You may have missed the column last week where I talked about 20th Judicial District Prosecutor Cody Hiland declaring the town of Damascus a speed trap following an investigation by the Arkansas State Police and the Division of Legislative Audit.
Untold numbers of you must have muttered "it's about time!" That town of fewer than 400 souls had been raking in an average of hundreds of thousands of dollars annually off the traffic citations its officers issued for years to motorists who didn't know to slow way down when approaching the burg along U.S. 65.
The column drew numerous responses, all of which felt it was high time the community finally was issued a citation for causing so much grief and expense among travelers over many years.
Here's a sampling of those opinions:
Under his skin
Mike Crum wrote: "Mike--Enjoyed your article on Damascus. That town has been under my skin since about 1990. They stopped my daughter for passing a stopped car on the right. The car was stopped while waiting to turn. She stopped and then went around it. She was still in college at the time.
"I went to court with her. A lawyer in the courtroom, he told us that he would handle it for free because he thought at the time they were doing a speed trap. He presented the judge with the statute that showed she could legally pass on the right. The court said OK, but she could have touched the grass on the shoulder. So they fined her $50.
"It told me then that they were charging for people to come through town. An attorney, acting as judge, worked for the Department of Human Services. Those guys need to go down with the police department. This has been going on for over 26 years. Wonder how much money they have collected."
(Dear Mike Crum, well, let's see ... 26 years times an annual average of at least 150 grand in tickets would equal? What the heck! I can't count that high.)
A 'cash cow'
Harvey Gardner Jr. wrote: "That speed trap has been going on for 50 years or longer. I was transferred to the Little Rock Air Force Base as a commander in 1974. My combat-ready crews and maintenance folks drove to all of my 18 missile silos throughout the state every day of the week.
"Damascus was always a speed trap. We had our guys slow to 35 before and through town. It never was about safety, but always about the money.
"The law was always rude and crude. They left a bad taste in my troops' mouths as to the type of law they administered. They always had new shiny cars, etc. Why not with what they were doing?
"Town officials made no bones about it either. It's been a cash cow. Now our state officials are right on top of it. And it only took 50-plus years!"
(Well, Harvey, what can I say? Perhaps like fine wine, the elixir of justice in Damascus requires decades to mature.)
Inadequate warning
Bruce Haggard wrote: "Good article today. A further point that I noticed as we traveled north to south through Damascus yesterday [Feb. 27] was how the 'speed limit ahead' sign to warn people to slow down is only a few hundred feet from the "Speed Limit 45" sign.
"Just letting off the gas (which usually works to get one down to the speed limit) would not get close to dropping to 45. Plus, the Damascus police car was parked about at that very point to check for speeding cars.
"On the south end of town it appears to drivers from the fact there aren't businesses or homes along the road to be a significant distance out of the town's limits before the highway's '65 speed limit' sign finally shows up.
"And I have to admit to being irritated as I was one who was pulled over and ticketed going that direction about two years ago for driving less than 10 mph over the limit as I was speeding up within sight of that 65 mph sign. So I know to be very careful there. I paid the ticket the same day by mail. Yep, it's a speed trap.
"PS: Keep up the good investigative and editorializing work on the pollution of the Buffalo River."
(Thanks for reading, Bruce, and have no concerns that I'll ever stop lifting my voice in defense of our state's sacred national river.)
Camo cop
Finally, J.R. Cromwell said: "I was pulled over there several years ago. While writing my exorbitant ticket, the 'officer,' whose uniform was Army surplus camo, told me three times that if I paid promptly they would not enter it on my record. That tells you right there they aren't interested in anything but the money."
(Oh, J.R., why so cynical? Perhaps the kindly officer in Army surplus camo just had your safety and best interests at heart. Never mind.)
If you have what you believe is a bona fide speed-trap community, I'm hereby opening nominations to recognize Arkansas' "Top 10 Trap Towns." Send an email with details.
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Mike Masterson's column appears regularly in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Email him at [email protected].
Editorial on 03/05/2017