Bull Valley: #1 ticketing agency |
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Gus Philpott
Woodstock Advocate
December 18, 2010
The Chicago Tribune today awarded the Village of Bull Valley Police Department top honors in ticket writing in Chicagoland. Described as a town with 1,000 residents with no schools, no commercial district and no major highways, Bull Valley P.D. officers averaged over 400 tickets each last year.
Drivers complain about getting caught right where a speed limit changes; ex., where the 50MPH (or is it 55?) speed limit drops to 45MPH for westbound Country Club Road traffic. Although my habit is to be at the new speed limit when I reach the sign, I have been surprised on occasion to find a Bull Valley PD car pulled off into the grass, hiding on the north side of the road behind some trees. Just as the article describes.
One former Bull Valley officer told me several months ago that the chief would call him 30 minutes after the start of his shift and ask how many tickets he had already written.
Chief Norbert Sauers told me that his officers don't write tickets for less than 10MPH over the posted limit, but I have heard from drivers that they have been stopped when traveling only 5MPH over the limit.
Several years ago I heard about a part-time Bull Valley PD officer who would stop Hispanic pizza delivery drivers for speeding and tell them they could avoid a ticket by paying the fine in cash on the spot. Complaints were made to the Department, and that officer was allowed to resign. He should have been arrested!
It might be helpful for you to know that radar cannot be used within 500 feet of a speed limit sign in the direction of travel. Keep Section 625 ILCS 5/11-602 in mind, if you get nailed right after a speed sign, except in school zones. On Country Club Road west of Fleming is a popular poaching zone for BVPD officers.
Maybe if all departments tightly enforced speed limits, there would not be the speeding problem that exists in Illinois and McHenry County.
Just last night, after a 3,000-mile road trip, two crazies past me as I returned to Woodstock. One sped past me on the right on Route 47, just north of US 14. The other passed me on Lake Avenue in front of the police station. After driving 1,300 miles in two days, I just didn't have it in me to sic the cops on either one.