View Full Version : Ah, yes- Morrison and its PD
.455_Hunter
10-20-2021, 10:52
I am generally a strong proponent and supporter of LE, but there are some situations that rub me the wrong way, and Morrison with it's homegrown PD are one of them.
Now the current drama...
https://www.9news.com/article/news/local/morrison-police-chief-resign-colorado/73-6bd1ff4f-62b1-4a29-90e6-4862b9183e0c
As mentioned in the article, in 2015, 50% of the town of Morrison's revenue came from speeding tickets, mostly on C470 and 285, nowhere near the main business and residential areas.
In 2021, 10 officers have left the department- Just how big is this department versus the number of Morrison residents? Some of our rural county Sheriffs would love to have 10 deputies on staff.
When the Columbine shotgun girl from Florida was supposedly going to shoot-up one of our schools (she actually self-lobotomized near Echo Lake), front range LE agencies were tasking all available personnel to stand watch at all local educational facilities. How was Morrison PD supporting the effort?- They had their C-470 unit deployed with radar gun in standard position along the interstate. The Chief at the time and I had a rather animated discussion over that topic.
Probably best to just have the Jeffco Sheriff support the town normally, with Denver officers tasked for Red Rocks events.
If 50% of total rev of town is from speeding ticket, it is better to just get rid of town structure or have bigger city annexed if possible.
If 50% of total rev of town is from speeding ticket, it is better to just get rid of town structure or have bigger city annexed if possible.
Just like Campo, CO
.455_Hunter
10-20-2021, 11:25
Just like Campo, CO
Campo at least has the highway running through the actual town.
kidicarus13
10-20-2021, 11:26
Another recent blunder...
Town of Morrison forced to dismiss speeding tickets
PROBLEM SOLVERS
by:?Rob Low,?Carisa Scott
Posted:?Sep 18, 2020 / 10:15 PM MDT?/?Updated:?Sep 21, 2020 / 05:05 PM MDT
This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.
MORRISON, Colo. (KDVR) ? The Town of Morrison,?long known as a speed trap,?has been forced to dismiss traffic tickets after the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) learned Morrison lowered speed limits without a state traffic study.
The speed limit through downtown Morrison is 25 mph.?On June 15, then-Police Chief George Mumma asked the state if he could slow traffic to 20 mph because restaurants were seating people on the sidewalk near the street due to COVID-19.
CDOT said no, not without a traffic study. But Mumma admits he lowered the speed limit anyway on a temporary basis.
?I felt it was the right decision to be made, whether that?s right or wrong today, I made the decision and we didn?t have any fatalities and no one got hurt,? said Mumma, who explained he was motivated to help downtown restaurants during the pandemic.
But Mumma said he was following orders of the town manager on July 15 when he lowered the 40 mph speed limit sign outside of town to 25 mph.
?The 40 to 25 came about from the town manager telling us the mayor wanted us to drop that speed as well,? insisted Mumma.
At the time, the police chief was trying to hang onto his job but?as the Problem Solvers previously reported, Mumma was forced out Aug. 12.
Mumma maintains part of the reason he retired is because he wouldn?t go along with pressure from the town manager to make his department write more speeding tickets, which fund his department.
?My ethics on their ticket writing was excessive in the first place. That was a battle she and I had over that,? said Mumma, referring to town manager Kara Winters.
Winters wouldn?t talk to the Problem Solvers on camera but in an email told FOX31, wrote,??Unbeknownst to me the police department started issuing tickets for speeding in that area from 7/15/2020 to 8/31/2020.?
But Mumma said Winters had to assume tickets were being written because she is the person who ordered the speed limit be dropped by 15 mph as drivers left town.
?It could?ve been to gain more revenue. I don?t know,? said Mumma.
Last week, the town dismissed tickets and refunded fines already paid after it received a letter from CDOT which read in part, ?The town does NOT have the authority to change speed limits on State Highways?.Arbitrarily changing the speed limit is irresponsible, reckless and puts the traveling public at risk.?
?If you want to beat me up for it, I can take it. The goal of the? police chief is to make sure everybody is safe,? said Mumma, insisting safety for restaurant patrons was his only goal in reducing the speed limit from 25 to 20 downtown.?
Mumma said the town manager?s decision to reduce the 40 mph stretch to 25 mph was an excessive reduction and may have reinforced the town?s image as a speed trap.
In an email, Winters told FOX31 only 18 drivers were cited during the six-week period the speed limits were illegally reduced and promised all of those tickets have since been dismissed or refunded if the driver unknowingly paid the fine.
colorider
10-20-2021, 11:40
I quit going to establishments in Morrison when they started charging for all parking.
.455_Hunter
10-20-2021, 11:41
Mumma was guy I engaged with on a few occasions. One day, their radar gun unit was parked such that the nose of the cruiser was sticking into the far right lane of travel on C470. Mumma wasn't amused that I reported the situation to CHP as a traffic hazard.
He tries to paint himself in a good light with the quotes in the article, but he sure was complacent or supportive of town policies for many years.
Didn’t they recently get access to part of 285?
Martinjmpr
10-20-2021, 12:45
Didn’t they recently get access to part of 285?
I don't know about "recently" but I see one of their cars on one of the turnouts along Southbound 285 almost every weekend morning, raising revenue for the City of Morrison. I've seen this for years.
kidicarus13
10-20-2021, 13:50
.88015
.455_Hunter
10-20-2021, 13:53
.88015
No doubt working hard to ensure the safety of Morrison's residents, businesses, and visitors.
If this picture was located coming out of Bear Creek Canyon where traffic approaches downtown, I would have no problem with it.
If tickets are issued on state & national routes, fines and court fees should go to the prize pool for the state lottery. No share of revenue goes to any government.
Government should not profit from enforcement of laws.
whitewalrus
10-20-2021, 16:20
Always wondered what department those belonged to when I am going down 470. I just assumed it was the sheriff?s department. Guess all the cities near interstates should annex just to the other side of them so they too can make some money.
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I quit going to establishments in Morrison when they started charging for all parking.
Morrison has been a bad speed trap town for at least 60 years. Stop doing business in speed trap town and let the town businesses know by letters to the editor in local newspapers.
Lyons was long a speed trap town where local marshals ticketed and even jailed speeders. One of the town Barney's murdered a speeder. Not long after, the Marshal's office was closed and the Boulder Sheriff took over law enforcement.
While I was never stopped for speeding in Morrison or Lyons, I never did business in those towns when ticket revenue was their focus. Same with Monticello, UT, and a few others.
Dumas, TX. They close the roads and force you into their motels.
Dumas, TX. They close the roads and force you into their motels.
Never encountered that one
.455_Hunter
10-20-2021, 19:25
Dumas, TX. They close the roads and force you into their motels.
At a bargain $250 per night for a sleazy room that you wouldn't want to examine with a black light?
..... Lakeside and Mountview. [Peep]
BladesNBarrels
10-21-2021, 07:58
Dumas, TX. They close the roads and force you into their motels.
Yeah, I take 385 going to Amarillo from Raton.
That way I can see where my contributions to Boy's Ranch are going.
[Coffee]
Yeah, I take 385 going to Amarillo from Raton.
That way I can see where my contributions to Boy's Ranch are going.
[Coffee]
Done that route once. It sucks.
I've never had a problem on 287. I travel it 2 or 3 times a year.
buffalobo
10-21-2021, 10:08
Dumas, TX. They close the roads and force you into their motels.No one voluntarily stays in Dumas.
Grant H.
10-21-2021, 10:21
No one voluntarily stays in Dumas.
Understatement...
Even the subway there sucks...
The only real reason to stop is that's the last Braums on the way back to CO (taking the NM/TX route). My wife grew up in SW OK and so we make always visit that Braums on the way home.
Never encountered that one
Me either. My buddy lives in Houston and he's had friends coming down to visit him get caught in that.
They gave me a ticket for speeding on 285 back in March of 2020 shortly after the lockdowns began. Of course I got a letter in the mail explaining that due to covid the courts were closed and they would be happy to change the ticket to a violation that had zero points implications if I just paid the fine.
No one voluntarily stays in Dumas.
Lol.. I had to stay there for a week once while working on a project down there. Dumas had the same sort of liquor laws as Utah, anywhere that you wanted to get a drink you had to be "sponsored" by a member and of course the server was a member that could sponsor you..
buffalobo
10-21-2021, 12:25
Lol.. I had to stay there for a week once while working on a project down there. Dumas had the same sort of liquor laws as Utah, anywhere that you wanted to get a drink you had to be "sponsored" by a member and of course the server was a member that could sponsor you..Got stuck there for 3 months working the oil field in the 90's. It was worst oot job location ever.
kidicarus13
10-21-2021, 22:07
https://www.9news.com/article/news/local/morrison-police-chief-resigns-speeding-ticket-revenue-budget/73-15b8f875-de6b-42d2-b544-1b100bd9c325
9News - Denver, CO
Morrison PD chief resigns days after conceding ticket revenue would fall $800K short of expectations
Money from fines and forfeitures makes up nearly 50% of revenue for the Town of Morrison
MORRISON, Colo. ? The town of Morrison has a reputation for being a ticket trap, and that?s because it is. A report prepared for the town this year found that 98% of all calls initiated by officers in Morrison were traffic stops.
Police Chief Misty Siderfin leaves the job Thursday, resigning just three months after she was hired. The pressure to keep up that infamous ticket trap may have played a big role.
At a board meeting on Oct. 5, she told town leaders the department would bring in $300,000 worth of fines this year, more than $800,000 less than the town had budgeted for. Two days later, she submitted her letter of resignation.
"At this point in time, I am unable to continue within this role due [to] the limited resources, lack of financial stability and budgeting for the Police Department," Siderfin wrote, in part, in her resignation letter submitted on October 7.
George Mumma knows Siderfin's predicament well. He was the police chief in Morrison for nearly three years, but retired in August of 2020 after he says the town manager wanted his department to write more tickets instead of focus on community policing.
"The entire budget was based on traffic tickets," Mumma said. "Ethically, I could not do that."
Mumma was still at the department during the lockdown at the beginning of the pandemic. He said the town still wanted officers to wait on C-470 to write tickets to any speeding drivers. Of course, there were nearly no cars on the road back then, which impacted the revenue coming into the town.
"Since the budget is traffic tickets, everything that we did was based on it. I know that during my time there, our budget continually dropped because we weren?t bringing in traffic tickets," said Mumma. "Writing an entire budget worth of traffic tickets to fund a police department was not something that I could do in an ethical manner."
"After being a cop for 40-plus years, that?s not the way I work."
He?s now a commander with the Edgewater Police Department and a Republican candidate for Jefferson County sheriff.
Earlier this year, Morrison commissioned a report from a Denver consulting firm,?KRW Associates, to evaluate the department.
In-part, the firm found officers were pressured to write traffic tickets to subsidize the town?s budget. In 2021,?nearly half of the town?s $2.6 million budget?came from fines. The other half came from taxes along with other smaller sources of revenue.
In 2017, the report found revenue from tickets in Morrison brought in $1,165,874. In 2018, the number was $899,659. In 2019 it was $935,934. In 2020 fines brought $820,180 for the town.
The town's budget projected the police department would bring in $1,101,000 in 2021. Chief Siderfin notified the board in early October that number would only be $300,000 this year.
"I guess I just don?t know how a little town like Morrison gets out of that sort of addiction to writing tickets to supplement their revenue," said Lonnie Schaible, an associate professor in the School of Public Affairs at the University of Colorado Denver who focuses on policing.
Schaible said a town that focusses solely on writing tickets can face problems.
"I think it?s a dangerous trap for a department to rely on as a sole source of revenue because it pushes a lot of abusive behavior," said Schaible.
The report written by KRW was not released to the public on the town of Morrison's website. 9NEWS obtained the report through a public record's request.
In it, the consulting firm determines a series of "overall common themes" from confidential interviews with Morrison Police employees. Among them are these findings:
"The pay at Morrison PD is low compared to similar agencies""There is a perception within the police department that somewhere within the Town of Morrison, pressure has developed over the years for the officers to write traffic tickets."
"Officers have to purchase some of their own police gear."
"Ultimately, modern policing is about more than just generating revenue by giving tickets," said Robert Preuhs, chair of the political science department at Metropolitan State University of Denver. "Any time you?re making tradeoffs, moving personnel away from ticketing, you?re risking your revenue stream."
Preuhs said if there's only one stream of revenue funding a town, the pressure to write more tickets is higher.
"If people actually obey the law and don?t speed, you don?t have much revenue," said Preuhs. "Any time you have a downturn in that particular stream, a whole lot of pressure goes on both the city generally and ultimately you end up with reductions in services."
One of the recommendations the report made was to close down the department completely and let the Jefferson County Sheriff?s Office take over permanently. The report said that would be a solution to the town?s dependence on writing traffic tickets for revenue. Of course, the town would then have to find a new way to make money and this recommendation was not adopted.
The mayor of Morrison told 9NEWS at a town board meeting Tuesday night he does not plan to close the department.
9NEWS reached out to every member of the Morrison Board of Trustees, the mayor, town manager and the current chief. No one responded to a request for an interview.
Morrison will now pay the Jefferson County more than $20,000 a month to run patrols in the area as Mumma waits to see if his former department will return.
"If I were to look at it now with what?s going on, there?s no way I would take that job," said Mumma. "It?s too demanding for what they?re asking and I don?t see a way to recover from it."
Martinjmpr
10-22-2021, 08:12
IIRC Morrison hasn't even had a PD for that long. I know in the 80's all they had was a "town marshal."
Funny story: The town marshal had the legal authority (apparently) to appoint unpaid "deputies" who were then technically sworn LEOs (albeit without POST certification.) I know this because from 83 to 85 I worked for Johns-Manville in-house security and several of the supervisors on the security force became buddy-buddy with the Morrison Marshal and he "deputized" them so they could CCW (this was obviously long before our current CCW system.) The supervisors would actually brag about it and show their Morrison Commission Cards to some of us.
I think after a lot of abuses (ya think?) that authority was taken away from him. It must have been about this time CO started requiring POST certification for all sworn LEOs.
Morrison's PD sounds like Mountain View, a department that only exists to write tickets.
Whatever happened to Mountain View PD? Is it still around?
BladesNBarrels
10-22-2021, 08:22
Morrison's PD sounds like Mountain View, a department that only exists to write tickets.
Whatever happened to Mountain View PD? Is it still around?
Still alive!
https://www.mountainview.gov/depts/police/default.asp
.455_Hunter
10-22-2021, 08:24
Still alive!
https://www.mountainview.gov/depts/police/default.asp
Except that is the Mountain View in California.
BladesNBarrels
10-22-2021, 08:35
Except that is the Mountain View in California.
Dang, my Google Foo is off today.
Copied the wrong link. I stand or, as it is here, sit corrected!
https://townofmountainviewcolorado.org/services/police_department
Martinjmpr
10-22-2021, 09:42
Dang, my Google Foo is off today.
Copied the wrong link. I stand or, as it is here, sit corrected!
https://townofmountainviewcolorado.org/services/police_department
Interesting that it only shows a chief of police.
For some reason I thought there was talk of disbanding the MVPD and handing their duties over to Denver or Adams County?
Search results from the denver post:
88032
Morrison used to love to give tickets for your motorcycle being too loud. Always had to "idle" through there. Don't know if they still do.
Morrison used to love to give tickets for your motorcycle being too loud. Always had to "idle" through there. Don't know if they still do.
But at the same time, riders who put loud exhaust systems on their bike are doing it knowing the exhaust systems are illegal.
The law is any motorcycle manufactured after January 1, 1973 has a noise limit (fifty feet from center of lane of travel) of 88bD(A)
The exhaust systems people put on motorcycles are most sold "for off-road use only" or "not for use on highway vehicles".
People do all sorts of illegal [on the street] modifications to vehicles. They do them rolling the dice if police will decide to enforce the violations. When a person plays that game, its hard to feel sorry for them when they get a ticket and have to pay the price. Think of those tickets as the "price of doing business" of modifications.
With respect to Morrison, IIRC the motorcycle noise issue was because residents were fed up with noise from tons of straight piped bikes. You might think your motorcycle sounds awesome, but you are 794th one today rolling through town and the residents dont really think your bike sounds so great. They were OK with the first 632, but after that it gets annoying. I used to not understand why people got upset with a group of riders I may have known drag racing in the middle of the night near houses with loud pipes....
kidicarus13
10-28-2021, 22:30
They deserve everything they have coming...
https://kekbfm.com/colorado-towns-speed-traps/
riders who put loud exhaust systems on their bike are doing it knowing the exhaust systems are illegal.
Arrest those dastardly criminals, and throw them in prison, so they can be gang raped.
That'll teach them.
fifty feet from center of lane of travel of 88bD(A)
Everyone I have ever ridden with carries a sound meter and a measuring tape, to test if they hit the 88bD(A) mark, fifty feet from the center.
"for off-road use only" or "not for use on highway vehicles"
Close down those motorcycle shops, that install "LEGAL" aftermarket mufflers, to enhance the performance of a motorcycle.
Wouldn't want to offend ANYONE.
Arrest those dastardly criminals, and throw them in prison, so they can be gang raped.
That'll teach them.
Everyone I have ever ridden with carries a sound meter and a measuring tape, to test if they hit the 88bD(A) mark, fifty feet from the center.
Close down those motorcycle shops, that install "LEGAL" aftermarket mufflers, to enhance the performance of a motorcycle.
Wouldn't want to offend ANYONE.
Although satirical...
You don't need a sound meter... motorcycle manufacturers generally push noise right right up to the legal limit when they certify bikes. If you are making it louder, you know it is not legal.
As to your last point, you dont need a loud bike to have performance. I doubt anyone can take, for example, a Ducati Streetfighter V4S any where near where more performance is needed on the street. Of course I would be REALLY impressed if you can stay within the legal limits of street riding and actually NEED more than 208hp on 392lb bike....
I came in here ready to slam the Morrison police for their speed trap on 285 into Morrison.
But hell, if they are also busting farters, more power to them.
buffalobo
10-29-2021, 20:27
Although satirical...
You don't need a sound meter... motorcycle manufacturers generally push noise right right up to the legal limit when they certify bikes. If you are making it louder, you know it is not legal.
As to your last point, you dont need a loud bike to have performance. I doubt anyone can take, for example, a Ducati Streetfighter V4S any where near where more performance is needed on the street. Of course I would be REALLY impressed if you can stay within the legal limits of street riding and actually NEED more than 208hp on 392lb bike....Do you actually need more than 10 rounds?
Do you actually need more than 10 rounds?
The logical path is not there.
1 round, 10 rounds, or 200 rounds do not produce noise that bothers anyone.
Also, there is no maximum legal limit on sound levels emitted by a firearm.
There are clear legal sound pressure limits on noise generated by motor vehicles operated on the street.
Choosing to break the law is something that motorcyclists riding with loud pipes choose to do knowing it is illegal and that they can be stopped and ticketed.
Same thing as speeding. I sont NEED to drive 90mph on I25 but if I CHOOSE to do that I am doing it knowing it is illegal and I could be stopped and ticketed.
Do you actually need more than 10 rounds?
Yes. I also need a Hellcat.
Aloha_Shooter
11-01-2021, 13:42
But at the same time, riders who put loud exhaust systems on their bike are doing it knowing the exhaust systems are illegal.
The law is any motorcycle manufactured after January 1, 1973 has a noise limit (fifty feet from center of lane of travel) of 88bD(A)
The exhaust systems people put on motorcycles are most sold "for off-road use only" or "not for use on highway vehicles".
People do all sorts of illegal [on the street] modifications to vehicles. They do them rolling the dice if police will decide to enforce the violations. When a person plays that game, its hard to feel sorry for them when they get a ticket and have to pay the price. Think of those tickets as the "price of doing business" of modifications.
With respect to Morrison, IIRC the motorcycle noise issue was because residents were fed up with noise from tons of straight piped bikes. You might think your motorcycle sounds awesome, but you are 794th one today rolling through town and the residents dont really think your bike sounds so great. They were OK with the first 632, but after that it gets annoying. I used to not understand why people got upset with a group of riders I may have known drag racing in the middle of the night near houses with loud pipes....
This. Loud pipes save lives, my ass. When those pipes are so loud they distract me or literally cause headaches in my own vehicle with the windows up from over 20 feet away, they are endangering health and lives, not saving them. That goes for both 2- and 4-wheel vehicles.
You must be shooting suppressed. If someone fires 200 rounds 50 feet from me, It bothers me. Well unless they are shooting suppressed or I have ear pro. (im kidding of course)
Having a case of ammo does not make it noisy.
It is the discharging that makes noise. It doesnt matter how many rounds I have; what matters is if and where they are discharged as to how much they annoy people.
But CCI quiet22 is the way to go. :)
kidicarus13
11-04-2021, 04:14
Hey, at least they are hiring ethical people...
https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/former-morrison-police-officer-accused-of-falsifying-vehicle-identification-inspections
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