Cops ask hundreds of fine defaulters to give themselves up
Chief Superintendent Kurt Walton
(CNS): Police executed 34 outstanding warrants for unpaid traffic fines or failures to appear in court in a 24-hour period yesterday as they began working through some 700 outstanding warrants. Describing the backlog as “daunting”, the police are urging people to pay their fines and address their outstanding cases as the sheer volume is stretching police resources.
“Executing warrant after warrant for unpaid fines and failures to appear in court is a huge drain on police resources,” said Chief Superintendent Kurt Walton. “Without this enforcement the entire justice system would grind to a halt, so it must be done. We will continue to have warrant operations like the one yesterday. But we need the community to work with us – please take care of your court business on time.”
Walton warned that the execution of warrants can happen anywhere and at any time, often not at the most convenient time or place for the person in question.
“Having the police visit your work to execute an outstanding warrant does not create the best impression with your boss and co-workers but we execute warrants wherever we know a person will be,” the senior officer said. “People can avoid this scenario just by visiting the Criminal Registry at the main court building and dealing with their cases.”
I’ve owed money since 2008 for consumption of Ganja. Come get it.
Well I got a ticket for speeding for a date in the future. Should I pay it or should I wait for the date, commit the act of speeding on said date, then go pay the fine?
But one cannot do this! Unless the fine is paid within the required period one must appear in Court. One cannot attend after the time period has expired and “settle up”, one attends Court or a warrant is issued.
Not true. One should get one’s ass to court and pay one’s fine…..and stop being such a smartass!
Well from the time a seat-belt offense has to be taken to court instead of a less daunting task like say…just paying the fine. That may help in the failure to appear in court part of things. I for one (if i ever) happen upon receiving a seat belt offense with mandatory appearance in court i will myself fail to appear.
Criminal!
In other news, police announce that some people have failed to update their address on their drivers licence or vehicle registration, or even left the country, making serving the remaining 666 warrants very difficult and over stretching their limited abilities to actually find these people. A spokesmen said they were very disappointed that people breaking laws could be so uncooperative and fail to appreciate how hard it is for the police to find someone unless they hand themselves in.
Inspector Clouseau, Lt Frank Drebin, and Officer Larvell Jones have nothing on these crime fighters. 400 people all too busy to do traffic duty, marine enforcement, or even execute warrants. Nice work if you can get it.
I was thinking. There are three categories of people on Island. Caymanians, Permanent Resident and Expats.
Perhaps RCIP need to first find out the status of the Driver on Island . Usually immigration has Work Permit ID (Don’t know if they still issue them) , Then tie the ticket to their file. So once a permit comes up for renewal these fines must first be paid.
Cause as 11:28 says, some of these people may not even be on Island.
That’s it 1.44, just get the expats and let the Caymanians go….really? A lot of you think the law does not apply to you, that is why this place is going downhill fast…the law is for everyone.
Except when it is not?
Good approach – but there are only two categories. Caymanians and Expats. Permanent Residents are still Expats, right up until they become Caymanian.
Ummmm, no. They are all f___’in driftwood until their family has been here for over five generations.
Wow, as if Immigration isn’t already overworked to the point of having to cut back lunch breaks to 3 hours and tea breaks to one lousy hour. You want them to get involved in law enforcement as well. You are really heartless and should be thankful that they even come in to the office fairly often.
Ok. We ask you to come in and pay your fines.
Or Else:
We will have to ask you again!
And keep asking – until you come…
Maybe everyone could make an effort to comply with the law. This would free up police time and resources to tackle more pressing issues like drug dealing and burglary. It’s insane that we are so uncooperative and expect so much from the RCIPS when we can’t pay these simple fines for the most preventable of violations.
Please form an orderly line at the gates to Northward, as its Friday and we can’t be bothered to do our job properly.
I wonder how many of these defaulters are even still on-island. As has already been posted this is something immigration could be locked into.
@11:28 am. Good Point!!
Hundreds of fine defaulters are asking CNS to find out how to pay traffic tickets online. Everywhere else in the world it is done online.
If that is not possible in one of the world’s leading financial centers, RCIPS must advise how to actually pay it, since it is practically impossible during weekdays due to traffic and lack of parking.
All you have to do RCIP is imposed fine on the spot. No need to waste the court time and police resources to drag someone through the court for $75.00.
That’s what they do in Mexico, but somehow the cash never makes it farther than the cop’s pocket. Online payment might be a problem if the system is as vulnerable as the report lets on but it makes the most sense.
Are you sure that the money will end up in the right pocket though?…
Yep, the right hip pocket most likely! Can you say “invitation to blatant official corruption?” I thought you could!!
This would be much easier if you were given longer than three weeks to pay. There should be more allowances for late payments, because going to court takes an entire day and is a waste of court resources. Plus you are just going to get a larger fine anyway, so stop making people go to court, and just give them longer than three weeks – especially for parking tickets and silly issues – if I am only 35 feet from a cross walk and not the requisite 40 – and I forgot to pay my ticket on time, I shouldn’t have to take an entire day off work to go to court, only to get a higher fine. Just give me the higher fine and I’ll pay it!! People aren’t turning themselves in, because the court process is arduous and unnecessary.
I think even in Ephiopia you can pay traffic tickets online now.
In your specific example, the easiest way to reduce/remove the time and effort involved is simply to park 40+ feet from a cross walk, job’s a good’un, happy to help.
you must of had white plates and parked by the chicken place its a hot spot for those less than 40 feet from the crosswalk tickets when I use my local car no ticket but my visitor friends get tickets every time almost funny but not funny
Ah…sympathy required for a law breaker. Lesson is, don’t break the law and if you do pay on time rather than look for pathetic excuses not too. You are the problem, not the solution.
NOTHING is enforced in this Country. I wish my daughters father would pay his child support every week as ordered by the courts over 10 years now and still NO SUPPORT!
What a joke! No renewal of license unless all fines are paid with added penalty charges of $ 10 for each day the ticket was outstanding. 90% of problem solved!
You assume they have a valid driver’s license.
How do I pay it online? There are no parking available in GT an traffic is really bad to do it on my 1hr lunch break.
Classic caymankind “somebody please think for me” answer.
Well I know in Alberia, when you renew your drivers or vehicle license, if there are any outstanding fines, they have to be cleared before renewal.
How hard is that to implement? Oh sorry not you, brothers sister cousins uncle mothers fathers baby mama.
Do you mean Alberta, not Alberia?
No, he meant Alberia. It is from the Game of Thrones. You can’t fly dragons if you don’t pay your fines.
Check out the recent cause lists (https://www.judicial.ky/courts/cause-lists) and see how many drivers are operating with invalid licences, no insurance, no current inspections, and no current registration. How many MORE will be doing that if they cannot re-licence their vehicle until they pay back fines??
Better idea – change the current licence coupon to a BARCODE that any officer can SCAN and get an instant record of the coupon (while on the grocery store parking lot, while he is parked illegally in a blue spot, shopping on the public’s time no less)! I see at least 3-4 expired coupons EVERY TIME I walk from the parking lot to the store!! Target the EASY apprehensions!!!!! Go where the violators are, and forget the roadblocks.
Oops, darn I deviated a bit from my point, but you can see the logic of the suggestion. Give the officer an instant view of the current state of a vehicle licence and all the (illegal) roadblocks will take 90% less of the INNOCENT public’s precious drive time! Scan the coupon, check record, no violations – NEXT!! Take the violators before a court INSTANTLY and don’t let them go until they pay the fines. Problem solved with 80-90% less hassle or wasted time and effort!
Also, why don’t we have a night court for minor traffic and other minor violations that won’t penalise people further by losing time off from work?!?! Let the person ELECT day or night court right on the ticket, if they are not arraigned instantly (see above).
Oh, but that would make perfect sense and we can’t have that in Cayman….. 🙁
Just another day in Absurdistan for our law “enfarcement” agencies. Breeding warrants like green iguanas and then letting them roam free.
If you would do your job, you wouldn’t have 700 warrants to clean up. So get out from under your desks and get on with it. You have 400 officers. If each one handles two cases you could sort this in one working day……..
Can you please publish the list? Just be sure you have accurate information. you do have accurate information, right?
And if the burglars and drug dealers could also turn themselves in that would be greatly appreciated.
Big bills we dont pay em, and small bills we forget about em
Catch me at my wake
Kurt, tried asking immigration to help? Give them the list and they can stop people at the border.
Stop people at the border?? What is this nonsense? Just remove the ridiculous requirement to have your day in court for a petty speeding or parking or seatbelt offence, make the fine payable either on the spot or at any location you wish and the problem goes away. I mean people here are happy to queue up in gas station behind people buying endless amounts of phone credit or paying a CUC bill when all you want to do is buy gas and go on your way….