A Warren police officer who is now known for writing stop sign tickets has been told to stop following an Action News investigation.
WATCH REPORT IN VIDEO PLAYER RIGHTOfficer David Kanapsky, known as the "ticket man," has been told to stop writing the tickets that he’s so fond of issuing to drivers in Warren.
[Kim Evans/Received Ticket] “There’s nothing about being a police officer and traffic safety with this – it’s just about money.”
Kim Evans is just one of thousands of drivers who say they received stop sign violation tickets from Officer Kanapsky.
As I first reported earlier this year, Kanapsky wrote nearly 5,000 tickets in 2007. 2347 of those were for stop sign violations.
Like Kim Evans.. many of the drivers who received stop sign tickets from Kanapsky insist that they did in fact stop.
[Kim Evans/Received Ticket] “I was in the courtroom talking to the other people there, everybody said, I stopped, I stopped, I stopped.”
But they all ended up going to court… pleading to something called “impeding” to avoid points on their license. And then they had to shell out $135.
The more tickets Warren cops like Kanapsky write… the more often they go to court. And more time they spend in court – the more overtime they make.
According to records obtained from the city of Warren, in 2007, David Kanapsky received $21,562.15 in overtime… boosting his salary to $86,042.54 a year.
Now Warren’s Police Commissioner has issued a directive to Kanapsky: he is NOT allowed to write any more stop sign tickets. He can still pull people over for speeding and other traffic violations – but stop signs are off limits. The reason: police officials say even though Kanapsky did not break any rules or laws – his actions have caused a “credibility” and “perception” problem for the department.
Having Kanapsky lay off the stop signs is welcome news to drivers like Kim Evans.
[Kim Evans/Received Ticket] “It’s never 2 sided – it’s always we’re at fault. I would like to see them admit to their mistake.”
Warren police say they have also conducted a review of what all of the traffic officers do on a daily basis. In fact, officers are now required to change locations every hour so that they’re not just sitting in one spot giving out ticket after ticket.
