Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-03-28
TRAFFIC WOLATORS
|MAY POST FORFETS
AT POLICE STATIONS
Minimum Collateral for Va
rious lnfractions of Code
Fixed by Commissioners.
REGULATIONS WILL GO
INTO EFFECT MAY |
New System Is Intended to Save
Time for Motorists, Police
and Courts.

The District Commissioners TODAY or
dered placed into effect May a system
whereby violators of minor trafic reg
ulations may deposit specified amounts
of collateral at police stations without
the necessity of going to Police Court.
The Commissioners drew up a list of
all OF the minor offenses and established
for each the minimum amount of col
lateral which would be required by the
police.
They left the commanders of the in
dividual precincts free, however. to as
sess greater sums than those set In the
regulations in cases of fragrant vio-
iators or frequent repeaters.
Such offenSes as reckless driving.
speeding, drunken driving and collidine
are not covered in the regulations. For
tnose, the same procedure as now OBJ
talnS VIII be followed. The most serious
onenses dealt with in the new regula-
Clons are obtaining operators permits
by Misrepresentation, operating We.
hlcle With inadequate brakes and loan-
ing an operators permit to another. For
these, the collateral required is s25. For
otner ohenses the collateral scales
downward to 50, which is the lowest.
Forfeiture Is Provided.
Under the new system, driver given
ticket for one of the offenses covered
In the regulation may report to the
precinct In which the offense was COM
mitted. There the station clerk asks
MN II he intends to forfeit collateral
or II ne VIII insist on a trial at court.
II the driver is willing to forfeit he is
given receipt for his money and is
not required to report at court.
Duplicate forms of the recent are
made out and sent to Police Court and
70 police headquarters. The collateral
Ior1elters under this plan will be called
OUT IN Police Court each morning. but
tne corporation counsel at Police Court
VIII not be required to make out in
formations and the arresting oficer will
not be required to 90 to court unless
the driver has stated his intention ~
standing trial. This is intended ia save
Time Tor the police, the corpora ation
counsefs ofice. the court and the
motorist. '-1e
The new regulations have a history
oatlng back to July 25, 1927, when tfey
were recommended to the Commission
ers oy the Bureau of Efficiency. which
mad made an exhaustive study Of fine
subject. The Commissioners referred
the plan to the corporation counsel and
70 the judges of Police Court. both of
wnom reported adversely upon it. The
matter was then pigeon.holed until the
last session OF Congress, when criticism,
was made by certain legislators that the
commissioners failed to act upon many
OF the bureaus suggestions.
Plan Wae Ar..ul.I
The Commissioners again took up the
mstter and the corporation counsers
oince went over the Bureau of En-
clencys plan and proposed several
amendments. The amendments dealt in
the main with the amounts of collateral
required and also omitted a few offenses
from the list suggested by the bureau
Inc revised plan was sent to the Judges
OF Pollce Court several weeks ago and
Judge Gus Schuldt on March ~ re-
ported favorably.
Inc judges approval, however. was
conditioned on the schedule in NO man
ner affecting the determination of ary
case tnat might come before the court.
me Judges reserved the right to set
ASIDE Ior1eltures and issue attachments
whenever in their judgment they believe
sucn action right and proper and in the
interests of justice.
The exceptions were taken care Of in
the draft of the order drawn up by the
commissioners to the chief of police,
AFTER giving details as to the routine
work required, the order reads: Nothing
IN this procedure will prevent the re-
quirlng OF a higher collateral In fiagrant
cases nor In the cases of persistent yio-
Iators than that suggested nor is there
anything in the plan to interfere with
the Police Court judges requiring at
tendance of the particular offender"
Judge Schuldt in his letter also asked
That before the blank forms necessary
to carry out the order be approved that
(C0pt{rUod ~, DE-. SS-1.----