There’s just one little problem: The state law in question does not allow police to issue citations in such cases.
Huh?
“We cannot write a ticket (for these violations) because there is no method in place that allows a peace officer to issue a citation,” Cobb Police Sgt. Dana Pierce said. “Whether we write a ticket or not though, we still address the issue with the (violator).”
But at present, the county Solicitor General’s Office cannot fine violators because it is a civil, not criminal matter, according to Cobb Solicitor General Barry Morgan.
“The state law didn’t grant us the ability to prosecute civil cases when they wrote the law,” he said.
Morgan added that the discrepancy was noticed by the school district last summer when the law was implemented. So now he and representatives from the various parties involved (county government, school district and police) are trying to get an ordinance in place to let them actually enforce the stop arm law.
Once that law is in place, the board would then have to approve a Memorandum of Understanding relating to the costs involved and how the funds generated by the violations would be distributed.
“The ordinance will hopefully be passed in two weeks,” said Cobb Commission Chairman Tim Lee. “The MOU is under review by the school board attorney, and when they finally come back, which will hopefully be soon, with their change and recommendations … then it’ll be brought before the (commission) to be adopted formally.”
It’s expected that Cobb would become the first county in Georgia to resolve the legalities of the Stop Arm Law.
“We’re working as diligently as we can, but being cautious,” Lee said. “When you venture into a whole new area where there is no precedent or other jurisdictions doing it as a starting point, we want to be timely but careful.”
Fair enough. The important thing is to get the matter cleared up, and quickly. Otherwise it’s akin to arming a country’s army with all the latest weaponry, but not equipping it with any ammunition.
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As far as stop arm camera, the issues seem to be worked out. Tickets should be going out pretty soon. The drivers I know that have them really seem to like them and I hope we get more of them.
Regarding the GPS/Cell Phone system, all of our buses have had them for some time. Dispatch knows exactly where we are at every moment as well as our speed and direction of travel. The ones that seem the most "surprised" by this is the students that can no longer blame the bus driver when they are late to the bus stop. We can now tell the parents exactly what time we arrived at their child's stop while their child was dawdling on his or her way there.
Regarding Laura's comments - I can only speak for myself, but I have never had a maintenance problem that wasn't fixed quickly and properly. As far as the pay, I knew what the job paid before I took it - no one forced me to work there (and for what it's worth, Cobb pays its drivers better than many of the surrounding counties). And I have never felt disrespected or unappreciated by management. It's like any job out there - you have to give a little respect to get a little respect.
And for "go LA go" - do you realize our buses make over 42 THOUSAND stops every school day? Is every stop ideal? Of course not, but what do you expect us to do for those kids that live along Cobb Parkway, or Austell Road, or Sandy Plains road - just tell them to find another way to get to school? And as far as sex offenders, the bus stop is in YOUR neighborhood. Don't YOU know where the sex offenders are in your own area? Does the county have to do everything for you?
Please excuse the long winded reply, but I thought perhaps I could put some of these issues to rest.
apparent that virtually every facet of Cobb
County government is totally incompetent. Sad but
very true.
What other skeletons are hiding in the Transportation Department? But don't worry, Hinojosa doesn't have a dog in this fight and board members don't have the attention span for it so we'll never probably find out.
I'd like to see this discussed on the record by the board, and I still believe the board should be auditing the Transportation Department, which has been mismanaged for years now. The board continues to fail the public in this matter.