Atlanta Hawks Owner Blows The Dog Whistle!

God damn it, this year is getting worse for Black America. The ignorant White conservative man continue his pursuit of hatred and total bigotry towards Blacks.

Now the NBA once again has an owner who was caught on tape or through the social networks saying something disrespectful towards Blacks.

Bruce Levenson, part of owner of the Hawks is giving it up after the uproar.

As expected the racist right will claim this guy is a Democrat cause he may have donated a few thousands to group that associates with the party. The racist right will say that NBA stars say NIGGA like it's an everyday thing. The racist right will acknowledge that White men are off limits to political correctness.

No one is stopping the White conservative man from being a condescending bigot. You have the right to say ugly hurtful and downright racist things about the president, the Black community and those who aren't White. You can do so at your peril, If you own a business or have media impact, you can get the hammer laid on you if you speak hateful words.

The Associated Press reports that less than one month after the Clippers' sale ended Donald Sterling's ugly downfall, another NBA team is on the market following a racially charged disclosure from its owner.

Atlanta Hawks co-owner Bruce Levenson said Sunday he is selling his controlling interest in the team, thanks in part to an inflammatory email he wrote two years ago.

NBA owner goes off on Blacks at his game in an fiery email.

Levenson said he wrote the email in an attempt "to bridge Atlanta's racial sports divide." Instead, he offered his divisive comments, including his theory that Hawks black fans kept white fans away.

Levenson said he regrets the email sent to the team's co-owners and general manager Danny Ferry in 2012 as "inappropriate and offensive." In a statement released by the team, Levenson said he sent the email due to his concerns about low attendance and a need to attract suburban whites.

He says he later realized the email made it seem white fans were more important. He voluntarily reported the email to the NBA.

"I have said repeatedly that the NBA should have zero tolerance for racism, and I strongly believe that to be true," Levenson said in the statement. "That is why I voluntarily reported my inappropriate email to the NBA.

"After much long and difficult contemplation, I have decided that it is in the best interests of the team, the Atlanta community, and the NBA to sell my controlling interest in the Hawks franchise."

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Sunday the league will work with the Hawks' ownership group and CEO Steve Koonin, who now will oversee all team operations.

Silver said the league's independent investigation "regarding the circumstances of Mr. Levenson's comments" in the email was ongoing when he was told Saturday night of Levenson's plan to sell his share of the team.

Silver said he supported Levenson's decision.

"As Mr. Levenson acknowledged, the views he expressed are entirely unacceptable and are in stark contrast to the core principles of the National Basketball Association," Silver said. "He shared with me how truly remorseful he is for using those hurtful words and how apologetic he is to the entire NBA family — fans, players, team employees, business partners and fellow team owners — for having diverted attention away from our game.

The team is on sale.

"I commend Mr. Levenson for self-reporting to the league office, for being fully cooperative with the league and its independent investigator, and for putting the best interests of the Hawks, the Atlanta community, and the NBA first."

Sterling was forced to sell the Los Angeles Clippers after a recording surfaced in April of the owner scolding his girlfriend for bringing black men to Clippers games. Steve Ballmer officially became the team's new owner on Aug. 12.

In the email sent in August 2012, Levenson said "southern whites" were uncomfortable at games.

"My theory is that the black crowd scared away the whites and there are simply not enough affluent black fans to build a significant season ticket base," Levenson said in the email released Sunday by the Hawks.

"Please don't get me wrong. There was nothing threatening going on in the arena back then. I never felt uncomfortable, but I think southern whites simply were not comfortable being in an arena or at a bar where they were in the minority."

Levenson said Hawks crowds were 70 percent black, the team's cheerleaders were black and hip-hop music was played.

"Then I start looking around at other arenas," Levenson said. "It is completely different."

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Atlanta's population was 54 percent black and 38.4-percent white in 2010. For metro Atlanta, the ratio is 55.4 percent white and 32.4 percent black.

Levenson said he often heard fans say the area around Philips Arena in downtown Atlanta is dangerous.

"This was just racist garbage," Levenson said. "When I hear some people saying the arena is in the wrong place I think it is code for there are too many blacks at the games."

John Jenkins.

Though he said he disagreed with the conclusion, he said he told team executives to add white cheerleaders and music "familiar to a 40-year-old white guy."

Added Levenson in the email: "I have even (complained) that the kiss cam is too black."

Atlanta mayor Kasim Reed said the comments in Levenson's email were "reprehensible and offensive."

"The statements do not represent the city of Atlanta's history of diversity and inclusion, and we will be clear and deliberate in denouncing and repudiating them," Reed said. "I applaud the NBA's efforts to enforce a no-tolerance policy of discrimination. As a city, we will continue to stand behind the Atlanta Hawks organization as they work to find new ownership that reflects the values and ideals of a city that is too busy to hate."

The Rev. Al Sharpton released a statement encouraging Silver "to continue vetting all owners."

"The announcement by Bruce Levenson is welcomed and appropriate by those of us in the civil rights community, that raised the issue of Donald Sterling's need to be removed, and that other owners must be held accountable," Sharpton said.

Though the NBA investigation of the email was ongoing, Levenson apparently concluded he couldn't continue in his ownership role.

"If you're angry about what I wrote, you should be," Levenson said in Sunday's statement. "I'm angry at myself, too. It was inflammatory nonsense. We all may have subtle biases and preconceptions when it comes to race, but my role as a leader is to challenge them, not to validate or accommodate those who might hold them."

This is not Levenson's first effort to sell the team. In 2011, the Hawks' ownership group, headed by Levenson and Michael Gearon Jr., made an unsuccessful attempt to sell to California developer and pizza chain owner Alex Meruelo.

The group acquired the Hawks and the NHL Thrashers from Time Warner in 2004. The Thrashers were sold and moved to Winnipeg in 2011.

Simone Battle Of G.R.L. Passes Away!

A young talent passed away this weekend.


Simone Battle, a member of the five member group G.R.L. was found dead in her her Los Angeles home yesterday morning, and authorities think she hanged herself.

Battle first rose to national fame on the X Factor reality show in 2011. Though she got eliminated in the first live show in competition, she made an impression that helped her land a spot with GRL, a reboot of the Pussycat Dolls, reports the Daily News. "Simone was an exceptional young talent and human being, and we are all devastated to learn of her passing,” said a joint statement from RCA Records and two other music companies. As an actress, Battle appeared in episodes of Everybody Hates Chris and Zoey 101, notes Billboard.

The official social network for G.R.L. publicly released their statement:

Words cannot express the depth of our loss. Simone's incredible talent was only surpassed by the size of her heart.
— G.R.L. (@grl) September 6, 2014

We will carry her memory with us in everything we do.
— G.R.L. (@grl) September 6, 2014

Watch @GRL's chat w/ @KevinManno http://t.co/Vn6VmhsHU4 @GRLEmmalyn @GRLLauren @GRLNatasha @GRLPaula @GRLSimone! pic.twitter.com/NRYnUbb3Mi
— 1043 MYfm (@1043MYfm) September 3, 2014

We here at Journal de la Reyna send our condolences to the family of Simone Battle.

Georgia Dad May Get The Gas For Leaving Son To Die In A Hot Car!

Dad is found guilty of being negligent parent.

In Georgia, the high profile case of Justin Harris, the man who left his son in a hot car for hours while he was sending his junk over the sex stream was convicted of charge.

In Georgia, he may end up getting the gas house if the jury decides that life in the iron college isn't enough punishment.

Bad parenting leads to this stuff. There's no accident. A parent should know better to not leave any child, or a dog in a hot car. That stuff is one of the reason to why our country is so fucking stupid.

Justin Ross Harris, 33, also faces two counts of felony murder for the June 18 death. The eight-count indictment by a Cobb County grand jury includes charges of child cruelty and a criminal charge involving sexual exploitation of a child.

“The evidence in this case has led us to this point today,” he said in a statement.

The case of the suburban Atlanta father, who has been jailed since his son’s death, has drawn attention to a tragic cause of death in children.

So far this year, 26 children have died of vehicle-related heat strokes in the United States, according to KidAndCars.org. On average, the group sees 38 such deaths each year. Although parents typically face criminal charges in about half the deaths, the group said felony murder charges were unusual.

“We've seen some pretty extreme charges this year,” said Amber Rollins, director of the nonprofit organization, based in Kansas City, Missouri.

The indictment said Harris acted “with malice aforethought” when he placed his toddler in a car seat and left him in a sport utility vehicle on a day when the temperature was in the 90s F.

Harris told police he forgot to drop his son, Cooper, off at his daycare center on his way to work and only discovered the child after he left the office that afternoon.

Prosecutors contended that Harris deliberately left Cooper in the car because he wanted to live a child-free life.

Harris’ attorney, Maddox Kilgore, has argued there is no proof his client knowingly left the child in the car.

In July, a judge ordered Harris to remain jailed without bond after hearing evidence he exchanged nude photographs with women other than his wife while he was at work and his son was dying in the car.

Investigators testified that Harris did Internet research on living child-free and how to survive in prison before his son’s death. He was having marital and work problems, investigators said.

Harris’ wife, Leanna, was interviewed by authorities but has not been charged in the case.

We here at Journal de la Reyna send our condolences to the family of Cooper Harris. Minus his mother and father. These two should be shoved under a rock.

The Racist Right Still Digging In The Crates!

Some of the photos are Michael Brown. The rest are likely false. But who cares, they're nothing incriminating about them.

Still at it, eh?

Okay, this Charles Johnson guy is just as worse as that asshat Colin Flaherty.

These White extremists are determined to blame the victim for his own death. Despite being unarmed, the white extremist is trying to find "incriminating" evidence to prove that Michael Brown, the young teen hit with six by a Ferguson cop started the confrontation.

This racist troll can't get a "smoking" gun. So he'll keep trying and trying and unfortunately drive the junk food media to it.

Okay, once again fuck Asswipe Charles Johnson, Asshat Colin Flaherty, and Assbanger Jim Hoft.

Three White extremists.

Keep it moving cause there's nothing to see here. Waste of my time.

Somewhere In September!

Nothing is working. Second term curse in full steam.

We're less than a few months from election day. The Democrats are on the verge of losing control of Congress. The president's job approval is worse. The president and his party have not accomplish much during the time Republicans took control of the House of Representatives.

Although, the Congress is equally worse than Obama, the Republicans actually have more enthusiasm when it comes to voting this session. They want to beat Obama.

This jobs report is perfect for the Republicans to win on the message that "Obama is not working". 

Again the mood of the country sour. On not only the president, but the Democrats and Republicans as well. The constant gridlock and the president's refusal to go after the Republicans left us in the mess.

The president is probably glad to go overseas. He is trying to get aid in the fight against the Islamic State and Boko Haram. He wants the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to stop the fighting in Israeli/Palestine and the Russian Federation/Ukraine crisis.

The job market was lousy again in August after several months of decent growth. Employers added just 142,000 jobs to non-farm payrolls, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday, the worst month for job growth this year. It fell short of the 223,000 economists expected, according to a Briefing.com tally. It was also well below the recent pace of job growth, which had averaged more than 200,000 jobs per month so far this year.

The unemployment rate dipped to 6.1 percent from 6.2 percent in July, matching the lowest rate in nearly six years. But that was mainly due to the fact that 64,000 people gave up looking for work, taking themselves out of the ranks of the officially unemployed.

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Ires!

The racist right can't stop smearing the name of Michael Brown. They pass around this photo of a man with a broken eye socket, They claim this was MO officer Darren Wilson. Turns out that guy isn't Wilson but Jim McNeil a motorcross rider who was killed in 2011. This was a photo of the late motorcross rider in 2006.

The racist right spreads around a photo of a man with a swollen eye. They claim that is the Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson. The officer shot unarmed teen Michael Brown sparking a month of unrest in the St. Louis area.

It's one of the themes of the racist right to smear the name of the victim.

That victim is a Black teen. They tried to smear Brown by calling everything but unarmed citizen.

Attorney General Eric Holder has ordered an investigation into the Ferguson police department.

He wants the records of previous encounters with citizens, He wants to know how many incidents involving police officers and those of color.

Ferguson, MO Police Officer Darren Wilson after he was assaulted by an “unarmed black teenager” (broken eye socket). pic.twitter.com/Yed7jgVMj4
— Dave Jones (@mdj17) September 4, 2014

Once again, this is stupidity at its best.

The racist right will try their hardest to debunk the witnesses who saw the officer put six in the teen.

They will call this young man everything but a human being.

Never since Trayvon Martin have we experience more inept forms of racism directed not only towards the Black community, but President Barack Obama, his family and those unarmed Black victims murdered by those who swore to protect them.

This is what Darren Wilson looks like by the way.

I've Plugged The Hole After The BLACKS Shot Me!

Don't arrest me, I'm a former Navy seal. Ohio man created a phony racial panic.

There's a sleeper story from Ohio. A former Navy Seal who made the news rounds earlier this year saying that he was a victim of a shooting by three unknown Black assailants will face the music.

Chris Heben served our country as a Navy Seal. When he got back into his hometown of Akron, he used his freedoms to be a judge of character. He would concoct a story about him being in a sports car when he nearly gets into a wreck with another vehicle.

He would say that three Black men would jump out the car with some yelling profanities at him. One in particular brought race into the issue according to him. Then after a confrontation, Heben was shot in the stomach. So instead of calling 911 for assistance, he would "PLUG" his wounds and jump into his vehicle to chase after the shooter.

That story was too good to be true. Heben managed to attract media attention and stirred the White extremist online with this story. This was going towards that Asshat Colin Flaherty's narrative that Blacks are violent and attacking White people talking point.

Turns out that the FBI, Bath Township Police and the Summit County Sheriff didn't buy the story and Haben is going up the creek.

“We have overwhelming evidence based upon video, cell phone records and interviews that the shooting did not occur in the West Market Plaza and that Mr. Heben made false allegations to us,” Bath Township Police Chief Mike McNeely explained.

Besides the public shaming, he got a scar, a court date and probably a whole lot of explaining to do to his family, his friends and probably the Black community. The community often accused by White people as the perpetrator of every single aspect of crime in America.

I am guessing he'll say that he suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and he was on his meds when he self inflict his wound.

He also has other criminal charges during his rise to fame. Some included forgery.

In Dayton this year, a bus driver claimed that he was shot by three unknown Black assailants. The bus driver claims that the Black assailants wanted to join a gang so they had to kill a "polar bear". So in other words, the imaginary Black man was hoping to kill off a white person (known as polar bear) to the kookspiracy.

Rickey Wagoner was given the pink slip from his job at the Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority bus line and is under investigation for forgery and fraud.

This stuff rings echos to how White male conservatives view Black men. They see nothing but criminals. That's why you hear that nonsense about Michael Brown "charging" at Officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, MO. That's why you hear comments about imaginary injuries on the perpetrator.

Joan Rivers Passes Away!

The controversial celebrity agitator passed away.

Joan Alexandra Molinsky (previously Rosenberg; June 8, 1933 – September 4, 2014), known by her stage name Joan Rivers, was an American actress, comedian, writer, producer and television host, best known for her stand-up comedy, for co-hosting the E! celebrity fashion show Fashion Police, and for starring in the reality series Joan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best? alongside her daughter Melissa Rivers.

Rivers first came to prominence in 1965 as a guest on The Tonight Show, a pioneering late-night program with interviews and comedy, hosted by Johnny Carson, whom she acknowledges as her mentor. The show established her particular comic style, poking fun at celebrities, but also at herself, often joking about her extensive plastic surgery. When she launched a rival program, The Late Show, he never spoke to her again.

She went on to host a successful daytime slot, The Joan Rivers Show, which won her a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Talk Show Host. Her satirical style of humor, however, by focusing on the personal lives of celebrities and public figures, has sometimes been criticized.

She was also the author of 12 best-selling memoir and humor books, as well as providing comic material for stage and television.

On August 28, 2014, Rivers experienced serious complications—including stopping breathing—during throat surgery at a clinic in Yorkville, Manhattan.

She was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital and was put into a medically induced coma after reportedly entering cardiac arrest. On August 29, her daughter, Melissa, publicly stated that she was "resting comfortably" in the hospital. On August 30, it was reported Rivers had been put on life support.

Reports initially stated that Rivers' family might face ending her life support if her condition did not improve. However, on September 1, 2014, an unnamed source told Entertainment Tonight that Rivers' physicians at Mount Sinai Hospital had started the process of trying to bring her out of the coma on August 31.

Prior to that, there had been no further medical updates beyond her daughter's statement. On September 3, Melissa Rivers issued a brief statement that Rivers had been moved from Mount Sinai Hospital's ICU into a private room, without any comment concerning Rivers's condition or prognosis.

Before her death, Rivers was on the social networks after saying that President Barack Obama was gay and First Lady Michelle Obama was a tranny. She would also say that the strikes on the Gaza Strip by Israeli forces was a blessing in the sky and wonder if Israel could do more.

She also went into an attack on the Cleveland kidnapping case.

Often unapologetic and critical of those in the entertainment, Rivers made her mark as an iconic celebrity.

Again, I don't like this woman. I detest her and her ignorant behavior. But for the sake of her family, especially Melissa, her only daughter, we here at Journal de la Reyna send our condolences.

Cee-Lo Mocks Rape!

Rapper, soul singer and reality star CeeLo Green caught a dose of shame this week. He went to the social networks to mock a very serious crime. He beats a rape charge but yet makes his pleas to slam the victim on Twitter.

He got fired from The Voice and his new TBS reality show was shelved after one season.

The BBC reports that he made the comments after his court case ended on Friday, where he pleaded no contest to giving a woman ecstasy.

The woman says she blacked out and woke up naked in the singer's bed, but prosecutors didn't charge him with any sexual offences.

He faced a backlash on Twitter after replying to users' comments and his account was briefly de-activated.

Once his account became active again, he tweeted: "I truly and deeply apologize for the comments attributed to me on Twitter. Those comments were idiotic, untrue and not what I believe."

Not so smart.

In the controversial set of tweets Green, whose real name is Thomas DeCarlo Callaway, said "women who have really been raped REMEMBER!!!".

Another one, in reply to three users, said: "If someone is passed out they're not even WITH you consciously! so WITH Implies consent."

He then suggested that his no contest plea wasn't an admittance of guilt.

"So if I TRIED but did NOT succeed but the person said I DID then what really happened?"

The tweets replying to users about his court case appear to have been deleted, but some users posted screengrabs of them.

Before removing them and deactivating his account he had posted an initial apology saying: "I only intended on a healthy exchange to help heal those who love me from the pain I had already caused from this.

"Please forgive me as it was your support that got me thru this to begin with. I'd never condone the harm of any women. Thank you."

Green says he had consensual sex with the woman he gave ecstasy to after a dinner date in July 2012.

The judge sentenced the singer to three years of formal probation and 45 days of community service on drug charges.

CeeLo Green is part of the Goodie Mob, Dungeon Family, and Gnarls Barkley.

Understand this for the umpteenth time.

RAPE IS RAPE. There's nothing funny about it. It's a serious crime that carries up to life in the iron college. It could ruin your life. You could be labeled a sexual offender and have a lifetime of shaming from not only your family, but your friends, and the community that you chose to live in. It's a tragedy for the victim of rape. They could face depression, a sexuality transmitted disease, an unwanted pregnancy, rage, and suicide. The victim doesn't deserve to be shamed by the general masses because of what the victim wears, has or does for a living. 



____________________________

The Racist Right Wants A Dead Body On Trial!

Not a gang sign.

Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs warns his readers that he's not the one who seeks information on the juvenile records of unarmed teen Michael Brown. He points out that a rival by the same name who created this racist right blog is demanding Missouri state attorneys release his juvenile criminal records.

GotNews is the newest racist right blog that advocates this blame the Black victim for his own demise. This agitator Charles Johnson has been on a mission to blame the victim, attack the witness and of course throw Obama into his word vomit. He will waste no time trying to agitate the White extremists with revelations of a criminal history to Brown.

The newest face to the racist right.

I read this blog and saw the Ferguson situation at full stream. The website is trying to debunk the claim that Michael Brown was an unarmed teen who had his hands up when Officer Darren Wilson shot him with the six.

He wasted no time trying to debunk the witnesses. He believes Ferguson resident Piaget Crenshaw was coached by the New Black Panthers. She recorded the event and talked to CNN recently about the situation. She has gotten death threats since she shown her face.

Dorian Johnson and Ms. Crenshaw are being brutalized by the racist right. In the minds of the agitators of the conservative media and the White extremists, they'll nothing but criminals who "lied" on a good cop like Wilson. They believe that these two individuals were paid by groups to tell the junk food media that they saw police brutality.

So I am guessing that Talking Points Memo got the word on this lawsuit being filed by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the racist right agitator.

It turns out that even the courts found that their lawsuit to seek information turned out to be a bogus.

Again proving to the family of Michael Brown, they'll stop at nothing to smear this dead kid's name.

That's why the rush to judgement falls on both sides. Of course that "EXTREMELY" annoying conservative agitator and that one who throws shit to the wall have tried and failed on the broken eye socket narrative. They got their information from this douche and some White extremist named Jim Hoft, who by most accounts is anti-Black and totally birther.

This headline is false. That's not what was said in court today, @jeremykohler. You need a correction. #MichaelBrown pic.twitter.com/XcLe5nduOZ
— Charles C. Johnson (@ChuckCJohnson) September 3, 2014

Now this clown still won't believe the proof. Again caught in the paradox of believing things that are proven fact as liberal bias.

Michael Brown was no murderer, thief or thug.

He was a teen who bucked six times and was unarmed. Get that through your thick skulls.

If you have the sympathy for those men who lost heads overseas, why don't you bastards have sympathy for a teen who was shot six times and left for dead in the middle of the street? It took over four freaking hours to put a sheet over the body.

There's something wrong here. It's not Michael Brown. It's not Darren Wilson. It's us, the American people. Too quick to cast blame on the victims and not the perpetrator for the crime.

Fuck The Gateway Pundit and Got News. You bozos are recycled garbage. 

Michigan Man Who Murdered Renisha McBride Gets 17 In The Iron College!

I should have called the police. Why did I pull the trigger? This should have been Ted Wafer's walk out with a hoodie moment. The Michigan man got three nickels in the iron college for shooting Renisha McBride.

For the heartless murder of Renisha McBride, a Michigan man will spend three nickels with two already served in the iron college. Theodore Wafer the man who shot McBride after she knocked on his door for assistance got served after being found guilty in the 2013 death of the young woman.

The woman was 19 at the time when she was injured in a car accident in Dearborn Heights, a suburb slightly west of Detroit.

She crashed her car after being under the influence, and stumbled to the nearest house looking for help.

Wafer, who has known history with pointing rifles at people, took that woman as a threat. He would shoot the woman directly through the face as he would answer the door. He would wait until the woman was dead before calling the law.

He tried to pull the self-defense motive as the reason for shooting her. But the jury didn't buy that.

There was enough evidence and testimony from witnesses and friends to seal Wafer's fate.

For that gives him 15 years with time served.

Wafer figured that he's going up the creek. He would apologize to Renisha's family while being handcuffed and hauled off to the iron college.

This was another event in which a young Black person (this time an unarmed woman) would be shot dead by a White vigilante.

With the situation in Ferguson still an ongoing event, Black America is getting frustrated with the law and the gun nut shooting first and questioning last.

The young woman didn't deserve the fate handed to her.

We're tired of hearing the grievance machine telling us about Black on Black crime, Black on White crime and the partisan blame game.

We have legitimate issues in Black America. The criminality complex multiplies every time there's a Trayvon Martin, Jordan Davis, John Crawford III, Michael Brown, Renisha McBride,  and Eric Gardner situation.

White conservatives (aka the racist right) often try to make the focal point on the victim and not the perpetrator in these events. They would criminalize the victim because the individual was "human".

By me saying human, it says that no one is perfect. As the racist right tries to demonize Renisha McBride as they did Michael Brown and Trayvon Martin, we here at Journal de la Reyna will continue to follow this story as this unfolds.

But today, we are satisfied with the decision that send a cold blooded killer to the iron college.

Where's Waldo?

Florida city is infamous for traffic citations.

The state of idiocy has once again gotten some negative attention. A small city about 65 miles from Jacksonville is under fire for being a notorious speed trap and the police are taking advantage of the motorists.

The city has speed limit in urban areas 35 but it jumps from 45 to 55 and lowers down again numerous times. It's among the controversies that merits the Florida State Attorney to investigate the quotas.

Florida cities such as Tampa, Orlando, Ft. Walton Beach, Pensacola, Jacksonville, Miami, West Palm Beach, Lake City and Naples have traffic cameras at certain intersections. Some other cities require officers to be in a heavy traveled area where it's known for potential accidents.



The city of Waldo requires drivers to speed up and slow down six times: 65mph becomes 55mph; 55 becomes 45; then goes back to 55; then back down to 45; to 55 again; and, eventually, 35mph. AAA has named it one of only two "traffic traps" nationwide. Now Waldo faces a scandal following allegations that the town victimizes motorists to turn a profit. Two police chiefs have been suspended, the police department has rebelled, and the state is investigating possible wrongdoing. The situation simmered for years until last month, when Chief Mike Szabo was suspended, apparently in response to a Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation into suspected improprieties in the way officers write tickets.

Weeks later at a Waldo City Council meeting, a group of police officers said they had been ordered by Szabo to write at least 12 tickets per 12-hour shift or face repercussions. In 2013, Waldo's seven police officers filed 11,603 traffic citations, according to records obtained by the Gainesville Sun. That compares with 25,461 citations in 2013 for much larger Gainesville, which has 300 officers and 128,000 residents, including thousands of college students. The fines paid by motorists are a big moneymaker. According to the city's 2013 budget, about half of its $1 million in revenue came from "court fines" from tickets issued. The State Attorney's Office in Alachua County says it's waiting for the FDLE to finish its investigation of ticket quotas and other wrongdoing before deciding whether to file charges.