On New Year’s Eve, I was accompanied by a date to a venue in downtown Augusta that was hosting an elaborate New Year’s Masquerade. The event lasted most of the evening and well into the New Year as everyone danced and indulged in a variety of refreshments that were provided by the establishment.
I had chosen to abstain from alcohol that night, in favor of my date being able to enjoy her evening without any inhibitions. As the night went on, I frequently and repeatedly turned down offers for a variety of different alcoholic beverages in the best interests of my companion and myself. I even opted for sparkling cider rather than traditional champagne at the midnight countdown.
When the festivities were over, I drove my date home. She lives in an area of town just over the river known as North Augusta. At the 15th Street bridge crossing over the Savannah River from Georgia into South Carolina, I was met with a field sobriety checkpoint.
Although I hadn’t been drinking, my heart still skipped a beat. My date clutched my hand reassuringly and told me to breathe and relax, that everything would be OK. So, I took a deep breath, presented the State Patrol officer with my credentials, and the officer nodded, wished me a happy New Year, and I was on my way. I chuckled nervously and I drove off, my heart still racing.
We continued on our drive up Main Street and through the center of town towards Martin Town Road. My date and I were feeling thirsty and I needed gas, so we stopped at a filling station just short of the I-20 exit heading towards Atlanta near Edgefield. Having satisfied both needs, the two of us returned to my vehicle and turned out of the parking lot heading back towards the center of town when I noticed we’d picked up a tail.
The headlights of a Ford Crown Victoria appeared two car lengths behind me and was keeping a consistent distance. I checked my speed, I made sure to maintain my lane and I especially made sure to use my turn signals. Both my date and I were wearing our seat belts, and everything appeared to be in order. However, a moment later, the distinctive red and blue lights of the North Augusta Public Safety flashed on, and I was being pulled over.
Seeing as my grandfather was a retired Georgia State Patrol Officer, I was taught from an early age how to respond to a “routine traffic stop.” I turned on the overhead lamp, shut off the engine, and when the officer approached, in full view I retrieved my credentials slowly and deliberately so that the officer could see what I was doing and that I posed no threat. He glanced at my license and shined his Maglight in the eyes of both my date and myself before politely requesting that I step out of the vehicle. When I did, I was asked the inevitable question “How much have you had to drink tonight.” For the sake of clarity, there was no emphasis on have you had anything to drink tonight; it was how much have you had to drink tonight. The accusation was deliberate and instantaneous.
I, of course, responded with the truth, which was met with a wall of polite skepticism. “Do me a favor, look at the tip of my finger and follow it with your eyes, without turning your head.” The officer continued by asking the previous question again, insisting that he smelled alcohol on me. I assured him that any aroma of alcohol he was smelling was from my date and not the result of my having consumed alcohol. The Altoids breath mint I had been savoring for the last few blocks burned intensely in my mouth as the officer insisted he could smell it on my breath.
I’ll of course spare you the details of the rest of the trials for fear of becoming redundant. However, the important thing is that despite being run through a gauntlet of sobriety tests under great emotional distress, I passed every damn one of them with flying colors. Then the officer pulled my date from the vehicle to ask her similar questions, trying to find an inconsistency in our stories. Bless her heart, she told the officer she had toasted with me at midnight, not knowing that the drink I was holding at the time was non-alcoholic.
I was pulled out of the vehicle for a second time and given another round of tests. The officer said he could smell alcohol on me and asked me yet again if I was I sure I hadn’t had anything to drink. My story never changed throughout the entire ordeal because I knew if there were any variations in my alibi, it would ultimately be used against me. At this point, I was cold, I was scared and I was losing my patience. Noticing the body camera on the officer’s shirt, I started asking questions that I knew would be in my favor if the officer had chosen to detain me. The most significant of these questions of course came at the end of my conversation with the officer. “Am I being detained?” I asked in a calm and polite voice. “No sir, please return to your vehicle.”
I stared at the clock on my dash as I waited for the officer to return with my license and registration. It was almost 3 a.m. by this point, and what had until that point been a rather pleasant and enjoyable evening had been completely ruined. My date felt terrible because she thought that everything I had just gone through was her fault. She kept apologizing and seemed on the verge of tears. I, on the other hand, was pensive and on edge. The officer returned from his cruiser and passed my credentials to me though my open window.
“Do you know why I pulled you over?” He asked in an almost sympathetic tone.
I shook my head slowly and inquired as to the reason for the traffic stop. The officer then informed me that my tag lights were burned out and that South Carolina State Law mandates that tags must be illuminated at all times after dark on all motor vehicles. He then wished me a Happy New Year and told me I was free to go. I dropped off my date and immediately drove across the state line and to the nearest Wal-Mart to purchase and replace the burned out bulbs. I wish I could say that I was somehow abused, mistreated or subjected to some form of unfair form of harassment, but to his credit, the officer was for the most part very polite and simply doing what was asked of him by his superiors. However, that is the problem. He was doing his job…
I am a resident of Georgia, so naturally my vehicle has Georgia plates and registration. On numerous occasions I have been pulled over in North Augusta for the most minor reasons and every time I would receive a written warning. One night, an officer slipped up and admitted blatantly to my passengers and myself that the sole reason I was pulled over was because it was late in the evening, and I had an out of state tag and that fact alone made me a suspicious person. The officer basically admitted that he found a reason to pull me over just to make sure that I wasn’t up to no good. For those of you who aren’t aware, the fines and surcharges on tickets issued to out of state drivers are significantly higher than those issued to in state residents.
Just how significant? According to an unconfirmed source, an individual who I attended class with a few years ago went into local law enforcement, and he confirmed this fact, saying that some officers specifically went after out of state tags because it's what brought in the most money on the local and state level, with most of the money going to the state which then funnels it back into the individual departments in the form of State funding. These surcharges and fees are the reason why the average traffic violation carries an approximate $155 fine on what would otherwise be a $50 ticket. He repeatedly informs me how lucky I've been as he's seen my record pass across his desk every so often.
That being said, this incident represents the fourth time in the span of a year that I have been subjected to this issue from the North Augusta office of Public Safety. It’s gotten so bad that if at all possible, I avoid North Augusta like the plague. I don’t feel wanted or safe there, despite having family who live in that area and living and working so close to the South Carolina State line. I have since refrained from giving the city any of my support or patronage at any of the local businesses or retail stores. Whenever crossing the river is unavoidable for family and business reasons, and I happen to find myself in proximity to a Public Safety Officer, I will either leave in the opposite direction or simply stay in one place until they are gone. My apprehension of this treatment apparently is not an isolated example however.
A recent article published through the Associated Press out of Columbia South Carolina indicated that a South Carolina lawmaker by the name of Justin Bamberg is trying to pass legislation that would “prohibit law enforcement agencies in the state from setting traffic ticket quotas, or evaluating officers by the number of citations they write.” Bamberg believes that such policies “puts pressure on officers to go out and stop people for ridiculous stuff or things they normally wouldn't. It puts officers in a difficult position. It also makes citizens feel like they're being harassed or stopped for petty things.”
Bamberg, who is the son of a longtime law enforcement officer, felt the need to emphasize that his proposed legislation "is not an attack on law enforcement.” He said in an official statement to the Associated Press. “I want the community and law enforcement to have a good relationship" and in light of how poorly relations have been going with the public and law enforcement, it’s for good reason.
Bamberg, who is also a practicing trial lawyer has another, more vested interest in passing such legislation. He is currently representing the family of Walter Scott, a man who was repeatedly shot in the back by North Charleston officer Michael Slager while fleeing on foot last year. Scott was pulled over for a broken taillight and after a verbal altercation with the officer, the situation only escalated from there. Advocates believe that the fatal encounter would have never occurred “if public institutions in South Carolina didn't count on funding from fines and fees.” The former officer in the Scott case has since been fired and formerly charged with murder.
Despite the denial of numerous officials on the existence of quotas, Slager’s lawyer has since released a statement from the defendant claiming that he as well as other officers were required to issue no less than three citations a day per officer, and that despite the lack of any official written policies on the books requiring a quota of tickets for each officer, it is apparently no secret that when it comes time for officer evaluations which determine the distribution of such benefits as pay increases and promotions in rank, a low number of citations to a reviewer is the equivalent to poor or lackluster police work, making the officer look like they’re not doing their job.
Luckily, I have been let go multiple times without fine or incident, though I can’t help but wonder if with this type of system in place, if it is only a matter of time. That night on New Year’s, a minor infraction was exploited to try and find reason to charge me with a much more serious and life altering offence, simply because of the occasion and the fact that I was a resident of another state. Do with that knowledge what you will.
