Century Man Not Happy With Sheriff’s Office Traffic Enforcement

October 7, 2010

A Century man has informed the Century Town Council that he is not happy with stepped up traffic enforcement by the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.

Alfonzie Cottrell told the council at their last regular meeting that it appeared that deputies had “invaded” Century last week, writing “a lot” of traffic tickets.

Cottrell asked the council if the town had anything to do with the traffic enforcement. “A lot of these people can’t pay,” he said about those receiving citations. “They can’t pay their gas and water bills.”

He said excessive speeding was not a problem in Century.

“They should slow down,” Council President Ann Brooks told Cottrell. She said the town council had nothing to do with the Sheriff’s Office traffic enforcement in Century.

The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office Traffic Unit often spends days in Pensacola working traffic in between escorting funerals. But Sheriff David Morgan has directed the unit to also crack down on traffic in North Escambia when time allows, make traffic control a priority.

According to the Sheriff’s Office, the ECSO Traffic Unit worked both Century and Walnut Hill on Tuesday, September 28. There were 14 citations issued in Century and six in Walnut Hill.

Pictured top: Escambia County Sheriff’s Office Traffic Unit motorcycle deputies use a radar gun to check the speed of passing motorists recently on Highway 97 in Walnut Hill. Pictured inset : A deputy writes a ticket on Highway 97 in Walnut Hill. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.

Comments

28 Responses to “Century Man Not Happy With Sheriff’s Office Traffic Enforcement”

  1. traffic is to fast on October 9th, 2010 6:00 pm

    The traffic is to fast from the red light in Century up to the over pass North of Century on Century Blvd i live off Century Blvd its getting hard to get onto Century Blvd the triffic is getting bad there is a curve at Ann Brooks CPA office the 18 wheelers look like they are going to flip they go to fast,, just the main strip there is a speed limit BUT some people dont do the speed limit

  2. interested reader on October 8th, 2010 4:03 pm

    Good job, ECSO! Speeders on Hwy 29 & Hwy 97 are an everyday thing. I wish the ESCO would set aside a day every week (not same day) to get their quota of speeders. It won’t take long. When hwy.97 is finished it will just get worse. Not a pleasant thought. The road is really going to be great when it’s finished but it is NOT a race track.

  3. Duh!!!!! on October 8th, 2010 2:25 pm

    To SLB………..I agree 100% with you!!!! Obey the speed limit!!!

  4. S.L.B on October 8th, 2010 10:10 am

    I support the law enforcement upholding the speed limit of 35 in Century.

    Whenever we drive 35 through there and everyone else is doing 55 or 60,
    it just makes my blood boil and I always say, I wish the cops were here now
    to catch these people not obeying or respecting the law. It’s not fair to the few
    who obey the speed limit and the majority don’t and get away with it.
    *OBEY THE SPEED LIMIT*

  5. David Huie Green on October 8th, 2010 10:06 am

    if they aren’t blocking the ambulance, pulling over could cause more harm than good.

  6. Horrific on October 8th, 2010 8:13 am

    Well that’s just like they stop for a funeral processions,
    but they don’t stop for a ambulance!

    So I guess the dead guy is more important than the guy who is still alive
    and needs to get to the hospital so he doesn’t end up in hearse.

  7. Terri Sanders on October 8th, 2010 7:26 am

    I wonder if Mr.Cottrell got a ticket? or maybe someone in his family???You can stand in front of my buiulding everyday at 2:15 or so and watch cars pass a stopped school bus with its lights on and arm out.Think that stops them ? NO ! I am just glad the kids are not having toi cross highway 29

  8. David Huie Green on October 8th, 2010 7:10 am

    not that i don’t love you, SW, but the only law enforcement in Century is the Sheriff’s Department. FHP is nearly never there because they usually have a wreck somewhere else to work. Some folks in Century wander across the road as if they own them. Some drivers drive the same way. Every now and then the two groups meet and it can get messy. I figure if they are around, they are around for other matters too.

  9. SW on October 7th, 2010 9:53 pm

    Funny that someone would go to the city council to complain about the Sheriff’s department. Why not go complain to the Sheriff?

    I guess I’m the one David is talking about not liking Deputies working traffic as a primary duty; I’d much rather see those FHP Troopers doing it-after all it is one of their primary duties. I have said before that I sincerely think that the Sheriff’s Deputies should be patrolling the unincorporated areas and answering calls for service then making traffic incidental to those duties.

    At any rate, any law enforcement in Century is good, even if it is traffic; it can get bad on 29 in town. Besides, the motorcycles look cool.

  10. REDTAIL HAWK on October 7th, 2010 8:03 pm

    Forget traffic, they need to start looking for drugs instead of speeders. They got their priorities backwards. They’ll find a whole lot more drugs than they will speeders.

  11. just sayin on October 7th, 2010 3:00 pm

    If you don’t want a speeding ticket and don’t want to slow down, buy a radar detector that has the scrambler. Bought mine several years ago and it has saved me many tickets, not to count the money from increasing insurance rates due to speeding tickets.

  12. Century Woman on October 7th, 2010 2:54 pm

    What does not having the money to pay ticket have to do with you being on welfare? This may be a problem for people that have a job and work everyday. I work and i don’t have the money to pay a speeding ticket therefore I don’t need to speed neither. It has nothing to do with “me not having a job” or “being on welfare”. I got a ticket one time going to work. Coments like these, Fred, are ones that do not need to be made!

  13. Horrific on October 7th, 2010 2:44 pm

    They all look so cute on their motorcycles
    They always look so nice and so pressed.
    I” used to love to look at police and think they were so special to lay
    their lives on the line everyday for all of us and not for such great pay either.
    When they used to come into my stores I used to almost give them
    antiques and even jewelry to take home to their wifes and give as sweet
    sixteen presents to their kids.
    I was friends with most of them.
    Then when I had one who was awful and gave me a hard time for something
    I knew was crap that he said I did in traffice.
    Then he did the same thing to my daughter much later.
    He obviously didn’t like women and like to pull them over and flex his muscle,
    gun and badge.
    That was the first time I realized that ALL cops are NOT our hero’s.
    Some are just pretenders.

    I WISH YOU WOULD ALL GO BACK TO DOING THE RIGHT THINGS.
    I KNOW YOU ACTUALLY KNOW THE DIFFERENCE.
    EVERYONE DOES!

  14. 24/7 on October 7th, 2010 2:16 pm

    Mr. Cottrel says that people can’t pay traffic fines… Well there is a simple solution, Don’t do the crime if you can’t pay the fine.

  15. David Huie Green on October 7th, 2010 11:24 am

    REGARDING:

    “If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime”

    OR PERHAPS

    If you can’t pay the fine, don’t do the crime

    I know there are those who oppose using officers to enforce traffic laws but if not them, who ya gonna call?

  16. Michelle on October 7th, 2010 10:36 am

    Mr Cottrell are you serious? No excessive speeding. i always do 35 in Century because that’s the posted speed limit through there and I am always getting nearly run down and people blowing their horns at me because I will not speed up. Not just big rigs but every other vehicle as well, no one seems to do the right speed there. i’m glad there are more police which means I have a better chance of not being in an accident because someone will not slow down.

    If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime :)

  17. Trish on October 7th, 2010 9:52 am

    To Barrineau:

    I agree, who in the world does not know about speeding in Century and Gulf Breeze? If you are speeding you might as well have a neon sign flashing on your hood saying ticket me, ticket me. Keep speeding and at some point you will get nailed. You will deserve it for breaking the law.

    It was a stupid remark about not having money to pay bills because they had to pay a ticket. But what are the odds they would have paid their bills on time anyway? To some, that cell phone, beer, cigaretts, etc. are much more important than water or electricity.

  18. bwayne on October 7th, 2010 9:49 am

    I would be happy to see them more in the Cantonment area between Muscogee rd and Kingsfield.

  19. Walnut Hill Resident on October 7th, 2010 9:16 am

    Cottrell, You must have been hiding under a rock somewhere for a lot of years. They use Hwy 29 like a race track. 18 wheelers and cars fly up and down this hwy. Hwy 4 had a lot of people getting tickets on it that same day. They were out in force and that is a good thing Cottrell. School is back in the kids are getting on and off the buses. We don’t need the speeders in Century or Walnut Hill. Glad the ECSO got the speeders and if they weren’t speeding they wouldn’t have gotten a ticket in the first place. I didn’t see anyone get pulled over for driving the speed limit that day. The county could make a lot of money on Hwy 29 and Hwy 97 if they kept someone up here all the time. Good jobs ECSO if I am speeding give me a ticket I won’t complain because, I was breaking the LAW. Also would like to thank the Sheriff for having a deputy at Northview when the kids have the crosscountry runs next to Hwy 4. Very nice to see that happening.

  20. Meforone on October 7th, 2010 8:44 am

    WHAT ? this is a joke , right ! I live 8 miles from Century but carry a Century address . When I use my address for personal reasons I can’t help saying it’s just an address the county gives me . ( Can you say dumb )

  21. xpeecee on October 7th, 2010 8:22 am

    Ok… Someone got caught with their hand in the cookie jar and got mad. Guess we should get rid of all laws. Everyone could just do as they pleased. We could save lots of money by laying off all law enforcement officers. Lower taxes. Everyone would be sooooo happy… Don’t want to pay a speeding ticket – - – don’t speed.

    xpeecee in la la land…

  22. barrineau on October 7th, 2010 8:08 am

    Everyone (or so I thought) that lives around here knows there are two places that you do not speed, Gulf Breeze and Century .THEY WILL GET YOU.

  23. Fred on October 7th, 2010 7:21 am

    If they can’t afford to pay the ticket then they probably don’t have a job. So why are they speeding with all this time on their hands. So we couldn’t afford to break the law but they did. Maybe doing without water and gas for a month might make them realize this. I think they should pay the water and gas bill and do the time in jail. That way the rest of their family wouldn’t be lacking because of their stupidity. I guess they would still get their welfare check if they were in jail.
    This man has a warped mind to even bring this up at a counsel meeting.

  24. David Huie Green on October 7th, 2010 7:09 am

    REGARDING:
    “it appeared that deputies had “invaded” Century last week, writing “a lot” of traffic tickets.”

    Shame on them writing tickets on innocent, law abiding drivers.

    On the other hand, it won’t do much good if they do it for a while and then leave. Too many people see a law broken and decide they HAVE to break it too.

    David the doubtful

  25. Mrs.Goodie on October 7th, 2010 6:23 am

    All ihave to say is,slow down.I got a ticket a couple of month ago,for speeding in Century.I did not have an extra 115 dollars in my pocket,but i had to pay it anyways. Am i still speeding through there ? NO.I am glad to see the ESCO out there.

  26. concerned on October 7th, 2010 6:19 am

    people speed up and down hwy 29 all day every day if people think century dont have a problem with speeders by all means just turn a blind eye to it just like they have with drug dealers,thieves,etc. justice needs to be brought to century on all levels. century has problems that only the ecso,fhp,and drug task forces can solve.lets get to wrighting traffic citations,and busting all the people breakin the law. GOOD JOB FLORIDA LAW INFORCEMENT

  27. NRF on October 7th, 2010 6:06 am

    I think this is a GREAT idea they have been spending more time in the north end. People go much to fast, and if they can’t afford a ticket, they shouldn’t be driving so wrecklessly and slow down to conserve gas!!!! Keep up the good work SO and FHP.

  28. Everett on October 7th, 2010 3:11 am

    Good to see the SO catching speeders in Wanut hill and Century. I drove through Century two weeks ago and had several vehicles pass me doing well over the speed limit. The highway patrol was set up south of century running radar on that same day. If you can’t afford the ticket, don’t speed. Keep up the good work SO and FHP.