You’ll remember from a few months ago, this little controversy:
Because California law prohibits punishing police officers over the number of citations issued, Fairfield Police Chief Bill Gresham has denied the department uses any ticket quotas. John White, who retired as a sergeant four years ago, disputes this claim saying that those who didn’t issue enough tickets were labeled “red” and punished while those who wrote a large number of tickets were labeled “green” and rewarded. The city of 100,000 earns $494,000 from traffic fines and $62,000 from parking tickets each year.
There may be something to this, Sacramento. Let me tell you my story…
One evening on my way to Arden Mall after work, I was pulled over by a police officer. My transgression? The license plate on my car showed that the registration had expired several months ago. After taking my info, the officer contacted the DMV who confirmed that I had paid fees but did not have registration. He began to write the $100+ ticket.
When he re-approached my window and began to explain to me my violation of the law, I pointed him to the temporary registration permit I had on my car, taped to the rear window in plain view. After taking a look, he realized that I was in compliance with the law, and he was in error. But at that point, he had to give me a ticket anyway because he had already started writing it. He did do me a “favor” though, and changed my ticket to a $10 “fix it ticket”.
“They’ll throw it out if you go challenge it.”
So, for a $10 ticket that I did not deserve, I had to go to traffic court to get them to throw this ticket out and get it off my record. The cop got his ticket, and I ended up getting a lesson in how law doesn’t equal justice.
I decided to fight the ticket in traffic court at the Carol Miller “Justice” Center. On my second trip to the court, I got 15 seconds to put my case before the judge, who refered my case to a representative of the district attorney, who, after looking at my paperwork, waived my $10 ticket. Justice prevailed!
Then he hit me with a $10 fee to have the court contact the DMV to remove the ticket from my record.
…and the law won.
The Sac Rag 
Oh, Singh, I can relate. I received my own little fix-it ticket a few weeks ago. Unfortunately I am guilty as charged for a strange and little known California law that no one has ever heard of I’m sure. I didn’t mind the ticket so much as the 20-minute lecture I received for the infraction that was baseless for the most part. But the clincher is my efforts to get the ticket signed off (problem fixed within 10 minutes) have proven fruitless. I can’t find a single officer or CHP anywhere and I’ve been scouting them out for weeks now. I even take a special route to and from work to hit as many donut shops as I can and still nada.
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As a co-founder of the Sac Rag (the one that didn’t make headlines) I feel compelled to congratulate you all for the wonderful use of this web site to share a story, receive feedback, and then obtain valuable tips and suggestions. A tear comes to our eye…well done.
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Plumwin: An easy place to find a CHP officer to sign off on your ticket is at the Boys & Girls Club in South Sac. They have a small office set up in the back of the club where officers can fill out reports, make phone calls, use the facilities, etc. (As a bonus, kids using the club get to know officers in a non-threatening environment and see them as an ally and not something to be feared.)
It’s located at 5212 Lemon Hill Avenue. If you head down Stockton Blvd., it’s about 1/2 mile south of Fruitridge. I’m down there pretty frequently & the neighborhood isn’t as bad as some might think. I know the club is closed to kids during the holidays, but the admin office is still open. Call before you go — phone # is on their website: http://www.bgcsac.org.
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