Watts amok

Watts amok
By Dan Wofford
As highwaymen of the Middle Ages robbed unwary travelers, the Watts Oklahoma Police Department fleeces money from unsuspecting modern travelers. This village with sales tax collections of only $1,214 (April 1998) gathered $13,023.96 per month in speed trap revenue for the 10 month period reviewed by Tulsa Today.

Why does Oklahoma allow such robbery? Missouri declares any speed ordinance void if “primarily designed to produce revenue.” The Arkansas Speed Trap Law (Title 401) defines speed traps as “abusing police powers to enforce criminal and traffic laws for the principal purpose of raising revenue for the municipality and not for the purpose of public safety and welfare.”

The funny thing about poor Watts is that this sleaze ball activity is not benefiting the city. The revenue simply feeds the bloated self-serving police department with little crime to solve, but highway robbery to continue. Apparently, the Dukes of Hazzard’s Boss Hogg is alive and now working in Watts, OK.

Watts is a peaceful little village (population 303) in Northeast Oklahoma with a small high school and wonderful county people. Dean & Arlene’s Tavern is the only business if you don’t claim the U.S. Post Office. Watts is not listed in the 1998 Rand-McNally Road Atlas Index, but it can be found on the map as a small dot between West Siloam Springs and Westville in Adair County in Northeast Oklahoma. Total sales tax collections in Watts for April 1997 totaled $764, but rose to $1,214 for April 1998. One resident admitted to Tulsa Today that some rural intersections have more economic activity than Watts, Oklahoma.

Watts Public Buildings
Shown on the left with a sagging roof is the community meeting hall. The small white building on the right houses both the Police and Water departments.

Watts is in the big leagues when it comes to a police department. The town employs a full-time Police Commissioner (ex-State Patrolman Gary Fain), a Chief of Police (Billy Ames), and four regular policemen. They own three new, fully equipped 1997 Ford Crown Victoria police cars. Annual salaries for the six policemen total $119,000 ($25,000, $22,000 and four at $18,500). So how does the tiny town afford such a well equipped crime busting team? You guessed it, a speed trap cash cow.

According to one former officer, the speeding ticket quota each shift is a minimum 5 per officer. Residents report that sometimes officers can be seen writing 10 or more tickets per 8 hour shift. For example, during the 26 day period from May 11 to June 7, 1998, a Tulsa Today investigation showed the Watts Police Department wrote 166 tickets, gave 33 warnings, made 14 arrests, responded to 14 calls, drove 3,102 miles and investigated one accident.

For the unsuspecting traveler, warning signs approaching Watts are misleading and, in fact, you do not drive through Watts. Highway 59 runs along the east side of the town. The small speed limit signs on Highway 59 approaching Watts from both directions drop the speed to 60 mph, then 2/10ths of a mile later to 50 mph, and then 3/10th's of a mile later to 40 mph. There are none of the usual warning signs such as "Speed Controlled By Radar" or "Watts City Limits", and a single missed sign may result in a $107 ticket. Watts lacks big city lights or most normal signs of a town, and at night it is not readily noticeable that you are driving through a populated area.

Tickets range between $87 and $147, with the most popular ticket issued being $107. The ticket prices are as follows: $87 (1-5 mph above the posted limit), $97 (6-10 mph), $107 (10-15 mph) and $147 (16 mph and over).

This writer was recently a passenger in a car with a grandmother in her 60's driving through Watts. I watched as she got her first and only speeding ticket in 45 years of driving. She was treated poorly. This story grew out of simple curiosity from that police stop. With any luck during the current campaign season, Oklahoma State Legislators will be stopped in this trap and then they may experience the joy of official police robbery.

Documents reviewed by Tulsa Today over a 10 month period (July 1, 1997 to April 30, 1998) show $117,215.71 or $13,023.96 per month was collected by Watts’ police officers. Informed sources say the speed trap sometimes gathers over $5,000 per week. Apparently Watts Police make more than 200 speed trap stops per month on a 1-1/2 mile section of Highway 59 alongside town limits.

However, with fines of $117,215.71 collected during Commissioner Fain’s first 10 months, direct expenditures of the Watts Police Department were $126,998.74. This produced a negative cash flow of almost $1,000 per month. To compensate, the Watts Police Department obtained Federal grants. Specifically, Watts received $7,650 in a Cops Universal Grant and $29,263.74 in Cops Fast Grants. The Cops Fast Grant is part of the well known campaign promise by President Bill Clinton to put 100,000 extra policemen on the streets.

In addition, the two new policemen added in May (Doug Inman and Tony Usry) allow the Watts Police Department to increase ticket production. In June the Department wrote 197 tickets which generated a speed trap revenue in excess of $20,000 for the month or over $240,000 per year. However, expenses do increase with the number of tickets and Judge Rex Earl Starr is expected to demand more than double his usual fee of $400 per session to handle the extra caseload.

The Watts speed trap court is held on the 3rd Friday of each month, starting at 6:00 p.m. and usually lasting until after 9:00 p.m. If offenders who appear fail to come up with at least one-half of the total fine, they are often sent to jail in the county jail in Stilwell where they "sit off" the fine at the rate of $5 per day.

The Speed-trap Registry, a web site devoted to information about speed traps in all 50 states, generally verifies what Tulsa Today learned during the course of our investigation. The Registry says 40-50 tickets per week are being written by the Watts Police Department (local residents believe that figure is now on the low side). The Registry confirms the $107 price as the cost of the most common speeding ticket.

The speed trap operates primarily from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. with the most lucrative period being between sunset and 1:00 a.m. Weekend coverage is also heavy, even during daylight hours. Some patrolling is also done during weekday daytime hours. But, because four policemen must share one police car, 2 or 3 officers are sometimes seen riding in the same car during periods of heavy coverage. According to residents, the only time that two cars are used to cover both north and south approaches to Watts is when Police Chief Billy Ames decides to work a few hours to write sufficient tickets to silence criticism of members of the Watts' Board of Trustees.

One Watts' resident remarked, "It is just like 'The Dukes of Hazzard'. With both Boss Hogg and Roscoe P. Coaltrain tying up two of the three official police cars, it is difficult for the deputies to get much done with only one vehicle."

The Watts Police Department has experienced significant change since Gary Fain was hired 11 months ago, as seven officers have either been terminated or have resigned. In addition, hiring practices appear somewhat unusual. For example, current Watts Officer Doug Inman came to the attention of the Police Department while working as a truck driver. Inman was caught in the Watts speed trap by Officer Allen Conkling, and subsequently hired after mentioning during the stop he had law enforcement experience and was C.L.E.E.T. certified.

Commissioner Fain has also forbidden publication of the Watts Speed trap traffic citations following a dispute with a free-lance writer for the Westville Reporter. One Westville resident said that during one week while the citations were still being published, the Watts Speed trap accounted for 82 of the 97 traffic tickets written in Adair County (population 20,000). Police Chief Billy Ames now keeps records of the lucrative ticket operation under lock and key and rank-and-file police officers do not have access to the files.

Commissioner Fain resigned from the Oklahoma Highway Patrol in early 1997 while under the cloud of internal investigation, reportedly after having been warned by supervisors to stop his heavy personal involvement with "Friends Helping Friends", a large pyramid conspiracy which swept Oklahoma in 1995 and 1996. Because of his prominent leadership, many residents believe that the Multi-County Grand Jury currently investigating the scheme may indict Fain.

Many Watts and other Adair County residents feel that the speed trap is a source of continuing embarrassment to the county, but they do not know or understand the procedures to get it abolished. The most frequently suggested solution is to close the Watts Police Department. Several Adair County business owners told Tulsa Today that the Watts speed trap is damaging economic development within the county and they recommend visitors simply avoid traveling Highway 59. They say it is embarrassing to invite a customer to town, only to learn the guest has been victimized by the Watts speed trap.

The Watts speed trap poses a fundamental question not only for Watts and Adair County, but also for Oklahoma. It is morally wrong and should be legally wrong for a town to establish a police department for the primary purpose of commandeering a short section of state highway for profit.

This is legalized extortion, an embarrassment to honest law enforcement, and something the Oklahoma Legislature should fix next session.