https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/article/houston-traffic-speed-trap-battle-cost-effective-20254862.php
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A Houston man was ticketed over a Heights-area speed trap. But it wasn't for speeding.
Daragh John Carter hates a speed trap near his home so much he began posting about it on Facebook before eventually escalating to standing near it and warning passing motorists it was coming.
His actions frustrated a Houston police officer enough that Carter was cited for jaywalking, with the traffic police noting he was the resident who posted about the speed trap on Facebook. Rather than pay the fine, Carter has opted to contest the tickets in court, where a trial is tentatively set for April 29, he said.
"I have read the sections of the Texas Transportation Code ... and I do not believe I violated either one of them," he said. "No different than if I was cited for speeding, but knew I was driving at or below the speed limit."
What might at first glance seem like a sympathetic quixotic quest to anyone who's ever gotten a municipal ticket is actually part of larger, more sweeping conversations in public safety on how to balance desire for safer streets with the cost-intensive speed traps that can be ripe for abuse and how the city might find savings as it stares down a $330 million municipal deficit while overtime spending in the police department spikes each year.
A growing feud
Carter said the citations were the culmination of a growing dispute in his neighborhood over a speed trap along TC Jester Boulevard.
Carter said he's always objected to the trap because even if you're watching your speed, it's easy to break the posted 35mph speed limit along that stretch of road. The area in question is near the bottom of a hill, where a driver might eclipse the speed limit even if carefully monitoring their surroundings, Carter said.
"The reason HPD runs radar there is that it's like shooting fish in a barrel," he said.
Jodi Silva, a spokeswoman for the Houston Police Department, said the department set up the speed trap in response to growing concern from nearby residents about dangerous driving. The officer's job is to issue citations in areas that are of particular concern.
Soon after Carter became frustrated with the speed trap, he said he began posting in the neighborhood Facebook group warning people about it. Then he stood down the hill from the traffic patrol and telling passing motorists, he said.
But Carter's decision soon drew the ire of one of the officers orchestrating the speed trap, Carter said. That officer, Matthew Davis, tracked down Carter and wrote out a citation for jaywalking after telling him he was interfering with a police investigation, Carter said. On the citation, Davis also mentioned that Carter had been the one posting on Facebook.
Silva told the Chronicle that, given that Davis may testify on many different citations, he includes notes on the citations such as the one given to Carter that can help jog his memory when called into court months down the line.
Carter has opted to contest the ticket and a trial date is tentatively set for April 29, he said.
A desire for safer streets
Both Carter and the Houston Police Department agree some in the neighborhood are appreciative of Davis' efforts because of traffic along TC Jester Boulevard.
Even as driving-related deaths declined in unincorporated Harris County in 2024, last year ended as the deadliest year for drivers, passengers and pedestrians in the city's history. At least 345 people were killed on Houston area streets last year, a record high after two years of declines.
While speed traps are a well-known method of tamping down on dangerous drivers, their effects can be fleeting, experts said.
"Cops are humans with built-in biases, and can use discretion," Joe Cutrufo, executive director of BikeHouston said. "They're also only on duty when they're on duty, so if you don't see the speed trap or read about it in the Chronicle, you won't even know to slow down."
Concrete and better-designed streets are more reliable ways of prioritizing safety over speed because they're always present, Cutrufo said.
A city budget crisis
Carter's legal battle over the jaywalking citations comes as City Controller Chris Hollins warned the council this month that the agency had budgeted around $13.7 million for overtime pay, but was now projected to spend nearly $40 million, or an 190% increase.
Officials with the Houston Police Officers Union say shortages in staffing have contributed to some of the costs in overtime. But the agency expends significant overtime costs on traffic police in particular, officials confirmed and records show.
The officer behind the citation, Davis, was the department's third-highest overtime earner in 2024, with around $137,000 in overtime alone, records show. Of the top 10 highest overtime earners for the Houston Police Department in 2024, five were traffic officers, records show.
Silva said traffic enforcement officers are typically among the agency's highest overtime earners as they must attend court dates connected to the citations they write. And those court dates often fall outside their normal duty hours, Silva said.
Despite some benefits of traffic police, Carter also expressed concern about the potential for abuse. He pointed to a 2012 Chronicle article showing the officer had previously been disciplined for an overtime scheme in which four officers included each other as witnesses on tickets to claim additional hours.
Davis was disciplined for his role in 2012 scheme, Silva said. But she rejected any allegations that anything was wrong with the jaywalking citation he issued Carter, saying he was the only officer listed on the citation and he says he witnessed it.
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