why should they be written? citations… public safety funding the court system

Why should they be written?

Citations…

Public Safety

Funding the Court System

In 2006, there were 22,858 ALCOHOL RELATED CRASHES in Florida

11,446 involved injuries or death

In 2006, there were 2,103 traffic deaths of drivers and passengers in

SEAT BELT EQUIPPED VEHICLES

1,301 of the people killed were not wearing SEAT BELTS

50%

62%Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles Traffic Crash Statistics Report 2006

There were 256,200 traffic crashes in 2006 involving FATALITIES, INJURIES & VEHICLE/PROPERTY DAMAGE

• Careless Driving• Failed/Yield Right of Way• Following too closely• Ran Red Light• Ran Stop Sign• Speeding

Some Contributing Factors were:

Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles Traffic Crash Statistics Report 2006

Nassau County tickets written in 2006

Charge Number

DUI   211

Seat Belt/Child Restraint   1346

Careless Driving   431

Fail/Yield Right of Way   201

Follow Too Closely   112

Ran Red Light   1059

Ran Stop Sign   133

Speeding   4889Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles Traffic Crash Statistics Report 2006

After a rise of Crashes in 2004 & 2005…

2006 has begun a decline in the number of Crashes

What you are doing IS working

Year 2003 2004 2005 2006

Number of Crashes 460 496 599 571

Number of Alcohol-related Crashes 90 77 104 84

Nassau County 4 year Crash Statistics

Effective July 1, 2004 Revision 7 to Article V of the Florida Constitution

was passedFlorida Courts shall be funded by

local fines & fees Fines & Fees are generated by Law

Enforcement

Clerk’s Office efforts to collect all fines and fees:

Contracted a collection agency in 2005

October 2005 to June 2008

in delinquent traffic fines have been collected at no additional cost to Nassau

County taxpayers.

$273,158.84

Where do the fines & fees come from?

OFFICERS writing citations to

offenders

How has your agency been

doing?

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

# o

f C

ita

tio

ns

wri

tte

n

2004

2005

2006

2007

2004 2518 3707 3719 503 413 4 82

2005 2589 4362 4102 890 928 15 49

2006 1970 5040 4919 559 1316 10 132

2007 1756 5022 3255 611 899 5 58

Fernandina Beach

Police Dept

Nassau County Sheriff's

Florida Highway

Patrol

FL Dept of Agriculture

FL Dept of Transportati

on

FL Fish & Wildlife

Commissio

Florida Park Police

Civil/Criminal Traffic Citations

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

# o

f C

ita

tio

ns

wri

tte

n

2008 702 2773 649 261 538 1 34

Fernandina Beach

Police Dept

Nassau County Sheriff's

Florida Highway

Patrol

FL Dept of Agriculture

FL Dept of Transportati

on

FL Fish & Wildlife

Commissio

Florida Park Police

Civil/Criminal Traffic Citations January-June 2008

2007/2008 1st half comparison

FBPD -24%

NCSO 7%

FHP -70%

FDACS 11%

DOT 3%

DEP/BPP -9%

-80%

-70%

-60%

-50%

-40%

-30%

-20%

-10%

0%

10%

20%

FBPD

NCSO

FHP

FDACS

DOT

DEP/BPP

Where does the

fine money go?

Article V Fee Schedule

COURT FACILITY TRUST FUND

LOCAL COURT PROGRAMS

TEEN COURT

Court related functions, legal aid programs, law library, & juvenile

alternative programs

Maintenance, utilities, equipment, furnishings, etc for offices of the Clerk performing court-related functions

Equipping courtrooms & jury facilities Staffing for all court functions

LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT Radio

Communications Program

Local Law Enforcement

Education

Crime Prevention Fund

Workshops, meetings, conferences, conventions benefiting officer and agency

Local Education

Dori Slosburg- Driver Safety Education…helps fund Driver’s Ed in High

Schools

Nassau County Alcohol & Drug Abuse Fund-

treatment & education

State Funds

Child Welfare Trust Fund

Juvenile Justice Trust Fund

Brain & Spinal Cord Rehab

1st Coast Crime Stoppers

That's why they call it dope ~~ Web photos lead to arrestBy Shannon Malcom, News-Leader

A 15-year-old Yulee girl has landed herself in legal trouble and likely ended her babysitting career with photos she allegedly posted on the Internet of her smoking marijuana with a child.The girl was arrested last week after police received an anonymous tip that she had pictures on her MySpace web page showing her smoking marijuana with a child approximately four or five years old.

Nassau County detectives received the report from First Coast Crime Stoppers, an organization that takes anonymous crime tips and reports them to the appropriate law enforcement agency.

Photos reportedly taken from the website were included in the report passed on to Nassau County detectives.In at least one of the pictures, "the child appeared to be smoking marijuana," the report said.On Friday, detectives interviewed the girl and she allegedly admitted she was "smoking a joint" with the child, whom she was babysitting at the time."(The suspect) advised that she gave the child the marijuana cigarette to smoke and posted the photo on her MySpace website," the report said.Police searched the girl's home after obtaining a search warrant and removed a computer hard drive, a camera, a videocassette, four photographs and a plastic bag containing marijuana seeds, according to the report.The girl, who is not being identified because of her age, faces a charge of felony child abuse.The Yulee Middle School student was arrested Friday and initially taken to the Nassau County Jail, then released to the custody of her mother.The exact age and gender of the child has not been released.smalcom@fbnewsleader.com

What might keep an

officer from writing

citations?

Too much time in court

Problem:

Solution…

Judge Burgess, in conjunction with the Clerk’s Office, has implemented a new procedure for defendants to contest

citations.

Defendant can send Affidavit to Plea without appearing

OR

Defendant can Plea and Request to see the Judge

This will limit OFFICER’S amount of time in court.

Officers will only be subpoenaed when defendants plea Not Guilty and request to see

the Judge

Judge Burgess will accept a written Affidavit from officers in lieu of appearance when he/she

is unavailable to appear

How can you help us?

As new officers are sworn in with your agency

Please contact our office with OFFICER NAME & ID/

BADGE NUMBER

HELP PROVIDE ACCURATE RECORDS

Correct DL #

Correct DOB

All blocks are completed

Corresponding Florida Statute and charge marked

Legible

Tickets must be turned in on time

According to F.S. 316.650(3)(a) “…each traffic enforcement office,…shall deposit the original…with a court having jurisdiction over the alleged offense…within 5 days after issuance to the violator.”

To ensure timely payment by the violator

To avoid unnecessary suspensions of DLs

Questions?

Comments?

Suggestions?

FBPD Jason Smith 230

  Jason Hepler 182

  Marty Scott 173

NCSO Clifton "Doc" McDonald 695

  Brandon Smith 401

  Darrell Hickox 359     

FHP D.H. Mueller 328

  C.D. Woods 322

  S. Petty 284

DOT Kenneth Johnson 274

  Orville Thompson 98

  David Lewis 97

FDACS Edward Riegal 76

  G.L. Penny 37

  D. Hughes 22

FWC Tim Sweat 16

  Tony Wright 5

DEP/BPP Chris Troedson 15

  Steve Vienneau 5

  Carl Middleton 3

FBPD Jason Smith 230Jason Hepler 182Marty Scott 173

NCSO Clifton “Doc” McDonald 695Brandon Smith 401Darrell Hickox 359

FHP D.H. Mueller 328C.D. Woods 322S. Petty 284

DOT Kenneth Johnson 274Orville Thompson 98David Lewis 97

FDACS Edward Riegal 76G.L. Penny 37D. Hughes 22

FWC Tim Sweat 16Tony Wright 5

DEP/BPP Chris Troedson 15Steve Vienneau 5Carl Middleton 3

Officer Chris Troedson of Department of Environmental

Protection/ Bureau of Park Police

Officer Tim Sweat of

Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission

Officer Edward Riegel of

Florida Department of Agriculture

Officer Jason Smith of

Fernandina Beach Police Department

Officer Kenneth Johnson of

Florida Department of Transportation

Trooper D. H. Mueller of

Florida Highway Patrol

Traffic Unit of

Nassau County Sheriff’s Office