State shuts down a ' speed trap' in Big Cabin

Friday, July 22nd 2005, 11:09 am

By: News On 6

The state of Oklahoma is stepping in to the controversy over a Craig County stretch of road some say is a speed trap. After complaints of excessive ticketing by Big Cabin Police, the Department of Public Safety ordered officers to stop writing them altogether.

Big Cabin Police say the move gives speeders the green light. The News on 6's Heather Lewin has more.

It's three and a quarter miles of controversy, a stretch of US highway 69 leading into Big Cabin. The speed limit changes three times. Big Cabin Police say the zone was set up by the state after townspeople put together a petition.

Big Cabin Police chief David Dubois: "Before I came here we were averaging about two fatalities a year. Since I came and stepped up the patrol we've had only one fatality." Dubois says the key to that success is speed enforcement, but now the state is ordering police to put their ticket books down after a complaint by the owners of a truck stop, saying 72-percent of the town's income is generated from speeding tickets.

Many of the people paying those fines are customers. Truck stop manager Tom Polk: "Eventually I started seeing my business suffering from it, people telling me they were going to bypass my business cause they couldn't come through here for fear of being stopped."

Police say they only issue tickets for drivers going 18 miles per hour above the limit. Polk says ticketed drivers tell him they simply weren't going that fast.

State law allows only 50-percent of revenue to be generated by traffic enforcement, so state officials took the stretch of road away from local police for six months. Big Cabin Police say the state's action is based on incorrect information and that the move will now leave the area unprotected.

Dubois says it's not about making money; it's about enforcing the law. â€œI think that's setting the wrong example for our children. That's no different than telling them you can walk into the convenience store and just because the clerk's not watching. Pick up whatever you want and walk out the store with it."

The city has hired an attorney who says the state statute overruling local law enforcement is too vague and that Big Cabin will fight the state's decision.