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Va. Beach man challenges ‘pacing’ ticket on Web site
Friday, January 22, 2010 1:34 PM EST
LA CROSSE — A Virginia Beach resident traveling home late Friday night is claiming that the La Crosse Police Department unfairly charged him with speeding, while using the “pacing” method instead of the radar that was mounted on the police cruiser.
Scott Colley, a former U.S. Air Force flight officer who served in the first Gulf War and current owner of a search engine-marketing firm, is a self-described serial entrepreneur. He has now used his knowledge of computers and the Internet to post a homemade video of an incident that occurred last Friday night in La Crosse.
Colley was issued a speeding ticket for going 14 miles per hour over the posted speed limit, 50 miles per hour, after La Crosse Police Department Officer C.W. Racine used what Racine described as pacing to test the miles per hour that Colley was driving.
Pacing is timing the speed of a vehicle based on points along the roadway to see the rate of speed.
Colley asked Racine how far behind him he was when he began the pacing. Racine said that as Colley went through the green light at the Walmart and Sonic intersection on Highway 58 east, which is a 40 mile an hour speed zone and almost immediately turns into a 50 mile per hour speed zone, that he was sitting at the red light on the Walmart side waiting to turn left and that when he pulled out he was maybe 150 yards behind Colley.
Colley said when he first noticed the officer behind him; he thought the officer was after another vehicle because he had his cruise control set to the posted speed limit.
“He never ‘paced’ me; he was always gaining ground,” Colley said. “He was still gaining on me when he pulled me over.”
Colley said when he realized that the officer was going to issue the ticket he turned his “flip” camera on. The nearly 20-minute video can be seen at http://highway58speedtrap.com. Colley says the video is unedited. The lighting is bad but both men can be heard clearly. As of Tuesday morning the site, which was posted early Saturday, had nearly 3,000 views.
Racine said on video that the laser radar could not operate if his car was in motion. He asked Colley to turn the camera off several times.
Colley asked Racine on video to explain to him where they both were when the pacing began. Racine refused and said that he had explained it twice and would not again. Racine suggested that Colley look at the area on an online map.
On Monday, Colley came back to La Crosse to video tape the area in the daylight. He retraced his travel and that of the officer. Colley found that it was less than half of a mile from the area where Racine began to the point that he was pulled over, at 38609 Highway 58.
The video shows Racine agreed to go further up the road and check Colley’s speedometer with the radar as Colley drove by.
Colley pressed the “resume” button on the cruise control and video taped the test. The speedometer, while on cruise control, read approximately 51 miles per hours. Racine said at the end of the test the radar registered Colley at 52 miles per hour.
Racine suggested that there may be a “glitch” with Colley’s cruise control, causing the 14 miles per hour over the speed limit that he witnessed during his “pacing.”
“I will guarantee you that between now and the court date (March) that car (referring to his police cruiser) will have another calibration done,” Racine said on the video. “As a matter of fact I know it has to go in shortly. If it turns out that it was wrong, I will be the first to admit it.”
Colley thanked Racine for taking the time to test the speedometer and the cruise control.
“If it turns out I have a bad speedometer in the car I will be more than glad to send you a letter,” Racine said.
“The only speeder in this event was the cop who pulled me over, and our math and physics will prove that,” Colley said. “This stretch of road is as notorious as the ‘Bermuda Triangle,’ but it’s in our country, and now we have evidence of the travesty!” Colley estimated that Racine was traveling approximately 75 miles per hour in order to catch up to him in less than half of a mile.
Colley said he is telling his story via the Internet to help show the common citizen how to fight a “pacing” claim. As Racine said on video it is usually the officer’s word against the motorist.
“Towns make a great revenue and living off these type of abuses of power,” Colley said. “This cops’ radar gun discounts everything he claimed, but I’m not sure he realized it when he agreed to do this video.
“How many dollars has this town made on innocent people, who had it be their word against police officers? In this day and age, to have a cop be able to ‘say’ you were speeding, with no verifiable proof other than they must be right because they are the police, well; I’m out on that program.
“The fact that I even have to give this nonsense a moments more thought, rather than him dropping this ludicrous ticket, is baffling,” Colley said.
La Crosse Mayor Will Woodall acknowledged viewing the video and discussing it with Racine but would not elaborate on any discussion or make any comments about the video. He said Racine has worked for La Crosse part time since June 2009.
The La Crosse Police Department report presented at last week’s Town Council meeting shows that $17,257 in actual fines through tickets were issued during the month of December 2009. Of the 146 tickets issued by the department, 121 were speeding tickets.
The December La Crosse Profit & Loss Budget vs. Actual report presented by La Crosse Clerk/Treasurer Tina Evans shows that from July 1, 2009 through Dec. 31, 2009, the current fiscal year, that the town collected $79,703 in fines. During that same time period the town also collected $1,935.02 in Selective Enforcement Income. The town has in its budget to collect $94,300 through fines, this fiscal year.
The report shows the town is currently $180,045.25 over budget for this fiscal year, when anticipated revenue and expenses are subtracted from the actual thus far. There are additional revenues expected over the next six months.
Colley asks on the Web site, “How many non-factual ‘pacing’ tickets do this town hand out, compared to radar gun verified results? How much money does the city gain in revenue from innocent citizens who may not have the means, or time, to fight this travesty of our police departments in these towns?”
Woodall said La Crosse Police Department Sergeant Scott Vincent would have this information. Vincent was not available at press time. He said that Vincent would also have the cruiser calibration schedule.
Woodall said there had been no complaints filed against the department since he began serving on the Town Council and then became mayor, approximately three years ago.
Colley has also enlisted the help of his friend a retired NASA scientist Rachel Hallgarth to provide a detailed scientific analysis of the incident on the Web site, based on Colley’s statements and videos.
“The simple facts are the only way the officer could have caught and even attempted to tail and clock the Colley car in the distance traveled was if the Colley car was in fact going the speed limit,” Hallgarth said at the conclusion of her analysis.
“No matter how a citizen handles this deceitful police behavior, they lose. They lose money, time and a sense of right and wrong and our legal system. But, you know, not one person from the judge of this town on down should disregard this footage, and there needs to be an investigation into this ‘pacing’ claim toward drivers. We know police have a very tough job, what with the criminals seeming to have more rights every day. We also dislike abuse of power of any kind. This ‘pacing’ of drivers is an open invitation to lie,” Colley said. He said he has contacted an attorney regarding the incident to find out his rights now and as the case proceeds.
Lisa Andrews
landrews@southhillenterprise.com |
Travis_T wrote on Jan 22, 2010 4:53 PM: