2 Tickets, 2 Different Courthouses. Cop Says Quota System.
I was pulled over near Goreway and Derry for "Speeding" which is complete BS. I wouldn't even be surprised if it was the same cop. It was the second last week of December 2015 on a Sunday around 10:50pm, the cop pulls me over and tells me that I was speeding. I told the cop that that was impossible since I am a very careful driver who watches his speed at all times, and who hasn't had any tickets in 10+ years. I pled my case to him and he indirectly agreed with me that I was indeed not speeding.
He then asks me where I was heading to, and I told him there was a restaurant down the road, and I was going to pick up food that I had already ordered and that it closed in 10 mins. To which he replies do you have your licence on you? I said yes and handed it over to him. Now the cop wasn't rude or disrespectful in any way, but he was wasting my time cause I knew I had done absolutely nothing wrong. The cop than tells me to go and pick up my food and to meet him back at the exact same spot he pulled me over in while he holds onto my license. So I do just that and I come back to meet him. He informs me that he is issuing me two tickets which are:
-Improper Number Plate Light 62(19)
-Failure To Surrender Driver Licence 33(1)
When he handed me the tickets I read them and told him that I don't understand. To which he replies and this is not a joke, this is literally what he said to me. The cop goes well I can issue you speeding tickets but I don't want to do that cause it takes up the courts time and my time and it's just a huge hassle. So here's what I am going to do for you since you seem like a nice guy. I am going to issue you these two tickets to different court houses, what you do is you request a Early Resolution Meeting on the back of the ticket and mail them in. Make sure when you talk to the prosecutor you do NOT tell them you have another ticket at another court house. He tells me that the prosecutor will immediately drop the tickets when you show them your drivers license and a picture of your licence plate light. If they do not request a trail and he "promises" not to show up.
Now this is where it gets interesting, the cop brazenly explains his whole job situation to me, and why he's issuing these tickets to me. He tells me that because it is the holidays, officers have a quota system in place where they have to fill out a certain amount of tickets each month. He tells me that these tickets that they are issuing are useless tickets and are basically just for show, so that they can complete their quota and keep their bosses happy. Now I'm standing there in disbelief, for someone who is a law abiding citizen, who has never gotten in trouble with the law, pays his taxes and is genuinely a good person, this was unbelievable to me and it really ticked me off. But I held my composure and got my licence back and the 2 tickets he issued to me and I went home.
Now I wrote this out all today because I have one question. Can I somehow request body camera footage from this officers camera and use it as evidence in my early resolution meeting? Or if I request a trial if I don't like what I hear in the Early Resolution Meeting, can I request this footage? Because not only will this footage show the officer holding my driver licence and issuing me a ticket for "Failure to surrender drivers licence" but also dash cam footage will show my car's licence plate fully working, and the officer issuing me a "Improper Number Plate Light" ticket. Now this is a complete waste of my time, I can be doing a 100 different things but because of this officer and his "Quota System" that he has to abide by, I now have 2 tickets to deal with which I shouldn't have received in the first place.
Please let me know my option, and I look forward to hearing from ya"ll.