Monday, March 14, 2011

Everticket Park

I live in Chicago, but I'm just half a mile away from Evergreen Park, IL, known as "Village of Churches" and also as "Former Home of the Unabomber".

The town was recently featured in a Chicago Tribune story on top-ticketing area suburbs. And you better hope that all they get you for is speeding or rolling through a stop sign. Because for a lot of offenses they will impound your car. In 2009 they impounded 1 in 12 cars stopped, on average, and there's a $600 fee to get your car back. Evergreen made half a millions bucks from the tow fees in 2009.

I saw a family get pulled over tonight. Their car was traveling with the traffic. They were maybe a couple of miles per hour over the limit.

What does the police chief have to say?
Saunders said the department isn't looking to cash in on traffic stops. Its officers give warnings to a third of stopped motorists.
I'd like to know how often they give warnings to Evergreen residents, as compared to outsiders. Evergreen has been a speed trap for at least 5 decades, but it has gotten a lot worse lately. I suspect the village needs the dough - bad.

Declining tax base?
I try to drive around the place.

2 comments:

Charlie McDanger said...

In California I've heard of private companies teaming up with city governments to paste cameras all over the place. Make a rolling right turn at a stop sign in Beverly Hills, that'll be $400 please.

That's real money to most people.

John Enright said...

Ouch. 400 bucks? That's really going to sting for most people.