The Action News Investigators are asking tough questions in Warren, where writing more tickets can mean big money for police officers.
====
IN A LOCAL SUBURB THE MORE TICKETS THAT SOME TRAFFIC OFFICERS WRITE THE MORE OPPORTUNITIES THEY HAVE TO GET PAID OVER TIME.
IT’S A SYSTEM THAT’S ALLOWING ONE OFFICER TO CASH IN BIG TIME.
WARREN POLICE OFFICER DAVID KANAPSKY WROTE THOUSANDS OF TRAFFIC TICKETS LAST YEAR. AND HE RAKED IN THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS OF OVERTIME PAY. MANY DRIVERS HE TICKETED SAY THEY HAD A CLEAN RECORD UNTIL THEY CROSSED PATHS WITH KANAPSKY.
WARREN POLICE OFFICER DAVID KANAPSKY SPENDS A LOT OF TIME IN COURT.
THAT’S BECAUSE HE WRITES A LOT OF TRAFFIC TICKETS …
Kanapsky saying person rolled through stop sign
…MOST OF THEM ARE FOR STOP SIGN VIOLATIONS. IN FACT, LAST YEAR OFFICER KANAPSKY WROTE 2,347 TICKETS JUST FOR STOP SIGN VIOLATIONS.
BUT MANY DRIVERS KANAPSKY TICKETED INSIST THEY DID STOP.
Brenda Harris/Ticketed driver “I absolutely positively stopped at that stop sign.”
Nicole Barksdale/Ticket driver: “I was angry, honestly, I was angry because I knew I stopped.”
Pam Smith/Ticketed Driver: “I’m positive I stopped. I am positive.”
PAM SMITH WAS GOING TO WORK WHEN KANAPSKY PULLED HER OVER ON A ROAD THAT SHE HAS BEEN TRAVELING FOR TWO-AND-A-HALF YEARS.
Pam Smith: “I’m very familiar what the speed limit is 25 and I know where the stop sign is.”
SO WHEN THE OFFICER PULLED HER OVER, PAM WAS SHOCKED.
Pam Smith: “I was just flabbergasted at that, thinking, what the heck, I did stop.”
NICOLE BARKSDALE SAYS SHE IS CERTAIN SHE STOPPED BECAUSE SHE KNEW KANAPSKY MONITORED THE I-696 SERVICE DRIVE NEAR RYAN.
Nicole Barksdale/Ticketed Driver: “I knew he was there. I just saw him pull up and I knew that he sat there.”
THE INTERSECTION NICOLE IS TALKING ABOUT HAS A YIELD SIGN NOW.
THAT’S BECAUSE SO MANY PEOPLE COMPLAINED … THE CITY CHANGED THE SIGN.
NICOLE AND PAM ARE FIGHTING THEIR TICKETS IN COURT AND
GAIL KING FOUGHT HERS LAST MONTH.
Gail King/Ticketed Driver: “I’ve never had a traffic ticket in my life.”
KANAPSKY TESTIFIED THAT GAIL ROLLED THROUGH A STOP SIGN.
David Kanapsky/Warren Police Officer: “She approached the stop sign, slowed down, but rolled through it by over 10 miles an hour without stopping.”
GAIL TESTIFIED THAT SHE IS VERY FAMILIAR WITH THE STOP SIGNS IN HER NEIGHBORHOOD AND SHE IS CERTAIN SHE STOPPED.
Gail King/Ticketed driver “I live right there. And it would be no way that I would ever not stop at a stop sign because my daughter had an accident with a woman not stopping at a stop sign. I would not do that.”
BUT THE JUDGE SIDED WITH KANPASKY.
Judge John M. Chmura/37th District Court: Obviously, there’s a conflict and both statements cannot be true. I find officer Kanapsky’s testimony to be credible. He’s an unbiased witness.” BUT IS HE? EVEN IF JUDGES DON’T SIDE WITH KANAPSKY HE SEEMINGLY HAS NOTHING TO LOSE AND EVERYTHING TO GAIN.
WHY IS THAT? BECAUSE THE MORE TICKETS KANAPSKY WRITES THE MORE CHANCES HE HAS TO GET OVERTIME PAY.
Heather Catallo: “So, the more tickets an officer issues, the more time they go to court?”
Jere Green: “Yes.”
Catallo: “The more time for overtime.”
Green: “That’s correct.”
JERE GREEN IS THE ACTING POLICE COMMISSIONER FOR THE WARREN POLICE DEPARTMENT.
HE SAYS ANY TIME AN OFFICER IS SUBPOENAED TO COURT WHEN HE IS OFF DUTY HE GETS A MINIMUM OF FOUR HOURS OVERTIME.
Catallo: “Don’t they have an incentive to write more tickets then?Green: If you’re saying that a person’s incentive is monetary gain, I can’t answer that question because I can’t get inside a person’s head…” LAST YEAR KANAPSKY GOT MORE THAN $21,000 IN OVERTIME, BUMPING UP HIS TOTAL PAY TO MORE THAN $86,000 A YEAR.
Gerald Springfield/Ticketed Driver: “$21,000. That’s quite a bit of money. That’s quite a bit of money.”
GERALD SPRINGFIELD SAYS HE HAS BEEN DRIVING 50 YEARS AND HAS HAD A GREAT DRIVING RECORD … THAT IS BEFORE HE CROSSED PATHS WITH KANAPSKY.
Gerald Springfield/Driver: “He said you ran the stop sign. I said I didn’t run the stop sign. He said tell it to the judge.”
BUT SPRINGFIELD DIDN’T TELL THE JUDGE THAT.
LIKE MANY OTHERS ACTION NEWS SAW IN COURT, HE PLEADED GUILTY TO A LESSER OFFENSE AND PAID A $135 FINE.
THAT WAY DRIVERS AVOID POINTS ON THEIR RECORD AND HIGH INSURANCE RATES.
AS FOR PAM SMITH, SHE’S WILLING TO RISK POINTS ON HER RECORD TO PROVE SHE IS INNOCENT.
Pam Smith: “I don’t care about the points. I just care about what’s right and what’s wrong. And I know in my heart I was right.”
OFFICER KANAPSKY HE DECLINED TO DO AN INTERVIEW ABOUT THIS.
ALSO, WARREN POLICE CARS NOW HAVE VIDEO CAMERAS.
IF YOU QUESTION A TICKET YOU RECEIVED, IT MIGHT BE A GOOD IDEA TO REQUEST THE VIDEO TO SEE IF IT BACKS UP YOUR CLAIM.
