Reporting Drunk Drivers = Cash Rewards for Florida Drivers

They'll probably catch the drunk driver, screw you out of the $100.00, harass you for bothering them and put you on a list for being a "snitch", so your services can come in handy in the future. I'd rather report the drunk driver anonymously and forgo the hundred bucks, which is not worth the potential problems.

One problem I see is your local bouncer at a club making money by getting you drunk then making a little more by reporting you when you leave. I see lawsuits in the future.

Originally posted by beezzer
What if I don't like someone. I call the cops on a neighbor who doesn't do his lawn or pick up his trash. Or an ex-girlfriend could exact revenge.
The potential for abuse is there.
I'd say

I thought about this and unless there is some penalty for making a false accusation this can be abused. Big time and lead to many other situations unintended including death of the falsely accused since police officers will taze or shoot any overt movement, one is afraid to sneeze.

I was taking my jacket off in the car and drove a bit on the double yellow line but at 1 am there is no one on the road and so it doesn't matter unless this law or is it a "program" to involve the public in Police work is in effect and someone reports my plates for that. Greedy for $100?

Theoretically - Now I (only removing a jacket) am stopped, harassed, missing time at home with my family, unduly seized and searched on the basis of some one monetarily motivated individual sharing the road with me. Worse case scenario...I am an epileptic and have a seizure or an aneurism due to stress and the police mistake this for some aggressive act...would my survivors have a helluva lawsuit in that case?

Also why couldn't people abuse this program in other ways:

Say they see someone who to them looks like

they are involved in some illegal or nefarious activity,

a car load of teenagers,

more than 4 Mexicans,

that child doesn't even look like them

and

that (Camel Light) looked like weed!

Oh yeah I can see this getting ugly.
Attorneys are going to get rich in FL, but what else is new?

Originally posted by grey580
If you drink and drive then you deserve to be ratted out.

I have no sympathy. You can kill someone. And that someone might be a little kid.
What you gonna do then?
If you had the power to save the life of a child. Wouldn't you?

Absolutely but what little kids are out at 3 am?

I am not defending drunks.
I've been calling 911 on them for ages.

I question the wisdom of incentivizing it with cash.
A donation to victims fund would be more appropriate.
Sets a terrible precedent and begins to infringe on personal privacy rights.

Because it is for a good cause should not be an excuse for that.


There is no stopping the complete and total invasion of privacy by that logic.

Another thing.

It's a shame that things are so bad... meaning people DON'T report things etc that they determined they had to pay people to get it.

Again, there leads to abuse.

I sure hope the people in FLA stand up on this one.

I believe Law Enforcement is between a rock and a hard place. As typical with L.E. mang. they'll pick the worse thing and run with it-until they are stopped by the courts.

But, again, it all depends how the Police respond. If they get your call and roll up on the other people and stop them without merit (not actually seeing any crime)... we're all done when you take this little reduction in freedow and combine it with the one State ruling about citizens can't not stop L.E from coming in your house without probable cause.

I too fear for the future... But I think many of will be weeping and praying in the future-at this rate.

PS: Can you get a copy of the Statewide law/notice to LE? I will look for it at my end but being down that way I may not get it. I would like to read the State Police directive. (a fantasy request but one never knows with ATSers).

Thanks for putting this one up! S&F for the eyes wide open. )

When you report a possible drunk driver, the 911 call taker will ask a series of questions to determine how the person appears to be impaired. Depending on the call volume, area, etc. either an officer will be dispatched to the area to observe the vehicle or a Be On the Look Out will be issued for the vehicle to units in the area. They will not pull a person over simply because someone reported activity that may have occurred miles away. The officer will still have to follow the same procedures for pulling the vehicle over as if he just happened upon it. Reporting a possible drunk driver simply lets the officers know where to look. It does not mean the driver will automatically be pulled over and arrested. Now if the officer observes behavior that falls within the parameters for pulling the vehicle over, what was reported may go further into providing information for the courts. It isn't a license to pull someone over though.

It really isn't so different than Crime Stoppers where people are given rewards for providing tips. Florida has one of the worst records for traffic fatalities and alcohol is a reason for too many of them. There are children out at 3 am in vehicles more than you probably realize. If an elderly person is driving so poorly that it appears to be drunk driving, then they need to be checked on...anyone who appears to be driving drunk needs to be checked on. The impaired driving can be the result of a medical condition such as diabetes that can be just as dangerous as driving drunk.

I have reported what I felt were drunk drivers and will continue to do so whenever I encounter them. If you can do something to prevent someone being killed, why would you not do it? As for the incentive, the person who receives it could always choose to donate it to a charity. However with the unemployment situation in Florida at the moment, I have a feeling most will put it to personal use.

A bloody great idea IMO...

Drink driving / Using a mobile phone or anything that impairs the concentration of the driver of what is potentially a two ton deadly weapon needs to be outlawed.

If it takes £100 to bribe people into possibly saving someones life then so be it..

Originally posted by newcovenant
This means you can turn someone in for swerving and if they are caught driving drunk you get a reward for ratting them out. I think it sets a dangerous precedent myself but curious to see the ATS reaction to this.

edit on 22-5-2011 by newcovenant because: (no reason given)

I would like to ask what you think the "danger" would be. I already report anyone I think is driving drunk quite simply because I am on the road with them. I hate when people get killed because an adult cannot make a responsible decision. But I can see how actually encouraging it like this might have some issues. I am just not sure what they might be so hopefully I will find out.

Originally posted by beezzer
What if I don't like someone. I call the cops on a neighbor who doesn't do his lawn or pick up his trash. Or an ex-girlfriend could exact revenge.
The potential for abuse is there.
I'd say

If those people are not driving drunk, what is the issue? Cops usually come back and visit the jerk that called and wasted their time where I live so I cannot really see how this would work out for you.

Originally posted by newcovenant
Absolutely but what little kids are out at 3 am?

What does 3 am have to do with this story? I did not see anything limiting the ratting out time to after 3am and I do not see anything stating no one can drink until late at night. Did I miss something?

Whats next, dobing in your neighbours on religious grounds?
It looks like Nazi Germany lives on in the USA.
Florida is the new Gestapo state. America you are starting to look like Germany pre WW2.
It looks scary for you.
Good luck America, as i think your gunna need it.

It just goes to show that people will screw anyone over just for a dollar or two.
This world is sick

The problem is "safety".
That's the same excuse they used for the Patriot Act, TSA agents.
I mean, who wants to argue against safety?

It's just that while they are making you safe with one hand, the other is taking away your freedoms.

And sure, many will say, "What's the big deal. It's only drunk drivers." And it'll only be drunk drivers until it's people with US flag bumper stickers, gun racks, political affiliation signs.

A large proportion of the general populace are unduly selfish and lack any civic responsibility. These people would not report a potential drunk driver to authorities if it would make them late for work, to avoid the hassle or just because they aren't particularly bothered about anybody else's wellbeing.

If you can make these people report criminal behaviour by appealing to their base, selfish and greedy instincts, then that will still help in the primary objective of law enforcement.

So, all in all, I don't think it matters whether someone is reporting a suspected criminal infraction due to a financial incentive or out of the goodness of their heart. The end result is still the same, and potentially beneficial to society as a whole.

In high-profile murder and abduction cases, the police still offer a large financial reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the culprit. So even in crimes of this magnitude, some people are still considered to need financial motivation to come forward as a witness or to pass on relevant information.

Originally posted by Antiquated1

Originally posted by newcovenant
This means you can turn someone in for swerving and if they are caught driving drunk you get a reward for ratting them out. I think it sets a dangerous precedent myself but curious to see the ATS reaction to this.

edit on 22-5-2011 by newcovenant because: (no reason given)

I would like to ask what you think the "danger" would be. I already report anyone I think is driving drunk quite simply because I am on the road with them. I hate when people get killed because an adult cannot make a responsible decision. But I can see how actually encouraging it like this might have some issues. I am just not sure what they might be so hopefully I will find out.

Like I mentioned in an earlier post, I turn drunk drivers in myself but the potential for abuse is ratcheted up when you offer a monetary incentive. I won't repeat the whole post but I have gone into detail as to WHY this is a bad idea. I know on the surface it seems like a great idea. They all do though, even the worst of them. Do I need to say Patriot Act?

Make the reward $10,000 and apply it to speeders also. Reckless drivers are a bigger threat to you than all other criminals put together.

I like this but one problem is it encourages drivers to use their cell while driving.

For those who think this is agood idea.

www.pulledover.com...

DUI program chief charged with DUI, property damage, leaving the scene of an accident, resisting arrest, and disorderly intoxication

Palm City, FL

The director of a non-profit agency which provides educational services to people on probation for DUI and other misdemeanors has herself been arrested for driving under the influence.

Margot “Peggy” Cioffi, 59, of Palm City, has been suspended as executive director of the Comprehensive Offender Rehabilitation and Education program (CORE) which serves about 5,000 people in Martin, St. Lucie, Okeechobee and Indian River Counties.

Cioffi is charged with DUI with property damage, leaving the scene of an accident with property damage, resisting arrest without violence and disorderly intoxication. Police said her blood alcohol content was 0.336, more than four times Florida’s legal limit of .08 percent.

Police said that Cioffi was involved in an automobile accident about 5:30 p.m. last Monday on Martin Downs Blvd., Palm City. She was arrested about an hour and a half later at her home. Police said she struck another car with her Nissan SUV, drove home and pulled away from a deputy as he tried to handcuff her. The police report says that she screamed so loudly that neighbors came out of their homes due to the commotion.

She has been released from the Martin County Jail on $2,000 bond.

Cioffi was suspended without pay Wednesday pending the outcome of the charges. She has served as CORE’s executive director since 1989 and had previously served as a evaluator and instructor.

And that was a Monady. Was she at DUI school telling people how bad it is to drink and drive getting drunk?
It takes a long time and quite a few drinks for blood alcohol content of 0.336. Some people would die at that level. So she was well practiced at drinking for sure.

And how about this. The courts don't want to prosecute her. And the governor signed an order about the case.

www.flgov.com...

WHEREAS, the Honorable BRUCE H. COLTON has also advised the Governor that
Margot Cioffi is the executive director of a not-for-profit corporation that provide misdemeanor
probation services to the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit and he also serves on the board of directors
for this corporation;

Wait the judge and this woman were business partners sitting on the same board? And after that the case just disappears.

Originally posted by newcovenant
Like I mentioned in an earlier post, I turn drunk drivers in myself but the potential for abuse is ratcheted up when you offer a monetary incentive. I won't repeat the whole post but I have gone into detail as to WHY this is a bad idea. I know on the surface it seems like a great idea. They all do though, even the worst of them. Do I need to say Patriot Act?

What I did not see you mention was what that "danger" actually is. I accept that you believe it is ripe for abuse. I was conceding you may be right. I just did not see what abuse you highlighted.

Originally posted by beezzer
The problem is "safety".
That's the same excuse they used for the Patriot Act, TSA agents.
I mean, who wants to argue against safety?

It's just that while they are making you safe with one hand, the other is taking away your freedoms.

And sure, many will say, "What's the big deal. It's only drunk drivers." And it'll only be drunk drivers until it's people with US flag bumper stickers, gun racks, political affiliation signs.

What freedoms does this take away?

Also, are there laws against bumper stickers and gun racks and signs already? There are laws against drunk driving already. Are you sure you are not making a leap here?