Noticed something over the last month at work and wonder if it would it stand up in court? On MacArthur Blvd, a Grand Prairie officer sits in Irving about 100 yards running radar at cars coming fro Grand Pairie over the Trinity River bridge. Cars are technically in GP.... by a few feet when he can see them. Is this something that would be thrown out of court if someone brought up the LEO isn't in the city limits he works for?

No, I wasn't stopped, just noticed it happening a couple days a week.

TIA

A jury might throw it out. I doubt a J.P. would. It's a speed trap.


28-701 - Reasonable and prudent speed; prima facie evidence; exceptions. A. A person shall not drive a vehicle on a highway at a speed greater than is reasonable and prudent under the circumstances, conditions and actual and potential hazards then existing.

Violation occurring in his city. No It won’t get thrown out.

Im not a LEO but something similar was happening here in Rowlett many years ago. Police would set up radar in Rowlett and radar people on the bridge coming into Rowlett over the lake. Problem is the bridge belongs to the City Of Dallas and even says so as you enter the bridge and leave the bridge. They got many years of revenue doing that until someone challenged it and won. Havent seen them set up there in years now.

I got a ticket in West Columbia coming home from a fishing trip. They had moved the city limits and speed limit a half mile farther out of town. I asked for a jury trial. I had planned to defend myself. The prosecutor dismissed it.

good luck

Its not a speed trap. I know the area. The rest of the story .

The county just widened the road and bridge. Headed north from I30, due to truck traffic at cement pipe plant and landfill, 35 mph speed limit is prudent. Limit changes to 45 at othersids of bridge which is past truck accesses. An officer is often stationed at the only safe location, which is in Irving. It is better, but the road still crests at bridge. So its still a blind approach and easy to loose traction when wet. After running 70 on I30, 35mph seems like a crawl.

This used to be a bottle neck dog leg at a crest of a rise. There was vehicle totaled there regularly.

Cities annex the roadways only so they can write citations and get the money.

That area near Hunter Ferrell used to be and still might be a hot spot for Radar.

It would see Irving Police and Dallas Constables both shooting radar in that area

They would also compete against each other in the school zones off MacArthur just north Hunter Ferrell

Only time I have city Constables using radar looking for speeders in those two places and only in Irving........

It’s only a speed trap when ya get caught ,,,,,,

Wrong.

https://www.motorists.org/issues/speed-traps/definition/

Home Issues Speed Traps What Is A Speed Trap?
RESOURCES:
NMA Speed Traps Fact Sheet ( PDF )
Free to download, print & distribute.
When most people think about speed traps, they think about police hiding behind billboards or waiting to pick off motorists right where the speed limit changes.

However, there is a broader, more accurate definition that covers these situations and more:

A speed trap exists wherever traffic enforcement is focused on extracting revenue from drivers instead of improving safety, made possible by speed limits posted below the prevailing flow of traffic.

Mis information

Did your company pay for it

One of the most famous speed traps was Kendelton. They had a black sheriff who was called White Knight. The Texas Rangers came in and shut the whole town down.

https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/the-perfect-speed-trap/


The Perfect Speed Trap – Texas Monthly
Texas Monthly › articles › the-perfect-sp...
Selma's speed trap collects an estimated $168,000 a year, or more than $800 for every man, woman, and child who lives there. Even the state of Texas cannot make a claim like that: all state taxes taken ...

So you are saying that less than 210 people live in Selma??

article says population of Selma is 207

I'm not saying or giving any information. I'm just posting what I found on google. You guys are free to contact Google and correct them.

So you post unverified info as facts and expect everyone else to do the leg work to verify its accuracy.
Oxners fake news dispensary

Bill is one of the most honest people on here except for denying his womanizing escapades.

not incorrect just not the whole story

The article is dated 1974. That was probably the population back then, now it’s a suburb of San Antonio. There was even a 60 Minutes episode about the Selma, TX speed trap

The speed limit is 40 on the GP side, 45 on the Irving side. Most truck traffic out of the pipe plant goes south to 30 and trash trucks usually turn into GPs landfill. I can understand the speed limit at the pipe plant since the trucks like to pull out in traffic and make them stop.
I personally haven't gotten a ticket there, just wondering how it would stand up in court

A peace officer listed in Subdivision (3), Article 2.12, who is licensed under Chapter 1701, Occupations Code, and is outside of the officer's jurisdiction may arrest without a warrant a person who commits any offense within the officer's presence or view, except that an officer described in this subdivision who is outside of that officer's jurisdiction may arrest a person for a violation of Subtitle C, Title 7, Transportation Code, only if the offense is committed in the county or counties in which the municipality employing the peace officer is located.

Title 7 is where most traffic offenses such as speeding are located.

How about just obey the law?

Because then you wouldn’t have any street cred

Concho hit the nail on the head. Stop whining nd just obey the speed limit.

Raising the Speed Limit is actually safer and causes less traffic congestion.

I lived in the Irving area and most main streets were 30 to 35 mph, come up to Frisco and the main streets are 50 to 55 mph.

City planners have found if you keep traffic moving at a faster pace then you can keep down traffic congestion

Famous speed traps that were shut down.
Estillene Texas.
Stringtown Oklahoma.

Both had one policeman that only wrote tickets. I am not sure what the population of Stringtown is but Estillene was less than 200. But they had the closest liquor store to Childress, Texas. Maybe 1/2 mile the speed limit dropped from 65 to 45. The cop was on station for 8 hours a day.

If it weren't for the liquor store, not sure Estillene would have still existed. I was wondering where the cop was a few weeks ago.

I travel frequently on Texas highways. I like to hold onto my hard-earned money. Therefore, I try to obey posted speed limits, never more than 5 over. Even on a wide-open 75mph highway. I know most of the roads I travel regularly very well. I can tell you where ever speed limit change takes place along DFW to Amarillo on US-287.

What I find annoying is when cities toy with speed limit changes at their edges in areas that really don't need a change (wide open highway.) Things like replacing a 65 to 60 and then bringing it back up to 70 another time. I assure you this occurs. When they do it, they have their man out there working radar hard. Because I am observant, not playing with my phone, I don't get tickets. That doesn't mean it doesn't aggravate me. Those are clearly tricks to catch more people and issue more tickets. No need to play games to generate revenue.

Not whining, I asked if it would stand up in court. And again, I didn't get a ticket, I see this almost daily

Maybe you should read my question. I wasnt whining. IF I get a ticket, I'll accept it IF I was doing wrong.
However, the question wasnt about me, it was about the location where the LEO was parked.

Back in the day Roanoke was known as the worst speed trap around Fort Worth.

You pulled this up from August just to say that?

I drive as fast as I want, when I want and where I want.
I just look at tickets as donations to a good cause.

I had state troopers pull in front of the semi and wait for an idiot on the interstate. ohio, colorado, wyoming and montana did it a lot.

was always fun to watch some aggressive driver get nailed.

So it still a "comeback" if it takes you 7 months to come up with it?

We all know what the speeds are like on that bridge now too. It's a wonder more people aren't killed on it.

Man, surprised to find this topic here but I just happen to have a story about 02/17/2019 and I am currently setup on a court date for this ticket.

I was driving from Irving to Whataburger off I-30 and Beltline RD. I noticed the GPD officer (SUV) parked in the old salvage yard entry running radar on individuals coming into Irving. I know, pick your battles right, well I guess on this day I felt like picking one.

Now some descriptions of the area. Yes the area is a safe area to park, so is the 4 way stop light just before the bridge (GP Dump Entrance) which is still in GP...they don't like that spot because you can see them before you get there though
Just on the Irving side of the bridge is the City Limits Sign, the Old Salvage Yard entrance is about 50-75 yds from this sign.

Anyways, on my way back from Whataburger I see he is no longer there...figured he had someone pulled over and sure enough, between the west Hunter Ferrell Road and the East Hunter Ferrell road he had a small sedan pulled over. Traffic moves over and we pass by him, what do you know, I missed a down shift from 5th to 4th and accidentally hit 2nd and caused my motor to rev to about 6,500 (2017 GT with exhaust). I quickly let up on the throttle, tried to get it back into correct gear but you know how these MT-82's can be and it locked me out as I eased in on the gas, causing my engine to rev a couple more times.

Well as I am passing Townley Elementary school, easily 1 - 1 1/2 miles into Irving and baam, he comes flying up behind me with lights on.I pull over in the turn lane on Russdell and put my hazards on, roll the window down and get my CCW and DL out for him. He walks up to the window "That's real cute, now get your license and insurance out". Of course I already had everything ready so he immediately asked why I felt the need to rev my motor when passing an officer. I explained that I missed a gear which he cut me off and said "Oh, you missed a gear right when you passed an officer". I told him I missed one on the highway as well, new car and new driver to manuals. "Oh, that makes sense" to which I pointed out that it was my belief that "I thought I was in Irving"...and "I thought that side of the bridge back there was in Irving as well".

He did not respond with anything other than "You must not know where the city limits are". Okay, so while he stands there, starring at my insurance I told him that there is no reason to be rude we can talk to each other nice which he immediately refused with "NO, YOU REV YOUR MOTOR AND EXPECT ME TO BE NICE!". So I get quiet but still wanting to make small talk I notice that he has a ton of stubble on his arms which peaks my curiosity and in trying to make small talk I ask, "Hey man, you shave your arms?" which he asked me to repeat so I did but he didn't answer me.

Well 25 minutes later Irving PD shows up, comes and tells me to hang on, I told them "I am happy to see an Irving officer". They chat for about 10 minutes and then Officer Banks (IPD) comes to me and says that "Now we were not here to witness anything so intentional or not we are issuing this citation based off this officers testimony". The Citation was for "No Muffler/Defective" which I ask what that means since I just bought the car from Grapevine Ford and have not touched the exhaust which is still as it came from the factory, "I even have catalytic converters" which the Irving officers responded that the exhaust has to prevent excessive noise which I asked at that point "what is excessive?".

Needless to say I am disputing the ticket, I have a BlackVUE 900 front and rear dash cam with audio which I have reviewed several times. I did ask for the officers name and badge number as I planned on filing a complaint though now I am considering just disputing the ticket and moving along as it is not really worth it. We were both dicks though, there is nothing illegal about being an [censored] nor is there anything illegal about revving your motor. It is taking off or squealing your tires that fall under Exhibition of Performance and Texas does not have a DB rating for exhaust as California does.

First ticket in 9 years but eh, get it taken care of and move on.

I grew up in Wharton... I remember it well.

Speaking of speed traps. Estelline still has theirs. A new mustang in fact.

I lived in Irving for over 40 years, the cops in Irving for the most part treat everyone like trash, I don't know if it what they deal with on a daily basis or how they are trained. I moved to Frisco and police department up here are very nice and respectful and do their best to help you out and have great customer service.

Best thing in Irving is to keep your mouth shut and when you are done get a lawyer to fight a ticket, Get the ticket out of Irving Jurisdiction as well by having it go to Dallas County.

I was in a City Park one day in South Irving and girl backed into me, I asked her for her insurance which she refused and all of sudden she couldn't speak English. So I called the police and the guy began to tell me the property is Private Property and he couldn't do anything, I pointed out to him this is Southwest Park and it is city property and owned by the city, He would have none of this.

Watch out in Calvert, Tx., and really watch out in Woodworth, Louisiana. Calvert hasn’t gotten me yet, but Woodworth did. Probably should just avoid going through Woodworth.

For a time, I was in the MPs in the Marines. Never felt so unloved and unliked in my life. Didn’t take me long to develop an Us versus Them mentality. And nobody shot MPs. It has to be really tough to be a cop these days, worrying about when some doped up yahoo is gonna take a shot at me. If I was in that life I doubt I’d be anything other than jumpy as s___ and strictly business - no unnecessary chit chat.

Even way back then we were told that if we pulled over a woman of any age, do NOT write a warning. Write the ticket, no exceptions. Protection against claims of sexual harassment.

Anyway, I still have no tolerance for speed traps. It’s just wrong. If a cop has the job of bringing in revenue by specifically targeting drivers, he should truly be ashamed. I have no respect for people like that.