I was told that when a person's license is suspended, the notice is sent via standard mail. When a person is arrested for driving on a suspended license, any decent attorney argues that they have no proof of receipt of the notice of suspension and get the person off. It happened often enough that the DAs kicked it back out that the police stopped arresting for it.Ameer wrote:Maybe there weren't officers available sooner because they were busy at checkpoints.
In addition to the drunks, I would like to see the cops arrest people driving without licenses and insurance. That's a big problem in the Houston area.
However, there's no standard indication that legal proof of receipt of notice has been obtained, either. They might have written, audio, and video notice on file from a previous arrest, but a new officer stopping them and finding them driving on a suspended license doesn't know it and treats them the same way and lets them go.
I'm of the opinion that the police officer has proof of notice being given via the dash cam and the person driving off is grounds to stop and arrest them immediately, but the police apparently disagree. I didn't get an explanation on why, but my guess would be it isn't worth the hassle. I know a number of depts are now using point quotas where the traffic officer has to get so many points per hour and different types of activities have different point values. Misdemeanor arrests are low in points but high in time and paperwork. It isn't worth it to them.
I'm curious to hear from law enforcement what their experience is.