What is the point of periodic vehicle inspections? If you answered, “Safety,” you are a fool. The answer is, “Revenue.”
Bruce Redwine had seen enough. After years of watching a Fairfax County parking enforcement officer slap tickets on his customers’ cars for expired tags or inspection stickers, usually as the cars were awaiting state inspection or repair at his Chantilly shop, he snatched the latest ticket out of Officer Jacquelyn D. Hogue’s hand and added some profane commentary on top.
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They don’t understand why Fairfax police have zealously sought to enforce laws on expired tags or inspections, mainly on drivers who are making the effort to get their cars into compliance, while on private property. Hogue’s appearance in the industrial park often set off a scramble to hide customers’ cars inside the shops, the shop owners said.
You might think this is one of those “isolated incidents” but it’s not. Police are always on the lookout for easy money. Traffic and parking citations are pretty easy but they still require an officer to either stake out piece of road or walk around without any guarantee of revenue. Now they’re beginning to realize that the process can be streamlined by simply staking out inspection and repair businesses because there is a very high probability customers of those places are in violation of the law (since they’re trying to get back into compliance with the law). It’s like shooting fish in a barrel.