On the 6 p.m. and the 11 p.m. broadcast of WNYT-13 News (Capital Region) on Tuesday night, a segment was shown with PBA President Daniel M. De Federicis regarding the new scheme by the Division of State Police that would not allow Troopers to reduce traffic tickets at court. During the interview, De Federicis explained the PBA’s views and pointed out why this is a misguided plan.

This directive will significantly debilitate both prosecutions and Trooper input into the disposition of the vehicle and traffic cases. In turn, this will severely impair highway safety by limiting the effectiveness of traffic enforcement by bottling up and harming the court system.

This will also dump more unfunded mandates on county District Attorneys, who would be forced to send Assistant District Attorneys to every village, town and city court in each county to prosecute these matters.

The PBA will continue to make the public aware of this situation, and will continue to fight this ill-advised plan.