31 FHP Troopers Disciplined For Speeding After Newspaper Probe
FT. LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) - 31 South Florida FHP troopers have been given oral reprimands for speeding and must also attend a 4 hour ethics course, the result of a Sun-Sentinel investigation into police officers ignoring the speed limit. FHP confirmed the discipline, and also said another 17 troopers are still under investigation.
The probe began after an FHP trooper chased down and briefly arrested a City of Miami officer who she clocked at speeds of more than 100 miles per hour through Broward County.
The controversy of that arrest raised questions about police speeding in general, and the newspaper uncovered a pattern of abuse that crossed county lines and department boundaries.
The newspaper said it found more than 5 thousand instances of police apparently speeding, often outside their jurisdiction, in little more than a year.
The newspaper used Sunpass records, which can be used to determine the time taken to travel between toll booths, and with this, the speed at which the officers were traveling.
The newspaper's investigation identified the FHP as among the worst offenders, with officers not appearing to be responding to calls hitting speeds of 130 mph on occasion.
The Sun Sentinel said this is the 4th agency to punish officers as a result of the investigation. Already officers in Plantation. Sunrise, and Margate received varying degrees of discipline.
The officer whose arrest touched off the investigation was ordered to pay a fine but was spared a criminal record.
