The wrong way to get Nassau County traffic tickets dismissed

Yesterday the Nassau County Traffic and Parking Violations Agency fired six employees for fixing more than 100 tickets. News reports didn’t mention that they were actually selling their “fixing” services. It seems the tickets in question were for themselves, friends and family.

The investigation apparently started with an individual who was issued several Nassau County traffic tickets.  Some of the charges, including a driving on the sidewalk, driving the wrong way on a one-way street and a speeding ticket were dismissed outright. Other charges were delayed longer than a case typically would be within the court rules and some fines and surcharges imposed on other cases were simply removed from the computer system.

Turns out this man had a relative working in the court and this relative was one of the six employees fired.

The ticket fixing cost Nassau County an estimated $25,000 in revenue. Nassau District Attorney Kathleen Rice is investigating the possibility of criminal charges against them.

Nothing has been proven yet, according to the Civil Service Employees Association representing the employees. The President of the Association believes the employees will be vindicated. He claims that in most cases, a judge signed off on the dismissals of the tickets in question.

The NCTPVA is one of the better courts in the state to deal with and, based on my observations and those of my colleagues, the staff there (including some of those involved in this unfortunate incident) have been professional and helpful in the past.  I’m hoping that these individuals are indeed vindicated in the long run.

We’ll follow the story as it develops.