In one of the more comical moments in local news, WTKR’s Investigative Reporter Margaret Kavanagh got a ticket for speeding on State Route 13 in Eastville and started asking questions about how many tickets are written and how much money is being generated. Of course, the News 3 Investigative Team cast their gaze on the Eastville Police, inferring that the town was running a speed trap as a way to capture funds.
This writer understands the frustration. Sometimes you’re not paying attention, and you look down and notice you are traveling at 130 mph. Rut-roh!
Nobody likes to get a ticket, but let’s face it, issuing speeding tickets makes the roads safer–this is a perspective often held by law enforcement and traffic safety proponents. It seems every day we read about a major accident on Route 13. Drivers using 13 as a north/south travel thoroughfare treat it like it’s Interstate 95, but it’s not–there are stores, driveways, school buses, and local traffic. Driving 75 or 80 on this road creates a dangerous scenario.
The rationale behind strict enforcement of speed limits is rooted in the belief that ticketing acts as a deterrent, encouraging drivers to adhere to posted speed limits and consequently reducing the likelihood of accidents and improving overall road safety.
By penalizing speeding behavior, authorities aim to send a message to drivers about the importance of adhering to speed limits, which are set based on safety considerations for specific road conditions. The hope is that this enforcement will lead to a change in behavior, encouraging drivers to operate their vehicles at safer speeds.
Moreover, proponents argue that by enforcing speed limits and issuing tickets, law enforcement can address reckless driving habits that contribute significantly to traffic accidents, injuries, and fatalities. By holding drivers accountable for their speed-related actions, the aim is to create a safer driving environment for everyone on the road.
Eastville Police Chief Rob Stubbs is also the Town Administrator told the News 3 Investigative Team:
“The critics that say ‘policing for profit,’ do not have any understanding of the Virginia Law or how Virginia has decided to help fund Law Enforcement,” Stubbs said in a statement to News 3. “Many large departments fund positions with local safety enforcement fines just like small towns do.”
“That is following the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The Town of Eastville Police Department only stops vehicles that are breaking the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia, as a matter of fact we are only stopping vehicles that are breaking those laws by a wide margin.”
Some critics highlight potential downsides of overreliance on ticketing, such as concerns about revenue generation, the impact on lower-income individuals, and questions about whether strict enforcement alone is sufficient to address broader road safety issues.
Ultimately, issuing speeding tickets generally contributes to making our roads just a little bit safer.
I call complete BS! It is widely known that Eastville is 100% guilty of doing exactly what is stated, building and funding the entire department based on a speed trap. Their entire budget comes from 4 black Tahoes sitting in the median 7 days a week. It’s worse than Barney Fife or Buford Justice in modern times. Chief and town administrator, can’t make this stuff up except on the lower shore.
Perfect
Exactly correct. It’s a speed trap for profit!! Everyone knows it.
then slow down you from here guess not
These police are full of it ! IT IS Revenue generated. Do they actually know anything outside of giving speeding tickets? Exmore is no different. I have witnessed them stopping vehicles going maybe 58-60 in a 55 .
There is no interest in slowing filks that are exceding the speed limit. Take notice when traveling north or south on US 13 that there are no speed limit signs within several miles of Eastville. And there are are no signage of any kind within Eastville reminding folks of the speed or penalties for speeding. How does law enforcement feel that they should be allowed to use private property to write fines that only benefit the local government? Lastly, these officers wear absolutely no reflective clothing for their safety during the dark hours.
You missed the point, Wayne. Its not that there is a speeding problem on rt.13, its that Eastville should not be managing it. Speeding is a problem from the Maryland line south…not just an Eastville issue. A letter from the Northampton Board of Supervisors to the State Police and the Sheriff’s department requesting enhanced attention to this problem, would likely have solved it without Eastville’s “help”.
The current situation reflects a profit driven and opportunistic enterprise. Why should the chief of a 6 man police department of a town of 300 be pulling down a bigger salary than Sheriff Doughty, who oversees the entire county of 13,000 people? Is Chief Stubbs really that valuable?
Everything about this enterprise reeks of bad judgement and greed. If Eastville had capped its revenue at $200,000 no one would ever have complained. $1,300,000 doesn’t pass the smell test. The whole lot should be fired.
so yr saying is let them drive as fast as they want.
Did you even read my letter?….comprehension isnt your strong point
NO, jeff kelley, he DID NOT say that, nor did he even imply that, and only a gormless, mindless, moronic ignoramus who can’t read or comprehend the English language at a grade school level nonetheless would think that.
For someone that lives in Eastville and profits yourself on the hard work of those officers it’s pretty hypocritical when your a** can just freaking more, or is it fun for you to just cry??
Are you drunk or just stupid?
I say whether it’s a speed trap for profit or not you should not be speeding anyway, so that’s on you not the only police!!!!!
I have an idea, what if we all join forces as citizens and stop speeding in Eastville, Exmore, and all the other towns on 13. Wouldn’t this just stop all of it?
Nah, it’s easier to blame the police for doing a good job..
The assembly line for writing tickets for money is wrong. It exists due to greed of the local judiciary, the town fathers, the towns people and the police management. It is never really about protecting and serving the public unless you are a member of the above benefactors. The practice produces dependency on literally fleecing the outsiders which is unfortunately a generally accepted practice among too many locals. This practice permeates through a significant portion of the local economy. Take the travelers or tourists money and hate them most of the time.
What is justice? Have everywhere you and your family go be treated in a similar fashion? Monetary fines hurt the poor disproportionately. We can do better than this.
Why I got involved. The two most serious recent driving events posing risk to myself and my family involved this ticketing assembly line. The overly zealous officers have cut me off and forced me to brake quickly, change lanes in an emergency fashion and acted arrogantly as I desperately tried to avoid him leaping from his car into my driving lane and defiantly walking at me. This was the most serious dangerous driving incident I have experienced in years.
#2 This just happened in Eastville in the pursuit of another ticket. Officer zoomed by me unannounced going VERY fast, over my line and sucked my car with the vacuum created. That got my attention. He cut me off because he had a car ahead in the passing lane, he quickly passed it and jumped over to the left to avoid a car in front of me. He immediately went back to the right lane and caught the subject of his interest and commenced to bring everyone to a scrambling situation to safely get through this. I was furious to witness and participate in this charade for safety.
Drop the stealth vehicles and the officer Ninja outfits. That is sneak and attack, not protect and serve. Your statistics don’t lie, you are policing for profit.
Just please act like a good police force should. It makes the world a better place.
As a 40 year Law Enforcement veteran of a New England state, all of the fines generated by traffic enforcement went to the States general fund and was divvied out to small and large departments in the form of traffic enforcement grants. This put all departments on equal footing for access to funds to enforce speeding, seat belt, and impaired driving violations.
As long as Virginia law allows for departments to profit from the fines generated by those who benefit from said fines, the cloud of mistrust and corruption will persist.
Well said Sir. Anything that keeps the money at arms length from the decisions and objectives of law enforcement helps. Good law enforcement should not depend on the income officers produce. It creates incentives which have no business being part of any officers day.
Actually, Exmore and Eastville are business savvy – target tourists who will go home, pay the ticket, and get on with their lives – no one in their right might would come all the way back here from wherever to fight a speeding ticket they can pay for online – brilliant strategy. I agree that if people were not speeding, the ticket zone would not be necessary. It’s on the drivers, not the cops. BUT, I also think something is off balance if the Town Chief gets paid more than our County Sheriff – either the County needs to raise salaries for first responders (law enforcement AND EMS Department), or someone needs to look into what’s going on in Eastville. Other than a jackpot of speeding fines to pay this salary, what has been done to benefit the citizens of Eastville on both sides of the highway with all this money? What are the Town’s plans for it? We need to see their budget because I’m not seeing it – I don’t see what all that money is used for except to put in the pocket of the a select few.
This is nothing new and is a game that gets played all over America, and of course that money is put in the pocket of the a select few.
Rock Springs, Wyoming was famous for it, with police cars up every side canyon along the interstate that runs by Rock Springs.
And of course you could pay cash and be on your way.
Rock Springs was a collection of shacks with a brand new shiny town hall and brand new police cars with the tourists on the interstate paying for all of that.
Rock Springs was also famous for one .38-caliber pistol shot, fired July 15, 1978, outside the Silver Dollar Bar in Rock Springs, Wyo. when Ed Cantrell, 51, recently hired as the Rock Springs public safety director, leaned over the front passenger seat of a police car, with two detectives seated inside, took swift aim and shot his undercover agent Michael Angel Rosa between the eyes, and was then acquitted of murder when Gerry Spence was his lawyer, which made jerry famous, as well.
That’s what I call AMERICANA, which is what is going on in Eastville.
The local yokels up this way, before they got disbanded, would have one of their number speed past a hand-held radar gun which then showed the speed on the butt end of it, and they would not erase that number, but instead, stop cars regardless of speed and charge them with speeding based on that number.
Are any of those cars getting ticketed in Eastville really speeding?
And that is BULL**** not posting the speed limit, as someone said above.
Just because someone wears a police uniform does not make them an honest dude!
Ask Michael Angel Rosa – he’ll tell you, but oh, whoops, he caught one right between the eyes while sitting handcuffed in the back of a Rock Springs police car, so I guess we will never really know, now will we.
In Virginia, if there is no sign available at all, then the speed limit for most business and residential areas is 25 miles per hour.
Unpaved roads are a maximum of 35 miles per hour and on secondary roads the speed limit is 45 miles per hour for trucks and 55 miles for other vehicles.
The highest speed limit on highways in Virginia is 70 miles per hour.
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So, is the road through Eastville a secondary road or a highway?
Or is it a typical case of nobody has a ******* clue and the cops can do whatever they want?
What is a “Speed Trap”? Enforcement of a speed zone where a reasonable person may not intentionally to comply. A “Speed Trap is also enforcement made by a hidden police vehicle. Examples of a “Speed Trap” would be a reduced change of posted speed where enforcement is made at the first reduced posted speed sign.. Another example of a “Speed Trap” is enforcement of posted speed on a decline only (down hill). This speed enforcement on Hwy 13 is not a “Speed Trap”, the speed zone is consistent and even has a Traffic Light in the middle of the area enforcement. Note, enforcement of a “Speed Trap” remains a violation of law.
What does speed enforcement accomplish; deter excessive and dangerous speed of motor vehicles, a lawful contact that may identify and give cause for arrest for criminal warrants, enforce equipment violations, reduction of traffic accidents including property damage and personal injury, to list just a few. All this speed enforcement results a safer society to live in.
These Police Officers assigned to this speed zone for enforcement are engaging in potential high risk stops. Their dedication to duty should be commended , not discouraged. These stops involve vehicles from many different States and areas. I have passed through this area and have observed these Police Officers performing their duties in a professional manner.
I would be interested, to learn, of those that oppose speed enforcement what other laws they do not want enforced.? Equipment violations? How about driving in heavy fog, driving up on a vehicle with no tail lights or no brake lights? I constantly hear the horror of vehicles traveling over 100 mph on Hwy 13 endangering those driving on Hwy 13, yet these oppose speed enforcement? I wonder why our elected law makers write these laws that some do not want to be enforced?
Just Saying
Carl Cox
Retired and Proud Law Enforcement Supervisor
In general, a police speed trap is any technique used by police to catch speeders with the primary intent of raising revenue through issuing tickets.
Mr. Cox, I am one of those older Americans who actually learned to read when young and to engage in critical thinking, and nowhere in here has anyone suggested laws should not be enforced, which makes your comments above somewhat hysterical sounding.
And in New York, not surprisingly, given the corruption in the state, we have had corrupt state troopers right on up to the top ranks, so not all the boys in blue, or FIRST RESPONDERS as we are now to call them are eagle scouts.
Police want respect, let them earn it and yes, my son is a decorated police lt., so I am not anti-police, just anti-ASSHOLES wearing police uniforms.
Most folks would not even stop if you didn’t carry a gun. You are road-pirates. Some states just put us speed cameras in your place. I will never forget seeing cops hide behind trees and cars when VT was shot up by a little oriental boy. Same thing in Vegas, they waited in the stairwell of the hotel for like 30 minutes while a shooter shot up a concert. Or several school shootings where they waited to go in while people died. Get a grip on yourselves.
And here I have to say that I am surprised that ANJYONHE today can be surprised by the existence of speed traps anywhere in America, because if one googles “history of speed traps in America” one finds they go back to around 1900.
I remember speed traps going back to the 1950s, and they were well established by then as a means of small towns making money, because once accused of speeding by a cop, you are automatically guilty, period.
In fact, the New York Times had a number of interesting entries on speed traps during the 1920s.
In one such article on October 22, 1921, the NYT had an article entitled “Accuses 20 Magistrates: Chicago Prosecutor Gets Evidence of Blackmailing Motorists in Outlying Towns,” where 16 motorcycle cops were also involved.
In that case (more AMERICANA) some 1,000 witnesses were to appear before a Grand Jury, as they had charged that country officers, the “honest” boys in blue we are supposed to look up to, to keep us safe (HAH) “take jewelry, tires, accessories and other valuables in lieu of bond or fines.”
But they were as honest as the day is long when they did so, because if you are caught speeding, even if you weren’t, you deserve to get fleeced, especially if you have out-of-state plates from a northern state in a rural southern town.
The AAA took a leading role during the 1920s in waging a war against speed traps responding to abuses as the following (NYT, Sept. 20, 1925, p.15):
“In one instance in North Carolina…court and speed trap were converted into a family institution.”
“The father, as Justice of the Peace, holds the court, and the son as constable catches the motorists and hauls them before his father.”
“The spoils are thus kept in the family and part of it is used to pay hired men for running the farm.”
God bless America, isn’t it, people?
Land of the brave and home of the free!
A recent policing for profit was shut down in another state. The Legislature took action which as I recall basically mandated no more than 10% of local municipality budgets could be kept in traffic fines collected. Anything brought in over 10% had to be sent to the states general fund. It shut it down when they couldn’t keep the money to themselves. I suggest watching a few YouTube videos by Steve Lehto on this subject and Civil Asset Forfeiture as well. These practices corrupt law enforcement to act in ways having nothing to do with protecting and serving our citizens. Why is the local chief so valuable, THE MONEY, period. These practices offer incentives which should not be a part of law enforcement and are not necessary to support or have good law enforcement. Look at the percentage of warnings Eastville issues compared to normal statistics it doesn’t reflect protect and serve. I’m disappointed our local elected judges just let this happen when they are chosen to make sure the right things are done. Are they asleep at the wheel or have they become accustomed to a steady stream of “court costs” income? I hold them all responsible for these blatant law enforcement abuses. The judges should be asking the tuff questions to explain the mountain of traffic tickets and the obscene amount of money going back to the Eastville community and it’s slush funds for overpaying employees among other things.
This has the attention of the “Institute for Justice” and I am grateful for that. I encourage all to look into them and what they do to protect those that are not able to protect themselves. The cases they take could prevent very bad things from happening to you and your family the next time. Things aren’t fine just because, so far, it’s been the other guy and not me.
Legislation is being proposed in Virginia to address civil asset forfeiture and it is known as the FAIR ACT. It is a good step in the right direction and deserves your involvement.
Back on point, these practices foster at least legal ways to steal from the public. At worst it leads to horrible things taking place with policing and happening to citizens. Eastville is somewhere in the middle and no one knows where. Given the observed zealousness of the officers on the highway, I suspect Eastville is already at the stage which encourages fudging of numbers and stories of events to get the tickets. That kind of police department has lost its credibility. I know unsafe highway antics are very real to get that extra ticket. You think that’s the only bad thing they are doing in pursuit of the money? Not likely.
I would say that Eastville’s finest has already passed that stage which you refer to, Mr. Fishing Man. If my memory serves me correctly, a shiny Tahoe was totaled a few years ago by one of our overzealous road warriors while pursuing a speeder. He was nice enough to give the recipient of his incompetence a ticket; although the on -board camera later revealed in court that the officer was at fault. I believe that the officer was the prior Eastville chief of police, and a beneficiary of a six figure salary at the time of retirement.
In response to Mr Cox’s reference to these officers being in a high risk situation.i would ask this: What about the county officers who have to respond to nighttime criminal calls around Eastville while Eastville officers are enjoying time with their families or are asleep? Eastville police officers dont work much at night…..not enough return on the investment.
Best Places
Crime in Zip 23347 (Eastville, VA)
23347 Eastville, VA has a higher than average rate of both violent and property crime.
According to the data, the violent crime rate in 23347 Eastville is 37.6, which is significantly higher than the US average of 22.7.
Similarly, the property crime rate in 23347 Eastville is 45, which is much higher than the US average of 35.4.
This means that 23347 Eastville is not a safe place to live and people should take extra precautions when living in or visiting this area.
Crime is ranked on a scale of 1 (low crime) to 100 (high crime)
Eastville (zip 23347) violent crime is 37.6. (The US average is 22.7)
Eastville (zip 23347) property crime is 45.0. (The US average is 35.4)
https://www.bestplaces.net/crime/zip-code/virginia/eastville/23347
The Color of Crime:
• Black males age 18-35 years of age are only 1.8% of the U.S. population, yet have committed 52% of homicides from 1980-2008. Black males (all ages) are only 6% of the U.S. population, yet commit 46% of all violent crimes, and 50% of the gun homicides. If Blacks were removed from the equation, the U.S. gun homicide rate would be equal to Great Britain’s, who have some of the most restrictive gun control laws in the world.
• The Black homicide rate is 17 per 100,000, a rate over 9x that of the White rate, and comparable to some of those most murderous countries in the world. If the homicide rate for the U.S. were the White-only rate, the homicide rate would drop 84%, making the U.S. rate comparable to European countries.
• According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics 2018 survey of criminal victimization, there were 593,598 interracial violent victimizations (excluding homicide) between Blacks and Whites last year, including White-on-Black and Black-on-White attacks. Blacks committed 537,204 of those interracial felonies, or 90 percent, and Whites committed 56,394 of them, or less than 10 percent.
• Blacks constitute 13% of the U.S. population, but represent 27% of all criminal activity in the U.S.
• According to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting for 2018, of the homicide victims for whom race was known, 53.3% were Black, 43.8% were White and 2.8% were of other races. In cases where the race of the offender was known, 54.9% were Black, 42.4% were White, and 2.7% were of other races.
• Of the nearly 770,000 violent interracial crimes committed every year involving Blacks and Whites, Blacks commit 85 percent and Whites commit 15 percent. This means that a Black is 27 times more likely to attack a White person than vice versa.
• For each one standard deviation increase in proportion of Black population, firearm homicide rate is increased by 82.8%. Therefore, the U.S. has a Black problem, not a gun or violent crime problem. When Blacks commit crimes of violence, they are nearly three times more likely than non-Blacks to use a gun, and more than twice as likely to use a knife.
• 40% of gun crime occurs in just three cities: 596 (10%) – St Louis, MO, 53 (11%) – Detroit, MI, and 1,527 (27%) – Chicago, IL.
• Murder is the leading cause of death for Black men, ages 15 to 34. Their murderers are other Black men 93 percent of the time.
• Black males between 16-35 years of age are only 2.0% of the population, yet commit 72% of the street crime in America.
• The single best indicator of violent crime levels in an area is the percentage of the population that is Black.
• If New York City were all White, the murder rate would drop by 91 percent, the robbery rate by 81 percent, and the shootings rate by 97 percent. In an all-White Chicago, murder would decline 90 percent, rape by 81 percent, and robbery by 90 percent.
• Every year, approximately 6,000 blacks are murdered. This is a number greater than white and Hispanic homicide victims combined, even though blacks are only 12 percent of the national population. Blacks of all ages are killed at six times the rate of whites and Hispanics combined. That black death-by-homicide rate is a function of the black crime rate. The national rate of homicides committed by blacks is eight times that of whites and Hispanics combined. Black males between the ages of 14 and 17 commit homicide at 10 times the rate of white and Hispanic male teens combined.
• Homicide is not the only crime that is vastly racially disproportionate. New York City is representative of other crime spreading across the country. Blacks are 23 percent of New York’s population, but they commit 75 percent of all shootings, 70 percent of all robberies, and 66 percent of all violent crime, according to the victims of, and witnesses to, those crimes. Whites are 33 percent of the New York City’s population, but they commit less than 2 percent of all shootings, 4 percent of all robberies, and 5 percent of all violent crime.
• The United States is third in murders throughout the world, but if you omit just five Black cities (Chicago, Detroit, Washington DC, St Louis, and New Orleans) from the equation, then the United States is fourth from the bottom.
• Black serial killers have comprised over half of documented serial killers since the dawn of the 21st century at 56 percent, making up a total of 40 percent in years dating back to 1900. Blacks constituted 44% of the known serial killers during the 1995-2004 period and 38.2% of all multiple murderers (serial, mass, and spree combined) during 1976-1998 period. During the 2000-2010 decade, 62% of serial killers were Black.
. According to FBI statistics, more than 5 thousand white American citizens, including senior citizens, men, women, children, and small babies, were murdered by black terrorists, in the United States, in the ten year period of 2010 to 2020.
https://www.scribd.com/doc/…
https://www.manhattan-insti…
https://archive.org/details…
6ce3a015b806
https://archive.org/details…
2019 Data Shows 51% of Mass Shooters Were Black, Only 29% Were White:
https://summit.news/2019/08…
Have a look at Eastville’s advertised budget in the May 5, 2023 edition of the Eastern Shore Post, page 19, and draw your own conclusion.
Maybe you folks should leave earlier and you wouldn’t have to speed or ultimately run into a speed trap. You all can’t be that stupid, can you? Probably staring at that plastic crack that you call a cell phone instead of your speedometer or even a fellow traveler blinking their lights to warn you of the speed trap.
Stay Hydrated Fools!
Thank you Mr Bell,
Your comments are informative, thought provoking, and enlightening. They go a long way to help solve a challenging question and leave a reader with a deep sense of stupidity, foolishness and having to face their addictions.
We all have what I call crazy thoughts but most of us discount them before publishing or saying out loud. If your reply made you feel better, I’m happy for you Sir
Freedom of speech is unnecessary if the people to whom it is granted do not think for themselves. I’d rather die on my feet, than live on my knees and
I don’t ask for anyone’s permission to be free. We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when liberal men are afraid of the light.