Imagine getting a traffic ticket for one violation, then getting a demand letter with additional citations and fines. In Dallas, you don’t have to imagine .
As the ACLU of Texas notes in the story, this sounds like a pretty clear-cut Sixth Amendment violation, preventing people from knowing charges against them. And, since the Supreme Court has said police departments can arrest you for moving violations such as seat belt offenses, this qualifies as “charges.”
The practice would also appear to be illegal, tampering with a government document.
Questions abound.
• How common is this?
• Does Dallas PD’s internal affairs division have an effective way to monitor this? The manpower to do so? The willpower to do so?
• Why has no cop ever been fired over this? How is this different from writing blank tickets?
• Will Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins consider filing criminal charges?
Answers:
• It’s hard to detect, so who knows?
• On the first question no, and the second, probably no. The third, definitely no, if it’s just sending out a memo about the issue, and not even considering the idea this is unconstitutional and illegal.
• Given that Dallas officers have been fired for writing blank tickets and filling in all charges later, a “charge add-on” ticket seems no worse. Chief David Kunkle needs to get a grop.
• Unknown and unlikely — if Kunkle acts.
Other questions:
• How common is this elsewhere in the Metroplex? Texas? The nation?
• What preventative measures do other police departments have?
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