Post by hifigator on Mar 27, 2007 15:34:41 GMT -5
Not sports related, I am letting you know in advance.
I had to go down to Daytona Beach for a stereo show/competition last weekend. The police presence is absolutely absurd. I don't see how even the most liberal, big government type could approve of such efforts.
I kid you not, there were literally 15 cops at least for every block, maybe more than that. Some were on bikes, some were on Motorcycles, some were on foot. Some were stationed at intersections, some were just sitting to the side waiting to be summoned. Note: this doesn't even include the numerous cops on bike or dirt bikes on the beach iteself. There were tons of them as well.
Now that in and of itself isn't all that bad. I mean, it is spring break time and kids do tend to get out of hand sometimes ... ok, often. But still... In any case, if this very visible presence was an attempt to dissuade rambunctious/unsafe/criminal behavior, then I wouldn't get too worked up about it. But what these guys were doing exclusively was taking advantage of a town full of people who were largely there at that weekend for a specific thing: to show off their cars and their car toys.
A1A was a steadily creeping parking lot. You literally would wait 90 seconds and then move 10 feet, and then do it all over again.
I would even cut the cops some slack if they were looking for open containers or people smoking weed or something of that sort. But they were looking for cars with dark window tint or drivers or passengers not wearing a seat belt or anyone violating the "noise ordinance." We have one of the strictest noise ordinances around. By the letter of the law, sound from your car or stereo that is audible at more than 25 feet is illegal. There is some type of exception for actual engine noises, but only if the car is moving. On one hand I totally understand the annoyance felt by some who are victimized by loud booming in reseidnetial neighborhoods in the middle of the night. On the other hand, the Spring Break Nationals is one of the largest car and stereo shows in the Country. People do come there to compete as well as show off their ride. By the way, 25 feet is NOTHING! An elderly couple living to easy listening at modest levels could be heard at 25 feet if their windows were down at all. They were implementing this strict type of enforcement. Incidentally, I am not talking about midnight or even 8pm at night. This was going on in the middle of the day. If they could hear it, you got a ticket, aside from any other atrocities such as seat belt or tint violations. There were not many bikers down there, but they did have this stick with tape marking the legal limit for handlebars. I am guessing it was something like 3 1/2 feet or so. They would pull over motorcyclists and measure to make sure their handle bars weren't too high. God forbid you set one toe on the sidewalk. I saw one guy got a ticket when he walked out of the hotel to get something out of his trunk with a beer in his hand. The way his car was parked, he was standing on public property even though his car was entirely on private property.
I realize that many of these tickets would probably be thrown out if they were contested in court, but I am positive that Daytona Beach Police officers know that almost no one will spend the time and money to go back to Daytona to for a court date. It is a total scam.
I have never, ever seen such an intentional abuse of power.
For the record, neither I nor anyone in my party get a ticket, so this isn't a matter of sour grapes.
Now that I am done with my rant, have any of you seen such ultra strict enforcement?
I can only guess that Daytona thinks that their town is so attractive for these types of events that they would never choose another location.
I had to go down to Daytona Beach for a stereo show/competition last weekend. The police presence is absolutely absurd. I don't see how even the most liberal, big government type could approve of such efforts.
I kid you not, there were literally 15 cops at least for every block, maybe more than that. Some were on bikes, some were on Motorcycles, some were on foot. Some were stationed at intersections, some were just sitting to the side waiting to be summoned. Note: this doesn't even include the numerous cops on bike or dirt bikes on the beach iteself. There were tons of them as well.
Now that in and of itself isn't all that bad. I mean, it is spring break time and kids do tend to get out of hand sometimes ... ok, often. But still... In any case, if this very visible presence was an attempt to dissuade rambunctious/unsafe/criminal behavior, then I wouldn't get too worked up about it. But what these guys were doing exclusively was taking advantage of a town full of people who were largely there at that weekend for a specific thing: to show off their cars and their car toys.
A1A was a steadily creeping parking lot. You literally would wait 90 seconds and then move 10 feet, and then do it all over again.
I would even cut the cops some slack if they were looking for open containers or people smoking weed or something of that sort. But they were looking for cars with dark window tint or drivers or passengers not wearing a seat belt or anyone violating the "noise ordinance." We have one of the strictest noise ordinances around. By the letter of the law, sound from your car or stereo that is audible at more than 25 feet is illegal. There is some type of exception for actual engine noises, but only if the car is moving. On one hand I totally understand the annoyance felt by some who are victimized by loud booming in reseidnetial neighborhoods in the middle of the night. On the other hand, the Spring Break Nationals is one of the largest car and stereo shows in the Country. People do come there to compete as well as show off their ride. By the way, 25 feet is NOTHING! An elderly couple living to easy listening at modest levels could be heard at 25 feet if their windows were down at all. They were implementing this strict type of enforcement. Incidentally, I am not talking about midnight or even 8pm at night. This was going on in the middle of the day. If they could hear it, you got a ticket, aside from any other atrocities such as seat belt or tint violations. There were not many bikers down there, but they did have this stick with tape marking the legal limit for handlebars. I am guessing it was something like 3 1/2 feet or so. They would pull over motorcyclists and measure to make sure their handle bars weren't too high. God forbid you set one toe on the sidewalk. I saw one guy got a ticket when he walked out of the hotel to get something out of his trunk with a beer in his hand. The way his car was parked, he was standing on public property even though his car was entirely on private property.
I realize that many of these tickets would probably be thrown out if they were contested in court, but I am positive that Daytona Beach Police officers know that almost no one will spend the time and money to go back to Daytona to for a court date. It is a total scam.
I have never, ever seen such an intentional abuse of power.
For the record, neither I nor anyone in my party get a ticket, so this isn't a matter of sour grapes.
Now that I am done with my rant, have any of you seen such ultra strict enforcement?
I can only guess that Daytona thinks that their town is so attractive for these types of events that they would never choose another location.