Road Pirates with Badges Plunder Motorists to Fund Police: Don't cops have better things to do?!
It may look like extortion, but cops in Mountain, View Colorado call it policing. The small Colorado town funds police salaries by writing a ridiculous amount of traffic tickets.
Got an air freshener or graduation tassels hanging from your rearview mirror? That'll get you an "obstructed view" citation. The Mountain View Police Department (MVPD) dished out 885 of those last year, which is more than Denver police issued in a city about 1000 times as populous as Mountain View.
The best way to avoid getting ticketed is to be an MVPD officer. Jeremy Jojola of NBC affiliate WTK confronted one of Mountain View's finest after he discovered a pair of Denver Bronco fuzzy dice dangling from the rearview mirror of the officer's car.
"The entire reason mountain view exists is to harass and extort money from motorists to line the pockets of the town of Mountain View," says attorney David Lane who once filed a class action lawsuit against Mountain View.
"We alleged that Mountain View as a municipality was a racketeering organization," Lane says.
The Rocky Mountain road pirates have become so brazen that a consulting group made up of former police chiefs recommended that the MVPD be disbanded.
So is Mayor Jeff Kiddie concerned about the integrity of his police department?
"Nope," says Kiddie while clad in his American flag shirt.
2 minutes, 18 seconds.
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"Don't Cops Have Better Things to Do?" is written and directed by Ted Balaker (@tedbalaker). Produced and edited by Matt Edwards (@MattChrisEd). Music by audionautix.com and "The Contessa" is by Maurice and the Beejays (Magnatune Records).
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