Cop's £19k fines in day
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Cop's £19k fines in day
By ALASTAIR TAYLOR
A ZEALOUS traffic cop raised £19,200 in fines in a single day, it was revealed yesterday.
He spent an eight-hour shift dishing out 320 tickets from a van equipped with a speed camera — at an average of one every 90 SECONDS.
But amazingly, the body which operates speed cameras in South Yorkshire admitted yesterday that the unnamed bobby’s tally was LOWER than some other cops.
The figures were revealed by retired traffic policeman Peter Nicholson, who still has contacts in the force.
He hit out at speed cameras and claimed ex-colleagues were issuing tickets “like confetti.”
He estimates traffic cops using mobile cameras in the county are raking in £7.2million annually in fines. And the total including roadside cameras is £35million.
Peter, 61, of Rotherham, served 30 years, ten of them as a traffic officer.
He said: “The number of tickets this officer issued is absolutely ridiculous. I was proud to be a policeman. Now I’m ashamed to admit I’m an ex-traffic cop.
“I’m not against speed cameras in the right place but it’s no longer about road safety.
“It has become a money-making exercise for the Government.
“When I worked for the force we never believed in persecuting motorists unnecessarily. Now it’s gone too far the other way. It is very short-sighted, leaving a lot of disgruntled motorists.”
Peter claimed some officers even had unofficial “league tables”, competing to catch the most offenders.
There are 133 roadside cameras in South Yorkshire, operated by the non profit-making South Yorkshire Safety Camera Partnership.
There are also four camera vans, mostly staffed by cops on overtime.
But a spokesman denied there was a league table.
He added: “We are not there to catch motorists, we are there to reduce speed because speed kills.”
By ALASTAIR TAYLOR
A ZEALOUS traffic cop raised £19,200 in fines in a single day, it was revealed yesterday.
He spent an eight-hour shift dishing out 320 tickets from a van equipped with a speed camera — at an average of one every 90 SECONDS.
But amazingly, the body which operates speed cameras in South Yorkshire admitted yesterday that the unnamed bobby’s tally was LOWER than some other cops.
The figures were revealed by retired traffic policeman Peter Nicholson, who still has contacts in the force.
He hit out at speed cameras and claimed ex-colleagues were issuing tickets “like confetti.”
He estimates traffic cops using mobile cameras in the county are raking in £7.2million annually in fines. And the total including roadside cameras is £35million.
Peter, 61, of Rotherham, served 30 years, ten of them as a traffic officer.
He said: “The number of tickets this officer issued is absolutely ridiculous. I was proud to be a policeman. Now I’m ashamed to admit I’m an ex-traffic cop.
“I’m not against speed cameras in the right place but it’s no longer about road safety.
“It has become a money-making exercise for the Government.
“When I worked for the force we never believed in persecuting motorists unnecessarily. Now it’s gone too far the other way. It is very short-sighted, leaving a lot of disgruntled motorists.”
Peter claimed some officers even had unofficial “league tables”, competing to catch the most offenders.
There are 133 roadside cameras in South Yorkshire, operated by the non profit-making South Yorkshire Safety Camera Partnership.
There are also four camera vans, mostly staffed by cops on overtime.
But a spokesman denied there was a league table.
He added: “We are not there to catch motorists, we are there to reduce speed because speed kills.”
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