Got a ticket from Boston PD

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But the vehicle has not yet ever traveled to Boston! We (and the car) were at least 40 miles away the location where the so called infraction happened. The ticket is handwritten. The car is registered in my wife's name, so her driver's licence and name is listed on the citation along with our car information. The offence is "right turn from middle lane prohibited". The ticket came in the mail today and it was written day before yesterday morning.

It looks like the officer just searched for the vehicle database and wrote the ticket for the first match. It is highly unlikely that a this is a case of transposed plate number. I bet he pulled the list of grey 4-dr sedans on his computer and just picked this car randomly and then copied all the information including the registered owner and her driver's licence. I am almost certain that he had not got the plate of the offender. That officer should not be on the force. He is literally "mailing" it in:-)

Yes, it is just a written warning but I am still upset. I am not sure if it worth pursuing. There is no point in making enemies with the authority. I am sure the higher up probably want the officers to write as many tickets as they can using any method legal or illegal.
 
Originally Posted By: Vikas
I am not sure if it worth pursuing.


Seriously? You are going to let them ram-rod you out of your money and you are completely innocent? That means they will do it to everybody else without repercussions.
 
Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
Read his post: it is just a written warning.


Ah, yes. I'd still send in a note saying that the car was nowhere in the area.
 
Originally Posted By: Kruse
Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
Read his post: it is just a written warning.


Ah, yes. I'd still send in a note saying that the car was nowhere in the area.


I'd go one better, I'd find a local news show/newspaper that needed a hot local story. Provide proof of where you/she was that day and time, via work or debit card activity and let then run and dig it up.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: spasm3
Originally Posted By: Kruse
Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
Read his post: it is just a written warning.


Ah, yes. I'd still send in a note saying that the car was nowhere in the area.


I'd go one better, I'd find a local news show/newspaper that needed a hot local story. Provide proof of where you/she was that day and time, via work or debit card activity and let then run and dig it up.


I know that sounds a little much at first but the media likes to "stick it to the man" every once and a while and I think that method of ticketing is ridiculous. I like this idea.
 
I just got an overdue ticket fine notice for a license plate I got rid of in 2008. I pulled the plate up as "available" on the BMV website and printed the screen shot and am mailing that back with a letter. Some idiot cop wrote the wrong plate number.
mad.gif
 
Although police officers are human and like the rest of us capable of honest mistakes, when THEY make a mistake it can have far greater consequences. I would definitely bring your proof to the BPD. If they are unresponsive, then go to the local media.
 
Originally Posted By: RF Overlord
Although police officers are human and like the rest of us capable of honest mistakes, when THEY make a mistake it can have far greater consequences. I would definitely bring your proof to the BPD. If they are unresponsive, then go to the local media.


+1 on this one. Like my Mama says, "I'm nice till nice don't get it done." There are plenty of good, honest, hard working police officers who are a credit to the force. This individual who gave you the warning is an insult to all these dedicated men and women and gives them a bad name. For their sake, he or she needs to be called on the carpet for the bogus work they're doing.
 
Originally Posted By: JethroBodine
Some idiot cop wrote the wrong plate number.
mad.gif



Yes you never made a mistake ever.....Letters go a long way that well formed.
 
Meh, you guys are getting awfully worked up over something trivial. Sounds like you got some free toilet paper. :-)
 
As I said before, the odds of this being a wrong plate is one in billion! Given that officers can access the entire DMV database from their car, it is trivial to pick up the first 4 door grey colored car from the computer printout. This particular vehicle manufacturer just happens to be the 1st one when the drop-down menu is shown.

At least with automated tickets, we get the picture of the car and the driver but with officers with questionable work ethics, they can write whatever they want.

Here is a open challenge for somebody who has access to Mass DMV plates. Prove it to me by coming with another plate number which is close to mine with the identical car.
 
Originally Posted By: Vikas
But the vehicle has not yet ever traveled to Boston! We (and the car) were at least 40 miles away the location where the so called infraction happened. The ticket is handwritten. The car is registered in my wife's name, so her driver's licence and name is listed on the citation along with our car information. The offence is "right turn from middle lane prohibited". The ticket came in the mail today and it was written day before yesterday morning.

It looks like the officer just searched for the vehicle database and wrote the ticket for the first match. It is highly unlikely that a this is a case of transposed plate number. I bet he pulled the list of grey 4-dr sedans on his computer and just picked this car randomly and then copied all the information including the registered owner and her driver's licence. I am almost certain that he had not got the plate of the offender. That officer should not be on the force. He is literally "mailing" it in:-)

Yes, it is just a written warning but I am still upset. I am not sure if it worth pursuing. There is no point in making enemies with the authority. I am sure the higher up probably want the officers to write as many tickets as they can using any method legal or illegal.


Vikas;

If it were me I would definitely not drop it. I would absolutely contact the BPD with a politely written letter with proof you were no where near that location so there is no w ay the Officer saw you/your wife, in your vehicle, do that.

May only be a warning but BPD will keep track of it so it is in their system. If you are ever stopped there on a minor thing that might get you a deserved warning it can turn into a ticket.

Absolutely not something to drop but at the same time no need to go nuclear over it. Try a civil approach 1st. I would definitely send everything return receipt and keep copies and such of your correspondence and any response from BPD. If they do not own up to it being an error I would pursue it further just so it isn't used against you later.
 
The only proof that I have is my own word that I was not there. From email records, I was in my office in Hopkinton MA before 9:06AM and the ticket was given at 8:35AM in Boston. It is physically impossible to be able to do that. At that time, I was most likely on I-495 south driving from my home to work. We own this car for now almost one year and I have yet to take it even on any toll road. The transponder is still not on the windshield or the car itself yet has to be registered with EZPass.

Would this be enough for BPD to figure out what actually happened?
 
Originally Posted By: Vikas
The only proof that I have is my own word that I was not there. From email records, I was in my office in Hopkinton MA before 9:06AM and the ticket was given at 8:35AM in Boston. It is physically impossible to be able to do that. At that time, I was most likely on I-495 south driving from my home to work. We own this car for now almost one year and I have yet to take it even on any toll road. The transponder is still not on the windshield or the car itself yet has to be registered with EZPass.

Would this be enough for BPD to figure out what actually happened?


I would start by writing to them and telling them about that time line and that it is impossible for you to have been there when the ticket was issued. Good place to start.
 
Originally Posted By: wkcars
When the police issue a ticket don't they get the driver to sign it?

This was a written warning, not a ticket. I have never had to sign a written warning. In fact, that one time I got an actual ticket I didn't have to sign it, either.
 
Years ago I received a parking ticket in the mail from Orleans Parish. I hadnt been to New Orleans in the previous 6 months and the vehicle listed was a Jeep, the license plate matched the Geo Prizm I owned at the time. A phone call and an emailed copy of my registration cleared it up.
 
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