May 22, 7:30 AM EDT
Police, Dressed As Homeless, Give Tickets

KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) -- Homeless advocates are outraged by an operation where undercover police officers dressed as vagrants, observed drivers running red lights or committing other traffic violations, then radioed ahead to other officers who stopped those cars and wrote tickets.

"Operation Vagrant," a sting operation involving the Florida Highway Patrol, Kissimmee police and the Osceola County Sheriff's Office, nabbed 171 drivers - most of whom ran red lights, a violation that carries an $83 fine.

Undercover deputies stood along streets and gave the indication they were vagrants by pushing shopping carts and wearing fake teeth and tattered clothing. They also carried small cardboard signs, which read, "Sheriff's traffic sting in progress. Buckle up."

"It's kind of appalling," said Marilyn Gordon, executive director of the Homeless Services Network of Central Florida. "I wonder if it will be a consciousness-raising exercise for the law-enforcement officers."

Robert H. Brown, president and chief executive officer of the Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida, said the officers were being silly.

"It's ironic that they would use a disguise of someone that people think of as visually offensive," Brown said. "I just think it shows that the community's aware of the homeless problem. I wish they would solve it, rather than masquerading."

Osceola sheriff's bureau Chief Jerry Geier said the sting was designed to raise awareness about dangerous intersections.

Nearly 25,000 drivers were ticketed for running red lights in Florida in 2001, and 107 deaths that year were attributed to drivers disregarding traffic signals. Plus, police nationwide started a new initiative this week to call attention to dangers of riding in a vehicle without using a seat belt.

"Our ultimate goal is to make an impact," Geier said. "The last thing we're trying to do is disrespect anybody."

State Rep. Irv Slosberg, D-Boca Raton, an advocate of stronger seat-belt and other traffic-safety laws, applauded the sting operation. His daughter, Dori, 14, was killed in a 1996 traffic accident in which she did not wear a seat belt.

"I admire them for being creative," Slosberg sai

And people wonder why I don't like cops.

They are doing their jobs based on a lie.

Meanwhile if my wife gets assulted or my shit gets taken nothing ever gets done.  Of course catching criminals doesn't put money into the cities budget while letting criminals run free gives them job security.

Sgatr15

Whatever, here in my small village (pop. 870) the Chief was bragging to me that he paid for their Lasar  thing in one month (3700 $) It kind of struck me wrong, writing tickets to pay for gear, and WTF do the need a Laser for in such a small village, unless they think it makes them look like the big boys. Like I said in the begining, whatever.

Sorry, but I have no problem with this.  I especially like the signs "TRAFFIC STIMG IN PROGRESS".  I mean, WTF, if the driver was paying attention, he would know that the cops were there.

People who run red lights kill and injure lots of people in Houston, TX.  

This isn't speeding, its simple traffic law- STOP WHEN THE LIGHT TURNS RED!

The police around here dress up manequins and put them in patrol cars on the highway so people will think there is a radar trap and slow down.


It worked untill someone stole the manequin [:D]

I wish they'd ticket the bleeding-hearts that are feeding those trolls that pan-handle the exit ramps, thus promoting pan-handling. Our local news station did an expose` on them by dressing a reporter as a beggar and putting them on an exit ramp. It showed that most of the panhandlers were making several hundred $$$ per day and going straight to the liquor store, or a dope dealer (pimp, etc) with the money.

Pale_Pony gave me a idea, I just made a sign and Im going to the corner... Bluemax
     
.                  HORNY
.               PLEASE HELP        
.             (females only)

$14,193, gross for the operation. Huh, maybe govt DOES know how to make money!!

Me, personally, I like drivers to concentrate on the road and cars in front of and around them, not the friggen bums on the sidewalk...
duhhhh.

If someone saw the sign and buckled up, they would probably have given the poor bastard a ticket for not giving due dilligence to the task of driving...

Sheesh.
Scott

The state of Florida needs to [b]fire those bums!![/b]  [;D]

-Nick Viejo.

Me and Sean have already had this discussion but we both agree on this violation.  Running red lights is frigging dangerous.  Nail em all

Anything to collect more taxes.
Always follow the money.

Ditto.  I have no problem with OFFICERS enforcing a traffic safety law, I do have a problem with cameras...

Why they felt they needed to dress like bums is beyond me.  Perhaps they should dress like gangbangers and approach the drivers waiting for a light.  If they speed off, give 'em a ticket!

If they cant tax it out of us, they will just hound us for the little things until they control all of our money and our freedom.

You find stopping for a red light to be a burden on your personal freedom?

Take you medication...

It's comforting to know that they have such a surplus of officers that they can dole out salaries to officers dressed up as bums.

Of course, the extra expense of the "bum" officers pale in comparison to the cash they pull in in tickets.

No one will argue that a driver who runs a red light or even fast crawls through a right on red deserves a ticket. I'm just curious what other traffic violations the motorists got cited for.

Every town's got their traps. We have a town money-maker with a 30 degree grade with nothing but fields on each side that has a 30 mph speed limit. If you take your foot off the gas and brakes you'll roll to 50. The only way for most drivers to stay near the speed limit is to ride their brakes all the way down the hill, unless they want to down shift their PRNDL trannies and listen to them whine.

I have no problem with this.  My family and I were almost T-boned by someone who ran a red light a few months ago.  We slammed on our brakes, were missed by inches, and saw the oncoming car get blasted halfway out of the intersection by someone who sped up after the light was red.  
They should carry the sting one step further and ticket the people who give change to the panhandlers, thereby encouraging their parasitic ways.  

Now I like that, wish it would catch on.

I like it!  It's funny that they're holding signs saying what they're doing!  

Hell, those folks shouldn't have run the lights anyway. Those sneaky bastards are just doing their jobs. If you obey the law you don't have to worry about stuff like this.

[:/]

Planned future operations:

Police, Dressed As Homeless, Drink Cheap Wine And Vomit On The Sidewalk.

Police, Dressed As Homeless, Wash Windshields With Dirty Rags And Spray Bottles.

Police, Dressed As Homeless, Walk Around Muttering To Invisible Friends And Urinating On Themselves.

Part of the "Contract" you make with the State, when you get a drivers liscense, is your agreement to abide by their rules and regulations, and submit to their "Agents", (the police). The police, in their role as "agents" of the state, are only excercising the scope of their "job", which is to increase revenue to their employer.

Disclaimer: This is a general rule. I live in a rural area, and we haven't defined blowing a red light..

Boy, I bet the folks in Kissimmee are sleeping safer at night knowing that the boys in blue (or is it dirty brown?) are [s]raking in the money[/s]keeping them safe.

Police, Dressed As Homeless, Expose Themselves And Masturbate At Bus Stops.

Police, Dressed As Homeless, Take Watches Off Dead People.

I'm surprised no one is approaching this from a military perspective.  No matter who the cops were dressed, all they were doing was engaging in the time honored craft of camouflage.  And people who run red lights kill people so I can't say I disagree with their enforcement ideals, revenue considerations notwithstanding.

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.  Like we need more cops playing soldier.  

If they can afford to have a cop dress in rags and call in red light runners, then they have the manpower to put a cop in the intersection to direct traffic.
But that makes sense and wouldn't make as much money.

No, it does not make sense.  The intent was to solve the red light problem, not to babysit.  Running a sting for 2 hours or so is a hell of a lot different from stationing an officer there 24/7.

How would your bright idea deter running red lights at OTHER intersections in town?

Bullshit.
The biggest reason for this op was money. just like every other sting.

If they can put 1 cop in rage for a few hours, that same cop can be in unifors IN the frigging intersection. Not to mention the other cops in their cars waiting for the call.

If it's THAT MUCH OF A PROBLEM, then putting a cop in the major intersections is the BEST way to handle the situation.

Hell, put the God damn meter maids in the intersections if you don't want to use cops.

Oh.. that won't work either because then they can't ticket empty cars.....

Or... change the light timers for 15 seconds of a two way red. That might reduce the problem of the intersection crashes.
There are plenty of other ways to attack this problem.

But I don't agree with running red lights.