One of the perennial issues facing the state Legislature every year is allowing sheriffs to use speed guns. Considering that municipal police departments throughout the state are allowed to use speed guns, it seems contradictory to forbid this device to the county law enforcement.
There is a political reason behind this. Over the years, too many voters have been caught in speed traps in which they felt abused. Speeding fines go directly into the coffers of the local law enforcement division, facilitating the purchase of new cars, better guns and even pay raises.
Indeed, a portion of every speeding ticket goes into the group retirement fund of the officer writing the ticket.
Over the years, there have been numerous exposès revealing police and deputy sheriffs receiving pay incentives to write more traffic tickets. Given that traffic tickets can cost in the hundreds of dollars, the potential for abuse is great.
The banning of speed guns for Mississippi sheriffs is a backlash to this. A better solution would be to address the underlying problem: Have traffic ticket receipts go into the general fund and redistributed by a reasonable formula. The National Motorist Association supports this policy and Mississippi should adopt it. That helps ensure greater fairness and less bias to write tickets for the wrong reasons.
