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AAA slams Hopewell's I-295 ticketing

A Hopewell Sheriff's Office patrol vehicle takes off after a traffic stop on Interstate 295 Monday, May 11, 2009. The I-295 patrol program has come under fire from the AAA.

HOPEWELL - AAA Mid-Atlantic is blasting the "ticket-writing finesse" of Hopewell sheriff's deputies along a roughly 2-mile stretch of Interstate 295, calling it the "Million Dollar Mile."

The motorist group criticized the Hopewell Sheriff's Office for "heavy-handed traffic enforcement tactics" along the interstate and said the work of deputies appears to be more about generating revenue than traffic safety.

"Clearly speeding is a dangerous driving behavior which needs to be addressed," Martha Meade, manager of public and government affairs for AAA Mid-Atlantic, said in a statement. "AAA is not against enforcement, we are simply for fair and equitable enforcement and this program appears to be about more than safety."

The statement by AAA also said "outraged motorists" are taking to the Internet to complain about what others are calling Hopewell's "speed trap."

Hopewell deputies are issuing an average of 1,000 speeding tickets a month along the highway and netting over $150,000 month. Last year, about $2 million in traffic fines were issued by deputies.

The windfall in traffic fines recently led to a legal fight over whether the city or the state should be getting the money. On Friday, a Hopewell General District Court judge overruled Commonwealth Attorney Rick Newman's motion to take over local traffic cases relating to the I-295 Project - a move that could have denied the city about $2 million a year in revenue.

Last month, Newman had requested to amend the traffic tickets issued by local sheriff's deputies on I-295 so those charges would be processed under state law and by his office instead of the city code. Had the court granted his request, the $2 million in annual revenue from traffic fines would have went to the state instead of the city, which could have effectively shut down the project.

During the legal wrangle before the judge, City Attorney Thomas Lacheney accused Newman of "blackmailing" the city over of his demands for more funding for his office.

The city has always defended the project, which has raised millions of dollars since its implementation in 2007, as in the best interest for public safety.

But AAA is now questioning the city's motive. "The battle over who gets the $2 million of annual revenue ... can be viewed as secondary to the issue of fairness," AAA said in its statement. "The intense speed enforcement by 11 sheriff's deputies for 14 hours per day is suspect for an entity whose primary role is not traffic enforcement but rather courtroom security and other functions," AAA added.

AAA also said that along the stretch of I-295 in Hopewell, which has a posted speed limit of 70 mph, drivers who exceed the speed limit by 10 mph (to 80 mph) are subject to additional fines.

Hopewell Sheriff Greg Anderson rejected the idea that I-295 is a speed trap. "The interstate has a speed limit of 70 mph, and we do not ticket anyone going under 81 miles," Anderson said. "This is not a speed trap."

Anderson said that the General Assembly has passed legislation that makes speeding over 81 miles per hour a Class 1 misdemeanor. "They take this very serious," he said.

Yet, Meade compared speeding enforcement of Hopewell's two-mile stretch with traffic tickets written in the densely populated Fairfax County. In 2010, the Fairfax County Police Department issued more than 26,000 traffic tickets. That same year, Hopewell issued 10,122 traffic tickets, carrying $1.1 million in assessed fines, with 7,350 tickets (73.6 percent) going to out-of-state drivers.

"All told, 22,655 citizens live in the city of Hopewell, compared to the 1.1 million residents of Fairfax County," Meade said. "Yet, Hopewell generated nearly half the traffic ticket count of the state's most populous county," she said. "The ticket-writing finesse of Sheriff's deputies in Hopewell ... continues to raise eyebrows and concerns."

Anderson called Meade's comments "utterly ridiculous," questioning her expertise in running a public safety program. "I don't make the laws, I enforce them, and I don't need some medium-level bureaucrat to tell me how to do my job," Anderson said. "Obviously, Mrs. Meade is the puppet of some big time politician in Richmond and she has received her marching orders," he said.

Anderson added that anyone who is caught speeding at 81 miles per hour deserves a ticket.

Anderson received support from John W. Jones, executive director of the Virginia Sheriff's Organization, who responded to Meade's comments with a letter to her.

"What service does AAA provide its members by criticizing a law enforcement selective enforcement program?" Jones asked. "It's a bit disappointing that you have chosen to support the senate amendment on fine diversion without at least attempting to become informed on the issue," Jones wrote.

Since it was started five years ago, Hopewell's I-295 Project has become a major source of revenue for the city. The program was launched in 2007 with just one deputy, who patrolled the roughly 2-mile section of I-295 through the city, assessing $26,000 in fines in the first year.

Since its launch, the program has expanded significantly. In 2008, the total revenue from fines was $160,000. By 2009, it had tripled to $634,000. In 2010, it first reached the $1 million mark.

The controversy prompted Virginia state Sen. John Watkins, R-Midlothian, to introduce legislation during the 2012 Virginia General Assembly Session to stop such practices along an interstate highway. Ultimately, that legislation died in committee.

"Yet, AAA Mid-Atlantic will continue to oppose such heavy-handed traffic enforcement tactics," Meade said.

- Markus Schmidt may be reached at mschmidt@progress-index.com