By Staff
Local law enforcement agencies, along with agencies statewide, have been participating in the Click it or Ticket campaign.
Officers have been working overtime devoted to working traffic.
The only real difference between working traffic and working a regular shift is the officer working traffic doesn't answer calls into the station unless all the other officers are tied up at that time.
I got a chance to spend a little time with an officer working traffic overtime this week and learned a few things about getting caught with violations.
I spent about two hours with this officer and he made nine contacts during this time. While there were a few seat belt violations, the majority of the tickets written were for suspended or no driver's license.
I'll be honest when they passed the ordinance mandating that all vehicles operated by an unlicensed driver I thought 'how many cars could they possibly tow before people get wise to it?'
I guess the answer to that question is simple: A lot. I watched officers tow one car after another. The officer I was with towed around six cars, and other officers had several more cars towed as well.
In all about 10 cars were towed in the time I spent with them. I was shocked to find that many people were driving around with no driver's licenses.
I don't really understand why these people do not take the time to complete the necessary paperwork to get a driver's license, but there are people who apparently feel that getting a driver's license is too much work. So they drive around with no license, and have their cars towed every other day. I just don't understand it.
I did feel sorry for the families and children who had to get out of their cars because of the new ordinance, but laws must be enforced for everyone not just a select few.
When the ordinance was passed, Police Chief Chris Hargett said that the law is designed to deter people from driving around with no license. Since the law has passed, dozens and dozens of vehicles have been towed at the owner's expense.
I hope that everyone who reads this will realize that for the money that is being spent on paying vehicles out of hock due to them being towed, they could probably get a driver's license.