This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2007, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
An office worker on 900 South warns of speed traps consistently set up between 900 East and 1100 East, where the limit is 25 mph.
As many as five motorcycle cops at a time will congregate near the bottom of the hill, pulling over cars in clusters, he says, which apparently raises a lot of money from fines.
An acquaintance told him he won't shop in the 9th and 9th District anymore because of the speed traps. So it actually may be hurting business.
The reader says he is not an apologist for speeders and wants police to ticket blatant violators. "But when you see a place where they are pulling over car after car, there obviously is something wrong with the speed limit or the way the traffic is being controlled there."
If safety truly is the concern, he says, put up an electronic sign that flashes the speed of oncoming cars.
Revolt in Happy Valley? My columns quoting former police officers who allege cities have traffic ticket quotas to raise revenue spawned this story from a Provo police insider.
A few years ago, police officials ''encouraged'' officers to write at least three traffic tickets per shift. Several officers complained, calling it a quota and griping that they already were taxed to the limit responding to criminal complaints.
So officers on the swing shift would leave the daily briefing meeting and quickly write their three tickets to get them out of the way so they could concentrate on crime. That made Provo an extremely safe city between 3:30 and 4 p.m.
And because the officials said raising money was not the priority, the rabble-rousers would deliberately look for such safety equipment violations as a burned-out tail light to make their nonquota minimum of three. If violators got the equipment fixed, they could avoid the fine, which of course was not the city's priority anyway.
Vanishing police investigation: Someone apparently jumped a curb and smashed into the picket fence of Bob and Jackie Heygster last summer.
A Salt Lake City police officer left a card on their door, along with the case number. Jackie called the officer several times, leaving messages but getting no response.
Bob left a few more messages. Nothing.
So they've got a case number, but nothing else and can't get anyone to tell them who hit their fence or whether anyone will fix it. Perhaps police are too busy not meeting traffic ticket quotas.
Meanwhile: Several businesses on 2100 South from 300 East to 800 East have been continuously vandalized recently with a pellet gun.
Guthrie Bicycle, John Henry Smith Insurance, Famous Appliances, Supreme Sleep Center, Salt Lake Dance Company, Carter's Mattresses, Futons and Beds, Streamline Industries, Walker Design Monuments, Remax, Lazyzzz mattress, and Micro Touch internet service have had windows blown out and doors damaged.
A four-door white car involved has been spotted and the police have been alerted. But what are overworked ticket writers to do?