bit further back on this one to see how it compared to the days when the issue of party houses was a major topic of discussion at City Hall. The numbers are way off from that time. In 2006, for example, the city issued 449 noise violations.
• Apparently, even the animals are being better behaved. Cases for animals at-large (insert your own college student joke here) fell to a new five-year low at 303. That’s down from a five-year high of 513 in 2010.
• I don’t have past years to compare this with, but I found it interesting nonetheless: The number of downtown parkers who received a special habitual violator ticket — in other words, they had five or more parking meter violations within a 30-day period — was 1,502.
• The top traffic-related offenses in 2012 were: — Speeding: 2,268 — Seat belt violation: 1,684 — No proof of insurance: 1,617 — Stop sign violation: 754 — Driving while suspended: 701
• The top public-offense-related violations in 2012 were: — Theft: 394 — Minor in possession: 341 — Animal at large: 260 — Disorderly conduct: 212 — Battery: 208 — Criminal trespass: 208
I know some of the numbers above don’t match the ticket numbers reported earlier in the article. I believe the difference is that these are offense numbers and the others are ticket numbers. In other words, I think these numbers only reflect those cases that have been closed.
• The last statistic from the report is the one the budget-makers care about. Declining ticket volume did produce a decline in city revenue. Total revenue collected by the court was down 7 percent from a year ago, to $3.58 million.
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and 10 others

Comments
buckjennings 3 months, 1 week ago
Only an idiot thinks that people are behaving better on the roads these days. I remember when there were regular speed traps on Kentucky, Tennessee, 6th, etc. Now people just speed with impunity. I especially love the aggressiveness on 9th St when several jerks in a row pass you on the right well in excess of the speed limit just so they can get to the stop light at Iowa first. No wonder cyclists and pedestrians are mowed down with impunity.
Thinking_Out_Loud 3 months, 1 week ago
I notice you have an affection for the word "impunity."
duckedtapedemon 3 months, 1 week ago
I lived at the apartment at the base of the hill on 9th, south of Iowa and several times I had large vehicles squeeze by me at a high rate of speed while I was waiting to turn left.
MarcoPogo 3 months, 1 week ago
Base of the hill on 9th and south of Iowa?
oletimer 3 months, 1 week ago
law enforcement has given up trying to uphold the law. Too many targets, not near enough time. Today's drivers are some of the worst in history. Speeding, reckless driving, texting, talking, being stupid. With all the cutbacks in law enforcement, there is just no way in h*ll to overcome all the problems successfully. So, wrecks will continue. Death and injury will increase. Insurance will continue to go up. Any why? Because you people are too damn lazy to start 10 minutes earlier so you don't have to drive like a maniac. Don't believe me? Put down your phone for a little while and pay attention what is going on around you. It should scare you to death. Especially if you have children who are going to start driving.
KRichards 3 months, 1 week ago
Death and injury has consistently decreased over the last 35 years. Don't let facts get in your way. Get off my lawn!
Hoots 3 months, 1 week ago
Cars got safer but drivers got worse. Cars are saving people from themselves. The body shop owners I know are busier than ever. They tell me business use to spike after snow etc. Now they have a constant stream of business. Death rates among teens and people in their early 20's has gone up 20% in a very short time frame. The best guess of experts is texting. People would rather wreck their cars than wait 2 seconds in this town.
Hoots 3 months, 1 week ago
Just because we now have Stability Control, better seat belts, seat belt laws , air bags, crumple zones, traction control, side impact beams, roll over cadges and so forth doesn't mean anyone is driving better or safer. I wish we could put all these idiots in a 1972 Chevy Impala and let them impale themselves on the steering wheel or slide off the road. The death rate has dropped in spite of the driver. Just ask State Farm. Their stats show for some crazy reason people are now crashing into lines of stopped cars like never before. Put your freakin phones down and show some respect to the people around you.
Thinking_Out_Loud 3 months, 1 week ago
That's a pretty horrible thing to wish for. In fact, it is morally and intellectually repugnant.
repaste 3 months, 1 week ago
Death and injury of occupants of cars are down, cars are safer than ever, pedestrians and cyclists injuries are increasing. Don;t let airbags get in the way of facts.
Alfred_W 3 months, 1 week ago
Well, if they can't trade them for basketball tickets anymore, what's the point in writing them?
jhawkinsf 3 months, 1 week ago
This coincides with the opening of the new Dunkin' Donuts on 6th. Coincidence? Hmmm.
Hoots 3 months, 1 week ago
I was on 6th street around midnight last night and this car goes flying by at least 20 over. A cop is sitting at the Dollar Store facing 6th. I was shocked he didn't go after the car. When I drove by he was texting. No wonder he missed it. I see people run stop signs right in front of cops all the time and nothing. LPD does a good job in some areas but they have allowed driving to become a free-for-all. It has become dangerous to drive in this town.
bluefirebird 3 months, 1 week ago
Don't drive then
buckjennings 3 months, 1 week ago
Excellent reasoning there, chap. I guess in your black and white little world a person should just remain quiet about the free-for-all out on our streets or simply not drive. How clever. No wonder Americans are seen as being utterly clueless elsewhere in the world, what with this kind of first-class thinking.
antonioandolini 3 months, 1 week ago
Number_1_Grandma, if it was KU basketball tickets then it would be "Tickets given to the Lawrence Police hit a five-year low"!!
Liberty275 3 months, 1 week ago
Lets shoot for a 100 year low.
SusabelleGee 3 months, 1 week ago
Maybe they need to sit at Wakarusa and Harvard, they could fund another spot if they would ticket all of the people that do not stop at that intersection. It is VERY dangerous.
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