Albany, NY - State Police To End Traffic Tickets Negotiations

Albany, NY - Starting in September, state troopers will no longer be allowed to negotiate lower traffic infractions for drivers who contest their tickets, a move prosecutors say will clog up local courts around the state.

Currently, drivers who are ticketed, their charges are reduced by the trooper - not a judge - before the first court appearance to avoid a trial. The practice allows a quick resolution to many cases and still brings in money for the state and towns where the offense occurred.   For a driver, the plea also can mean fewer "points" or infractions against his or her license that could result in higher insurance premiums and eventual loss of driving privileges.   

Now state police officials have directed troopers to stop making deals with those they ticket and leave that responsibility to local prosecutors. They say allowing troopers to carry out the duty is unethical because it forces motorists to bargain with the officer who has charged them and poses a threat to public safety by keeping officers from road patrol.   But the union representing the troopers said the move is meant only to reduce overtime costs.   

State Police Col. James Schepperly said public safety is the main reason behind the change and that money is not a factor. He said plea bargaining in recent years has undermined the public safety aspect of writing tickets _ making the roads safer.   "In the past, people didn't automatically plead not guilty on a trooper ticket because they knew there was no deal to be had," he said. "Right now, they already understand, if I'm willing to take a few hours out of my day, I can take a deal where I'm not convicted of speeding. We are going to put public safety value back in the tickets."

Ulster County District Attorney Donald Williams said the decision would add thousands of cases to the 17,000 his office handles yearly.
Troopers issue about 900,000 traffic tickets annually, including about 43 percent of all speeding tickets and 25 percent of safety restraint citations.