Looking at the most recent arrests in our area, it almost appears some of these people are begging to be caught.

Officers Dennis Palmer and Mark Clements worked a clearcut on the eastern border of the Econfina Wildlife Management Area and observed a truck turn around on three occasions and sweep the woods with its headlights. The subject was stopped and possessed a loaded .270 caliber rifle. A citation for gun and light was issued.

Officer Dennis Palmer last week was scouting ”a site in the Econfina Wildlife Management Area for a decoy deer detail to be worked later that evening when he observed a truck turn around several times and attempt to use its headlights to locate deer. The truck was stopped and a loaded 44-caliber magnum rifle and a double barrel shotgun were found in the truck. A citation for gun and light was issued.”

That was easy. Are they all that easy?

“Officer Dennis Palmer located two hunters dressed in camouflage hunting in Hobb’s Pasture, a handicap only section of the Econfina Wildlife Management Area which is currently closed to hunting. The hunters did not have valid hunting licenses or management area permits and were issued citations.”

Humm, clever does not seem to be an operative word for these folks. Maybe it’s just Bay County. Let’s take a look over in Calhoun County.

“Officer Jimmy Stewart received information about shots being fired and a possible trespass violation on private property west of Blountstown. When Officer Stewart arrived, he walked the property and found a freshly killed illegal deer near the complainant’s property line. Officer Stewart tracked the subjects to a mobile home in a nearby mobile home park. After interviewing the three subjects living there, Officer Stewart determined that the female resident had shot the deer. She was charged with taking an illegal deer.”

OK, so it’s not just Bay, and it’s not just men. What’s going on in Jackson County?

“Officer Alton Ranew received information that an individual and a small child were riding an all terrain vehicle (ATV) on Davenport Road east of Marianna with a rifle mounted on the four-wheeler. Officer Ranew received a second call about the vehicle stating that the subject had a freshly killed buck deer on the back of the four-wheeler. Through Officer Ranew’s investigation of the incident, and assistance from Officer David Arnette and K-9 Officer Mike Guy, they located two spent high powered rifle shell casings and some fresh deer blood.

The defendant admitted to Officer Ranew he had shot the deer from the right-of-way. He was subsequently charged for hunting from the right-of-way.”

Nothing like bonding with your child through joint probation.

Still, there’s nothing like hunting at night from your vehicle.

“At approximately 11:55 p.m., after completing a night hunting detail on the Alabama - Florida state line, Officer David Arnette was traveling east on Highway 2 when he observed a vehicle moving at a slow rate of speed. After meeting the vehicle, Officer Arnette continued in an easterly direction and went over a hill out of sight from the vehicle.

He turned around and traveled back west over the hill to observe the vehicle. The vehicle turned around and began to display lights from both sides of the vehicle. At approximately 12:05 a.m., he stopped the vehicle. The subjects had two rifles and two lights. Officer Arnette seized all their equipment and charged the three subjects with taking or attempting to take deer at night with a gun and light.”

Arnette stayed busy.

“Officer Arnette was working a night hunting detail on Avery Road at the Alabama - Florida state line when he heard a rifle shot approximately 400 yards south of his location. After the suspect’s vehicle passed his location, Officer Arnette stopped the Alabama vehicle. The four Alabama residents possessed a .270 caliber rifle, 12-gauge shotgun loaded with slugs, and three lights. They failed to kill the deer they had shot at.

The equipment was seized and all four subjects were charged with taking or attempting to take deer at night with a gun and light.

And it was a long week.

“Officer Arnette received information about night hunting activity occurring in the Compass Lake in the Hills area south of Marianna. At approximately 8:15 p.m., Officer Arnette and Officer Mike Guy were working a detail in that area when Officer Guy observed an individual traveling on Nortek Boulevard at a slow rate of speed.

The driver turned his vehicle crossways in the road and used his headlights to shine an area approximately 200 yards away from Officer Guy. The driver then fired a shot from the vehicle at a deer. Officer Guy charged the subject with taking or attempting to take deer at night with a gun and light.

 And for those hoity toity folks in Walton County with your fancy Destin “shoppes,” remember that you are not immune.

“On January 5, Officers Danny Arnette and Randall Brooks responded to a request for assistance from a Walton County deputy regarding a subject he had stopped for night hunting on Walton Bridge Road. The deputy stopped the subject after observing him display a light across open fields in a manner capable of disclosing deer. The subject was in possession of a loaded rifle and shotgun while displaying the light.

Officer Brooks issued the subject a notice to appear for attempting to take deer at night with a gun and light.

It’s a bold step for the Sunshine State, but a necessary one to negate any positive public feelings generated when the state somehow managed to rank 14th nationwide as it goes to education.

It is so complex that it is designed for failure, an attractive feature for our state politicians it seems. Keeping people agitated over minor things like tickets for running red lights keeps them from getting too riled up about real issues, such as property tax reform.

Here’s how it works:

• First, the state decides it is a public safety issue, while at the same time once again reminding the populace that driving is a privilege, not a right.

• Second, ever-popular Gov. Charlie Crist throws his support behind it in an attempt to bring his approval ratings down, a feat not possible in the Panhandle.
• Third, promise that the program will pay for itself and only punish those who “have something to hide,” while at the same time promising it is not about generating revenue.

What is important is to rush everything through while no one is paying too close attention to the details.

Then let the fun begin.

As Viewpoints Editor Scott Kent noted in Wednesday’s News Herald, there is data that shows the placement of such devices seems directly proportional to an increase in wrecks at the intersections. Rear-end collisions, if you can imagine that.

Studies publicized by the National Motorists Association carry the same tale, as Australia, North Carolina, Virginia, Canada and Texas all found the same thing: wrecks increase where these cameras are placed. Still, as one official noted, the number of red-light running offenses drop. Mission accomplished.

So the public figures out that maybe, just maybe, it’s not all about safety.

It must be the revenue, right?

Kent pointed this out as well Wednesday, with an audit in Albuquerque revealing $10 million in gross revenues, or $5.8 million after expenses.

And it was found that in Lubbock, Texas, the city cut down the length of the yellow light, making it more likely you would run a run light, at intersections with the cameras.

Brave Lubbock officials went after their own trifecta: the number of wrecks increased, they rigged the lights, and they still lost money, which really agitates voters.

It would appear that in Florida, the aggravation factor of arbitrary roadblocks is not enough for officials. They are in need of additional ways to irritate a populace already feeling overgoverned, overtaxed and overdone.

With statistics working against their very own safety argument, they consider launching the latest government intrusion.

There is something to be said for the satisfaction of being ticketed for, say, speeding when you are finally caught by a law enforcement officer. It’s earned. Maybe it’s one of life’s little guilty pleasures, setting the cruise control for 59 mph in a 55 mph zone just because it feels a little naughty.

This is not to say that people should run red lights for the heck of it, but it is to say that every single infraction does not warrant a ticket when you are not even sure who was driving.

There are too many unknowns, with little way to make them known.

Who was driving the car? It doesn’t matter, say the lawmakers, you are responsible for who drives your car, and you pay the fine or lose your license.

Maybe it was an emergency situation. Prove it, government says.

Maybe it was a logistical or self-defense move; someone was right on your tail or you were fleeing an aggressive driver. Prove it, government says.

Or maybe government was a little overaggressive and rigged the light, and set the whole thing up knowing the entire system failed to make intersections elsewhere across the country any safer, and in fact made them more likely to cause wrecks.

Try proving that. They did in Lubbock.