# St. Louis Dopers: Remember This Story About a Suburb... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 21, 2014, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-louis-dopers-remember-this-story-about-a-suburb/696144 "2014-08-21T21:47:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2014, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-louis-dopers-remember-this-story-about-a-suburb/696144/1 "2014-08-21T21:47:43Z")
There was a story that ran in either the _Post-Dispatch_, or the _Riverfront Times_ - not sure which - some number of years ago about the police department in one of the suburbs. Basically, their police force wrote x number of speeding tickets every year, where x is several times the city’s population. The city basically stayed financially solvent by busting speeders along one of the area interstates. They even had the police chief on the record telling the cops to focus almost exclusively on patrolling the highway for speeders, and not, you know, serve and protect. I want to say that this was about Ferguson, but my brain is undoubtedly connecting the terms “Overbearing police force” and “St. Louis suburb” to Ferguson. Anyone know where this was? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2014, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-louis-dopers-remember-this-story-about-a-suburb/696144/2 "2014-08-21T23:20:30Z")
I don’t know about St. Louis, but around here, that would be [Linndale, OH](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linndale,_Ohio). The town is basically nothing but a self-perpetuating speed trap: Not only is it the bulk of the municipal government’s income, it’s also the primary industry for the citizens of the town. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-louis-dopers-remember-this-story-about-a-suburb/696144/3 "2014-08-22T00:43:05Z")
Charlack, Sycamore Hills, & Vinita Park are the big three for Interstate-170 speeding tickets. St. Ann also does a good business on I-70 in front of Lambert airport. There was another townlet in that area that had a rigged traffic light on the main drag where an officer could push a button and make the light suddenly go red, and then chase down the guy who just ran the spurious red light to write an expensive ticket. The RFT did an expose on that back around 2005 or so. The police chief got fired but as far as I know they’re still doing it. ---
**Author:** ![JerrySTL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e274bd/32.png) [@JerrySTL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerrySTL)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-louis-dopers-remember-this-story-about-a-suburb/696144/4 "2014-08-22T00:47:29Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Charlack, Sycamore Hills, & Vinita Park are the big three for Interstate-170 speeding tickets. St. Ann also does a good business on I-70 in front of Lambert airport. Didn’t Charlack have the speed ticket camera set up over I-170? ---
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-louis-dopers-remember-this-story-about-a-suburb/696144/5 "2014-08-22T01:16:17Z")
Winter Harbor, Maine got in trouble with the state for this a couple years ago. The village got a grant to upgrade the police force and the year after, over 400 tickets were written in a span of 4 months in a town with a population of 300 . ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-louis-dopers-remember-this-story-about-a-suburb/696144/6 "2014-08-22T01:42:53Z")
> [@JerrySTL](#): > > Didn’t Charlack have the speed ticket camera set up over I-170? The distinctive thing about Charlack was that only about 1,000 feet of I-170 was actually within their city limits. Sycamore Hills may not even have that much territory. Bel-Nor meets their ticket quota and they aren’t even on a highway. They simply drop the speed limit along Natural Bridge Rd. from 40 to 30 and pull people over immediately. Can’t leave South County out of the roll call, either. St. George (until it disincorporated in 2011) lived off I-55. I wouldn’t call Oakland exactly a speed trip, but they’ve been known to patrol I-44 pretty closely. ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-louis-dopers-remember-this-story-about-a-suburb/696144/7 "2014-08-22T02:47:04Z")
Rock Hill, MO (a St. Louis suburb I lived in for 6 years or so) was very well known for its speed traps and number of tickets written. However, it is not on an interstate so probably isn’t what the OP is thinking of. Here’s an RFT blog post about one cop there: [http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/dailyrft/2009/10/legendary\_ticket\_writing\_cop\_set\_to\_hang\_up\_radar\_gun\_ron\_zeigler\_rock\_hill.php](http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/dailyrft/2009/10/legendary_ticket_writing_cop_set_to_hang_up_radar_gun_ron_zeigler_rock_hill.php) Those I-170 mini-cities were the others that sprang to mind, having commuted along there for years. It seems like every mile is another municipality for stretch there. ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-louis-dopers-remember-this-story-about-a-suburb/696144/8 "2014-08-22T14:36:05Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > The distinctive thing about Charlack was that only about 1,000 feet of I-170 was actually within their city limits. Sycamore Hills may not even have that much territory. > > Bel-Nor meets their ticket quota and they aren’t even on a highway. They simply drop the speed limit along Natural Bridge Rd. from 40 to 30 and pull people over immediately. > > Can’t leave South County out of the roll call, either. St. George (until it disincorporated in 2011) lived off I-55. I wouldn’t call Oakland exactly a speed trip, but they’ve been known to patrol I-44 pretty closely. Ah, I remember fondly of St. George. In my friend’s neighborhood it had the very very rare stop sign in the middle of a neighborhood street. No crosswalks or intersecting streets. Just a stop sign halfway down the block. My other favorites were Bella Villa and Shrewsbury. In all three of those towns it was wise to drive 5 miles under the speed limit (you get a ticket if your drive AT the limit), count to three at each stop sign before starting up again, and to not have a car full of teenagers with you. (We actually had occupants duck down if we thought any cops were around.) Fun times. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-louis-dopers-remember-this-story-about-a-suburb/696144/9 "2014-08-22T14:43:12Z")
Wasn’t there a town in Florida that was unincorporated or had its police force dissolved not too long for pulling this type of scheme? ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-louis-dopers-remember-this-story-about-a-suburb/696144/10 "2014-08-22T17:32:14Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > Wasn’t there a town in Florida that was unincorporated or had its police force dissolved not too long for pulling this type of scheme? Yes: [Hampton, Florida](http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/09/us/hampton-florida-corruption/). The speed trap was the focal point of the town’s problems, but they went deeper. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-louis-dopers-remember-this-story-about-a-suburb/696144/11 "2014-08-22T18:24:13Z")
Yeah, US 301 up central FLA is speed trap city. Waldo, Starke, Lawtey, Callahan, Baldwin. Triple-A put up a billboard outside of Lawtey announcing the speed trap and the town tried to sue them to remove it. The town lost so they put up a competing billboard announcing that they’re concerned about safety, not the profits. I can’t even imagine how much the towns make off of UF students going to and from Gainesville. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-louis-dopers-remember-this-story-about-a-suburb/696144/12 "2014-08-22T18:55:29Z")
If the goal really were safety, then surely the Triple-A billboard would help, not hurt. After all, it would have the effect of getting people to slow down in that town, which is what the town wants, right? ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-louis-dopers-remember-this-story-about-a-suburb/696144/13 "2014-08-24T17:53:43Z")
Lots of small towns along main highways all over the midwest USA would fit this pattern. Their police have to deal with locals demanding they do something to deal with speeders who endanger the children in the town, and deal with the locals who are angry when they get caught speeding. (Usual solution around here is speeding tickets for out-of-town drivers, and first-time warning tickets for locals.) ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2014, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-louis-dopers-remember-this-story-about-a-suburb/696144/14 "2014-08-26T14:37:46Z")
Here’s an op-ed in yesterday’s Post-Dispatch that says [nearly 1/4 of Ferguson’s revenues come from court fees (i.e., fines).](http://www.stltoday.com/news/opinion/columns/suburban-ghettos-like-ferguson-are-ticking-time-bombs/article_4254ab32-0548-5452-a6c5-15d50f66311c.html) I can’t speak to the accuracy of the cite, but if it’s correct, one-quarter of revenues, although a hefty amount, doesn’t put Ferguson in the same speed-trap class as Charlack or Velda City. ---
**Author:** ![Habeed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a587f6/32.png) [@Habeed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Habeed)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2014, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-louis-dopers-remember-this-story-about-a-suburb/696144/15 "2014-08-26T15:22:43Z")
Why are police departments local in the first place? If all cops worked for the state, there wouldn’t be these unjust variances between areas.