but the state of Georgia, instead of arresting or legally prosecuting the Lenox government and law enforcement, instead, did the least useful, least noteworthy possible action
It took away the right to create speeding tickets.
According to state investigators, after officers ticketed drivers for speeding, the city often changed citations to “unsafe driving.”
That practice allowed the city to circumvent a state law that caps revenue from speeding fines at 35 percent of a police department’s budget. After the DPS audited the city, it discovered Lenox generated nearly 40 percent from speeding citations last year.
DPS Commissioner Col. William Hitchens said the agency’s investigation found the city altered tickets for years, but only exceeded the state 35 percent cap in 2023.
According to the agency’s audit, city records originally showed it collected $477,685 in revenue from speeding related fines in 2023. After investigators re-calculated the altered tickets, the revenue from speeding-related fines increased to $514,456, a difference of $36,771.
before DPS conducted a hearing sustaining the city’s suspension in August, an Atlanta News First investigation uncovered Lenox relied on the profit from its police force more than any other city in the Georgia. In 2022, it collected $1.3 million from fines and forfeitures, revenue generated by its police department. That’s nearly 73 percent of the town’s budget. State investigators at the hearing said the practice seemed intentional; they pointed out 85 percent of the police department’s revenue came from fines and forfeitures. An investigator also said Lenox officers only cited one driver for speeding on city streets in three years. The remaining speeding tickets occurred on Interstate 75.
The last time the state suspended a police department’s speed detection permits was in 2019, involving the city of Cecil. According to agency records, the city’s speeding ticket revenue equaled more than 150 percent of its 2018 budget.
17 cities in Georgia have relied on 25 percent or more of their budgets from traffic citation revenue from 2019 to 2022. The majority are located in South Georgia, including Warwick, Morven, and Poulan, whose respective populations are less than 1,000 residents each.
As if taking away the legal ability to write speeding tickets will change how corrupt the city govt and law enforcement will be in the future?
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