Collin County officials enhancing revenue through constable traffic patrol

by Bill Baumbach of The Collin County Observer

It should have been a conservative commissioners' dream -- an elected department head comes before the commissioners court to say that his employees don't have enough to do.

Last Monday, our County Judge and the Collin County Commissioners' Court heard exactly that.

Despite all the rhetoric from Judge Keith Self and the other commissioners about how we need to hold the line on costs and search out ways to shrink, rather than grow county government, one would expect the court to immediately seize an opportunity to cut or consolidate payroll. At the very least, the bailiff's free time could be used to reduce overtime and comp time for the other nine deputies.

The court, however, ordered none of the above. Instead it authorized spending more money to put the employee to work writing traffic tickets in the name of increasing county revenue.

Precinct 3 Constable Chuck Presley has been wanting to use his bailiff's and deputies' free time for traffic patrol, but he has lacked a suitable police vehicle (with light bars, radar, etc.) to do so. Last week, he informed the commissioners court that a county vendor, "Cop Stuff" of Van Alystyne, was willing to donate a very used, fully-equipped 2001 Crown Victoria police interceptor to his department for use in traffic enforcement and trash dump site enforcement.

Presley testified that last month, as a test, he borrowed a vehicle from the Precinct 4 Constable's office for his bailiff to use part time for traffic patrol. In that month, the bailiff wrote over 140 traffic tickets.

At that point in Presley's testimony, Commissioner Hoagland asked, "Which is how much money for the county?" Presley responded, "about $50 to $100 each."

The commissioners then focused on the wisdom of allowing a 2001 vehicle with 188,000 miles on it to be added to the county's fleet. The court asked the Public works manager, Jon Kleinheksel, what the replacement policy was for police vehicles. Kleinheksel told them "at between 100,000 and 120,000 miles." After discussion, it was decided to accept the Crown Vic, but not add it to the fleet.

Absent from the commissioners' discussion was any conversation on the wisdom of using constables and bailiffs for traffic patrol. Also absent was any mention on the policies, training or limits of a program of traffic enforcement. And there was no discussion of the appropriateness of adding up income derived from tickets to support under-utilized peace officers.

Constable Presley has made no secret of his desire to use his employees for traffic enforcement. During last year's budget hearings for example, Presley made his case by promising that his deputies would be able to write sufficient tickets to both pay for the needed equipment and ensure additional income to the county's coffers.

In most Texas counties, including Collin, constables are used to serve civil and non-felony court papers, to perform evictions and enforce Justice of the Peace court orders, and to act as bailiffs for the JP courts. County law enforcement is done by the sheriff's department. But there are exceptions, and for the most part these exceptions seem designed mostly to increase county revenue.

For example, Harris County contracts with local developers to use constables as security officers. Dallas County, facing a severe budget crunch, has recently begun using its constables to man radar traps and for traffic patrol. But with these exceptions have come problems.

Constables are licensed peace officers. They undergo the same basic training and certifications as do local police officers and sheriff's deputies. However, they do not get the advanced training that is given to, for example, sheriff's deputies. A new sheriff's deputy is required to partner with a "field training officer" for several weeks of intense one-on-one observation and training. Constables are not. The sheriff's deputies work traffic all day every day -- that is what they do for a living. The constables would be filling in "free time." While qualified on paper, the constables primarily are not traffic cops, they are process servers.

The constables do not have the comprehensive communications, command structure, procedures and policies that a large police or sheriff's department has developed. A good example of this lack of policies and command structure was seen in Dallas just last month when the Dallas constables engaged in a cross county, high speed chase with a suspected hot check writer.

The chase, which would be in violation of Dallas Police, Dallas County Sheriff's, and Collin County Sheriff's chase policies, endangered the lives of hundreds of citizens before finally ending when an unsuspecting driver rammed into the suspect at a traffic light. The suspect was hospitalized in critical condition -- thankfully no peace officers or citizens were hurt. After the chase was over, the constable's office told the press that they tried to break off the chase, but were unable to communicate with the DPS helicopter. All that for a hot check warrant.

Had a Collin County Sheriff's deputy made the same stop, and faced the same fleeing suspect, his department's policy would have required him to seek approval of a senior command officer before embarking on a high speed chase. No such approval is given unless the suspect is a fleeing felon and a danger to the public. The constables have no such procedures in place.

To many local citizens, the most troubling aspect of Presley's plan is the idea that law enforcement can be made to be a revenue source.

The purpose of law enforcement, according to these citizens, should always be to ensure public safety by enforcing the law fairly and with no hidden motives. When the power of a police officer is used to generate money, the law is corrupted.

County officials I spoke to object to the characterization that revenue is the primary motive. They point out that any ticket revenue would be a very small part of the county's $280 million dollar budget. That is true, but when a deputy or constable is rated on how many tickets he writes, and how much money he brings in, then justice becomes the servant of money, and the citizenry become the prey of an overzealous law enforcement policy designed to raise revenue.

It was very relevant that Constable Presley's justification for accepting the car never mentioned goals of accident reduction, or safer school zones or reduced traffic casualties. He only mentioned the number of tickets the court could expect to be written. And the commissioners court only asked how much money would be raised, not how many lives might be saved.

How do you think the constable on traffic patrol will be rated?