Scandal in West Palm Over Mayor's Phantom Speeding Ticket

If you went 26 mph over the limit through a school zone and a cop pulled you over, do you think you could talk your way out of it? Well, Mayor Lois Frankel can. Jose Lambiet of Page2Live is reporting that the mayor wasn't ticketed for speeding -- and that...

By Thomas Francis

March 25, 2010

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If you went 26 mph over the limit through a school zone and a cop pulled you over, do you think you could talk your way out of it? Well, Mayor Lois Frankel can. Jose Lambiet of Page2Live is reporting that the mayor wasn't ticketed for speeding -- and that there's no record of her being pulled over.

The police officer's forbearance saved Frankel $411.

Let's not pick on that police officer. Rather, the larger concern is for the culture of the West Palm Beach Police Department. Officers should have a reflex to treat a political figure the same as a regular citizen. This episode suggests at least one officer had the opposite reflex, giving preferential treatment to the political figures with whom police have contract negotiations and on whom they rely for support if a scandal hit the department.

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