Tulsa Today Publisher David Arnett and KJRH Anchor Chad Nye interviewed Commissioner Bob Ricks in regard to Oklahoma speed traps in general and the Watts Speed Trap in particular.

Bob Ricks, Department of Public Safety and Security
Bob Ricks received his bachelor's degree from Baylor University, Waco, Texas in 1967 and his J.D. from Baylor Law School in 1969.  He served as an editor of the Baylor Law Review and was a member of Phi Delta Phi.  He is married and the father of two children.  He served 26 years in federal law enforcement, during which he rose from the position of Special Agent to Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Oklahoma.  Ricks was unanimously confirmed May 21, 1996, by the Oklahoma State Senate as Cabinet Secretary for Safety and Security and commissioner of Public Safety.

Q. Commissioner Ricks, could you tell us if there is currently any regulation of speed traps in Oklahoma.

A.  In 1996, the Legislature passed a change in the law [Senate Bill No. 685, section 11-801] that attempted to regulate Oklahoma speed traps.  However, it gives no measurements as to what would constitute inappropriate law enforcement activity. 

We have had complaints against certain municipalities.  We have tried to solve such problems on a local basis.  We ask if these concerns have been brought to the chief of police, mayor, or city council.  Have local officials tried to be constructive in their response? 

The first step with a local problem is to approach local officials.  Just like I don’t want the Federal Government coming in here to tell me what to do, we try to work with local law enforcement.  We do not want the State telling local municipalities how to run their operations unless it is adversely affecting the State as a whole.

We have a dual responsibility.  First, I want to make driving safe in Oklahoma and we want aggressive enforcement to drive down the number of accidents and keep speeds low.  At the same time, we don’t want the law to be simply a revenue enhancement tool for the municipality.

Q.  Has the department looked into how other states are addressing the issue?

A.  A lot of the information on what other states are doing to prevent speed traps I did not have until I started looking at Tulsa Today to see why you wanted this interview.  I pulled up some of your articles and looked at those other laws.  To me, if the Legislature wants to address speed traps in a clear and clean way, then setting a percentage of revenue is the best approach as far as I am concerned.

In 1996, they gave me broad tools, but they did not define when you would reach a level to act.  They said, “we have a problem now you go solve it.”  But I still must work closely with local law enforcement.  I am not going in heavy-handed. 

Q.  Have you considered Watts, Oklahoma as a speed trap?

A.  In regard to Watts, I have not had a formal complaint.  Anyone who has received a traffic citation can bring a complaint if they feel it was an unfair citation.

What we found in Stringtown is that the questionable activity ceased as we began to take a detailed look into that activity.  But if the average speeding ticket is for ten miles over the limit and the speed limits are properly posted then I am not sure that would be a speed trap without some other information.

Q.  Could you discribe the impact of speed traps on general law enforcement?

A.   If it is an inappropriate speed trap then it is harming the image of law enforcement.  We depend on public cooperation for us to do our job.  We can not be effective unless the public has confidence in what we are doing -- that we are out there for the over-all benefit of the public and not our own.  If any municipality has truly set a speed trap then it is very harmful and goes back to the old image of making money off of speeders.  That is not what we do.  We generally issue more warnings than we do speeding tickets.  Our goal is to save lives and protect property.  We want the public to understand that is why we are on the road.

Our highway patrol officers are not out there hiding behind billboards trying to trap people.  Our officers are trying to keep traffic flowing in orderly process and keep people from harming themselves.  Our officers take safety so seriously that sometimes they feel responsible for traffic fatalities.  They look for ways that they could have done more to keep people safe.  We are trying to hit the hot spots and put aggressive enforcement in areas where you have harmful intersections or terrain that pose great risk. 

With all that we do, if you have others that appear out strictly for revenue enhancement  -- then that is wrong.  However, I still don’t believe that as the Department of Safety and Security we should be out looking for speed trap abuse.  We really should not interfere with a local government’s activity unless it is demonstrated to us that they are doing something that is improper.  If it is brought to our attention, then we will go through the process.  However, I would prefer to have the Arkansas or Missouri law with clear and definitive guidelines as to what would constitute a speed trap.

Q.  So under those guidelines, Watts would qualify as a speed trap?

A.   I have looked at the materials on the Tulsa Today site about Watts and it does strike me as being out of whack if those numbers are accurate.  Personally, I have never been to Watts, Oklahoma and had not heard of this problem before.  Based on the information provided, I believe it is going to at least require us to initiate an action to ask them for some information. 

I do want some information.  Generally we look at daily traffic count, mean vehicle speed, comparative accident rate, collision causation factors, number and type of enforcement actions, case dispositions, and revenue relative to the over-all budget of the municipality.