A rogue constable has reportedly issued thousands of illegitimate traffic tickets to drivers in West Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, in what appears to be a homegrown attempt to take advantage of a state law allowing stepped-up traffic enforcement in school zones. But rather than installing speed cameras and conducting enforcement as laid out by the law, an enterprising public official in Ward 2 appears to have taken it upon himself to implement a secretive and far more labor-intensive version involving a tripod, hat, safety vest, a hand-held radar gun, and virtually none of the required accountability. Now, a lawmaker who’s backed by the state’s attorney general is telling recipients to tear up their tickets.
This story is still developing as local investigative outlet Unfiltered With Kiran details, but the short version seems to go something like this: Earlier this year, Louisiana passed a law clarifying when and how automated traffic enforcement systems can be used, how the resulting tickets should be issued, and what remedies are available to citizens who are issued citations. Allegedly, Ward 2 Constable Ron Tetzel pitched the idea of setting up an automated enforcement zone around Lukeville Elementary School off of Louisiana Highway 1 to West Baton Rouge Superintendent Chandler Smith at the beginning of the school year.
This plan would involve installing two permanent speed cameras. With everything up and running, drivers would have been subjected to $150 fines for each instance of speeding. The law requires an agreement between the company operating the cameras and the municipality breaking down the revenue share between them; the constable allegedly suggested terms that would have kicked 10% of the revenue to the school board, with the rest being split between the local municipality (in this case, the Ward 2 constable and justice of the peace) and the camera contractor.
That was the last Smith heard of the idea until citizens began receiving surprise speeding tickets. It became evident pretty quickly that the constable had gone ahead with his plan to start enforcing the school zone around Lukeville Elementary without the framework outlined by the law. It also seems the constable opted to bypass the camera contractor entirely and literally take matters into his own hands, conducting enforcement with a portable LIDAR gun that records drivers’ license plates.
And as it turns out, Constable Tetzel may have ruffled the feathers of a few others. Police in nearby Addis and Brusly notified residents that the tickets were not issued under their jurisdictions, directing them instead to a phone number for Ward 2 Small Claims Court.
Since Tetzel was seemingly operating without a net, it should also come as no surprise that certain provisions of the law were ignored, which is what appears likely to permanently derail his enforcement strategy. After complaints began to pile up, Senator Caleb Kleinpeter reached out to Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, who reportedly shot the constable’s scheme down on the spot, saying the tickets were issued illegally.
Why? Two key reasons. First, Ward 2 never entered into the required “cooperative endeavor” agreement, which would outline publicly how the revenue generated from speeding enforcement would be distributed. And second, it appears that the legally required appeal process for drivers who receive citations is virtually non-existent.
Approximately 5,000 tickets have been issued since the “campaign” went live at the beginning of the school year. The kicker? Per the deal outlined by Tetzel to Superintendent Smith, the Ward 2 constable and justice of the peace would have stood to receive $300,000 from the tickets issued so far in 2024. But speeding enforcement is about safety, right? Please, think of the children.
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