Post by jeffolie on May 31, 2011 10:26:26 GMT -6
Top Gun: makes new record for Texting tickets near me
Our family home and local driving happens every day by my family in this Top Gun texting ticket territory. 2 of my family get on the freeway everyday where he patrols and handed out a record number of tickets. No one in my family of 6 adults has gotten a ticket in at least 5 years and my sweetheart wife, Olie has never had a single ticket in her life. Top Gun CHP writes texting tickets to California State University at Long Beach students, employees, etc...mostly younger adults...my son walks to attend classes from our home to California State University at Long Beach where he will be a senior in the fall majoring in economics.
===================================
Long Beach CHP officer writes tickets into the record books
Texting while driving is a frequent offense
Updated: 05/30/2011
Scott Wall is a nice guy.
Honestly, he is.
He does a lot of volunteer duty, dotes a lot on his young daughters Allison and Katie, cares a lot about the safety of his fellow human beings, and gives a lot of people breaks in his line of work that thwarts popularity.
"Actually, I let half of the people I stop go," he says matter of factly.
But it's what happens to the other half that has made Scott Wall one of the most loathed, feared, prolific, respected, if not legendary California Highway Patrol officers across the past quarter of a century working the streets and freeways of the Southern California landscape.
During the more than 1.2 million miles he estimates he's driven during that span
California Highway Patrol Officer Scott Wall holds the cell phone of Bemita Campos after pulling her over for texting with two hands while making a right turn on a red, passing two parked Long Beach police motorcycles almost hitting one of them and continued up the freeway onramp texting while steering with her legs. She was let her off with a warning after promising never to do it again. - mostly on a motorcycle - Wall has handed out more than 65,000 tickets and arrested more than 2,000 drunk drivers.
No CHP officer during that span is even close to matching those numbers.
And, since the Long Beach area - especially the 405 Freeway - is his usual bailiwick, there are few commuters in these parts who haven't come under his rapt scrutiny over the years.
And, for sure, a lot of Long Beach State students, even employees, have crossed paths with Wall, much to their dismay.
Indeed, during a 90-minute period on a recent afternoon at the 405 south exit ramp at Stearns near Palo Verde, Wall stopped 32 cars and issued 26 citations.
And all for the same violation - cell phone text messaging.
And, according to Wall, almost all were Long Beach State students.
"Text messaging has become an epidemic among college students and other young adults-and that day was one of the worse," says Wall "One lady, steering with her legs while texting, nearly rear-ended a stopped car on the ramp and came within a foot of clipping my motorcycle. I waved her to pull over, which she did about 50 feet up the ramp alongside other cars I had waved over. And then moments later another car almost hit my motorcycle.
"I pulled the guy driving it over, and he explained he was texting because he was worried about his wife, who had been texting him but suddenly had stopped. I figured I knew who his wife was, and told him to text her and for her to hold her license out of her car window. She did, and, sure enough, it was the lady who I had just pulled over about 50 feet up the ramp.
"The couple both went to Long Beach State, and he said they were exchanging romantic messages. I gave them both tickets."
The 48-year-old Wall, a 1981 Millikan High graduate who was a member of the school's golf team, has an endless reservoir of compelling tales to relate from the experiences he's had during his colorful career.
"I recently stopped a guy for texting for the third time who works as a gardener at Long Beach State," says Wall. "He shows me the text message, and it turns out he had been texting the court in an attempt to get an extension on the second citation I gave him. I then proceeded to give him his third one."
Scott Wall is a friendly fellow with an engaging personality who insists he's unfailingly courteous to those who violate the law.
And he also wears a hidden microphone that records his traffic-stop conversations.
"That can come in handy, especially in court proceedings," he says. "I once stopped a doctor on the 605 going more than 80, and she became enraged. She said she was on an emergency call, and yet the hospital she said she was going to was in the opposite direction.
"She used every vile word you can think on me. I gave her a citation, and she fought it in a South Bay court, where she told the judge I had been very rude to her. I then played back the recording, her mouth dropped open, and she said, `What can I say?' The judge found her guilty."
Scott Wall has a lot of stories like that, and realizes he's in a profession in which his presence isn't greeted with warmth and good cheer.
"You have to be thick-skinned, or you won't last in the CHP," he says. "I've been called every derogatory word imaginable. That's just part of the job, which is to keep our roadways safe. If you've been to some of the accidents I've been to, and seen the terrible things I've seen, you'd understand the reasons for my enforcement vigilance. I get no thrill giving someone a ticket. But I do get satisfaction knowing it might one day prevent a bad accident.
"We have an aggressive campaign now to reduce injury and fatal collisions caused by distracted drivers. And drivers are definitely distracted by texting. Texting and drunk drivers are our biggest challenges, although reckless speeding certainly also is a serious concern."
Of course, there is a lot more to Scott Wall than just handing out tickets. Bad guys with guns have found out he isn't easily intimidated.
On Feb. 16, 1994, he was driving up the Harbor Freeway near Gardena when shots rang out from two men in a pickup in front of him.
Wall immediately gave chase with siren blaring, and wound up arresting a couple of drunk off-duty Los Angeles policemen, who wound up serving prison terms for their transgressions.
"They fired 31 bullets, and claimed they were shooting at billboards," says Wall of an incident that made national news.
"But, when they saw me, they panicked and fired in my direction hoping I'd back off. Wrong guy. I wound up disarming them on the side of the 91 Freeway without having to fire my gun."
Naturally, Scott Wall is well-regarded by the CHP hierarchy.
He's been assigned to spend several days each month breaking in newcomers as both a Field Training Officer and Certified Motor Training Officer.
"I'm liable to take a new officer as far as 600 miles either in a motorcycle or a car in one day," says Wall, who was named the CHP's Southern Los Angeles Officer of the Year in 2010. "I try to show them as much of the ropes as I can."
He's also a regular on the CHP's Protective Services Detail, and has been involved in guarding many world leaders as well as American ones like presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
"Got to know President Clinton pretty well because he came out here a lot, and found him to be a terrific guy," says Wall.
"Actually, all the presidents have been quite nice to work with.
"Also recently worked the Dalai Lama detail, which I've done on all his recent visits here."
In his younger days, Scott Wall was a Skylinks Golf Course fixture for 12 years performing various chores for the likes of Frank Newell and Jamie Mulligan. One of the guys he played golf with there was the old Hollywood Stars ball player out of Poly High, Joe Duhem, who now owns a coin shop in Lakewood.
Wall attended Long Beach City College, and had planned to become an oil driller before he was persuaded to pursue law enforcement by the school's then Dean of Administrative Justice, Mary Lou Cavenaugh.
"I took a written test with 14,000 other applicants in November of 1983, and only 240 made the cut," he says. "There was a hiring freeze, and my CHP graduating class in August of 1985 was 29 out of the 60 we started with."
And, oh, has Scott Wall made an impact since donning the CHP uniform, although he insists he's only doing what he's paid to do.
"I remember when the seat belt law went into effect most of our officers gave one or two citations, and I wound up citing 37 people the first day," he says with a laugh. "I guess you can say I have a lot of energy and enthusiasm."
Son of the late Gene (Dinky) Wall - his mother Pat still lives in the old family home in East Long Beach near her son - Scott Wall has been married 20 years to the former Geri Tardif, a Lakewood High graduate.
A 6-foot, 200 pounder with a thick bushel of light brown hair who's in exemplary condition from a daily jogging and weight lifting regimen, Wall is a dedicated mountain hiker with Mt. Whitney being one of his favorite destinations.
He's also a member of The Ancient And Honorable Order of E Clampus Vitas, a fraternal organization dedicated to the study and preservation of western heritage.
"It's responsible for a lot of those historic signs you see alongside the highways," says Wall, who belongs to the Billy Holcomb chapter in the Inland Empire.
Scott Wall, who is somewhat camouflaged when on duty in his helmet and sunglasses, has gained a widespread reputation in these parts, and his name often is heard when people discuss traffic tickets.
In fact, at the Long Beach gym where Wall trains, a guy recently came up to him, and said, `Someone told me you know a lot of cops, and that Scott Wall worked out here. I want to talk to Scott about trying to get out of a ticket.' I laughed and told the guy I didn't know Scott Wall. What the guy didn't know is that I was the guy who gave him the ticket."
www.presstelegram.com/ci_18171405?source=rv
Our family home and local driving happens every day by my family in this Top Gun texting ticket territory. 2 of my family get on the freeway everyday where he patrols and handed out a record number of tickets. No one in my family of 6 adults has gotten a ticket in at least 5 years and my sweetheart wife, Olie has never had a single ticket in her life. Top Gun CHP writes texting tickets to California State University at Long Beach students, employees, etc...mostly younger adults...my son walks to attend classes from our home to California State University at Long Beach where he will be a senior in the fall majoring in economics.
===================================
Long Beach CHP officer writes tickets into the record books
Texting while driving is a frequent offense
Updated: 05/30/2011
Scott Wall is a nice guy.
Honestly, he is.
He does a lot of volunteer duty, dotes a lot on his young daughters Allison and Katie, cares a lot about the safety of his fellow human beings, and gives a lot of people breaks in his line of work that thwarts popularity.
"Actually, I let half of the people I stop go," he says matter of factly.
But it's what happens to the other half that has made Scott Wall one of the most loathed, feared, prolific, respected, if not legendary California Highway Patrol officers across the past quarter of a century working the streets and freeways of the Southern California landscape.
During the more than 1.2 million miles he estimates he's driven during that span
California Highway Patrol Officer Scott Wall holds the cell phone of Bemita Campos after pulling her over for texting with two hands while making a right turn on a red, passing two parked Long Beach police motorcycles almost hitting one of them and continued up the freeway onramp texting while steering with her legs. She was let her off with a warning after promising never to do it again. - mostly on a motorcycle - Wall has handed out more than 65,000 tickets and arrested more than 2,000 drunk drivers.
No CHP officer during that span is even close to matching those numbers.
And, since the Long Beach area - especially the 405 Freeway - is his usual bailiwick, there are few commuters in these parts who haven't come under his rapt scrutiny over the years.
And, for sure, a lot of Long Beach State students, even employees, have crossed paths with Wall, much to their dismay.
Indeed, during a 90-minute period on a recent afternoon at the 405 south exit ramp at Stearns near Palo Verde, Wall stopped 32 cars and issued 26 citations.
And all for the same violation - cell phone text messaging.
And, according to Wall, almost all were Long Beach State students.
"Text messaging has become an epidemic among college students and other young adults-and that day was one of the worse," says Wall "One lady, steering with her legs while texting, nearly rear-ended a stopped car on the ramp and came within a foot of clipping my motorcycle. I waved her to pull over, which she did about 50 feet up the ramp alongside other cars I had waved over. And then moments later another car almost hit my motorcycle.
"I pulled the guy driving it over, and he explained he was texting because he was worried about his wife, who had been texting him but suddenly had stopped. I figured I knew who his wife was, and told him to text her and for her to hold her license out of her car window. She did, and, sure enough, it was the lady who I had just pulled over about 50 feet up the ramp.
"The couple both went to Long Beach State, and he said they were exchanging romantic messages. I gave them both tickets."
The 48-year-old Wall, a 1981 Millikan High graduate who was a member of the school's golf team, has an endless reservoir of compelling tales to relate from the experiences he's had during his colorful career.
"I recently stopped a guy for texting for the third time who works as a gardener at Long Beach State," says Wall. "He shows me the text message, and it turns out he had been texting the court in an attempt to get an extension on the second citation I gave him. I then proceeded to give him his third one."
Scott Wall is a friendly fellow with an engaging personality who insists he's unfailingly courteous to those who violate the law.
And he also wears a hidden microphone that records his traffic-stop conversations.
"That can come in handy, especially in court proceedings," he says. "I once stopped a doctor on the 605 going more than 80, and she became enraged. She said she was on an emergency call, and yet the hospital she said she was going to was in the opposite direction.
"She used every vile word you can think on me. I gave her a citation, and she fought it in a South Bay court, where she told the judge I had been very rude to her. I then played back the recording, her mouth dropped open, and she said, `What can I say?' The judge found her guilty."
Scott Wall has a lot of stories like that, and realizes he's in a profession in which his presence isn't greeted with warmth and good cheer.
"You have to be thick-skinned, or you won't last in the CHP," he says. "I've been called every derogatory word imaginable. That's just part of the job, which is to keep our roadways safe. If you've been to some of the accidents I've been to, and seen the terrible things I've seen, you'd understand the reasons for my enforcement vigilance. I get no thrill giving someone a ticket. But I do get satisfaction knowing it might one day prevent a bad accident.
"We have an aggressive campaign now to reduce injury and fatal collisions caused by distracted drivers. And drivers are definitely distracted by texting. Texting and drunk drivers are our biggest challenges, although reckless speeding certainly also is a serious concern."
Of course, there is a lot more to Scott Wall than just handing out tickets. Bad guys with guns have found out he isn't easily intimidated.
On Feb. 16, 1994, he was driving up the Harbor Freeway near Gardena when shots rang out from two men in a pickup in front of him.
Wall immediately gave chase with siren blaring, and wound up arresting a couple of drunk off-duty Los Angeles policemen, who wound up serving prison terms for their transgressions.
"They fired 31 bullets, and claimed they were shooting at billboards," says Wall of an incident that made national news.
"But, when they saw me, they panicked and fired in my direction hoping I'd back off. Wrong guy. I wound up disarming them on the side of the 91 Freeway without having to fire my gun."
Naturally, Scott Wall is well-regarded by the CHP hierarchy.
He's been assigned to spend several days each month breaking in newcomers as both a Field Training Officer and Certified Motor Training Officer.
"I'm liable to take a new officer as far as 600 miles either in a motorcycle or a car in one day," says Wall, who was named the CHP's Southern Los Angeles Officer of the Year in 2010. "I try to show them as much of the ropes as I can."
He's also a regular on the CHP's Protective Services Detail, and has been involved in guarding many world leaders as well as American ones like presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
"Got to know President Clinton pretty well because he came out here a lot, and found him to be a terrific guy," says Wall.
"Actually, all the presidents have been quite nice to work with.
"Also recently worked the Dalai Lama detail, which I've done on all his recent visits here."
In his younger days, Scott Wall was a Skylinks Golf Course fixture for 12 years performing various chores for the likes of Frank Newell and Jamie Mulligan. One of the guys he played golf with there was the old Hollywood Stars ball player out of Poly High, Joe Duhem, who now owns a coin shop in Lakewood.
Wall attended Long Beach City College, and had planned to become an oil driller before he was persuaded to pursue law enforcement by the school's then Dean of Administrative Justice, Mary Lou Cavenaugh.
"I took a written test with 14,000 other applicants in November of 1983, and only 240 made the cut," he says. "There was a hiring freeze, and my CHP graduating class in August of 1985 was 29 out of the 60 we started with."
And, oh, has Scott Wall made an impact since donning the CHP uniform, although he insists he's only doing what he's paid to do.
"I remember when the seat belt law went into effect most of our officers gave one or two citations, and I wound up citing 37 people the first day," he says with a laugh. "I guess you can say I have a lot of energy and enthusiasm."
Son of the late Gene (Dinky) Wall - his mother Pat still lives in the old family home in East Long Beach near her son - Scott Wall has been married 20 years to the former Geri Tardif, a Lakewood High graduate.
A 6-foot, 200 pounder with a thick bushel of light brown hair who's in exemplary condition from a daily jogging and weight lifting regimen, Wall is a dedicated mountain hiker with Mt. Whitney being one of his favorite destinations.
He's also a member of The Ancient And Honorable Order of E Clampus Vitas, a fraternal organization dedicated to the study and preservation of western heritage.
"It's responsible for a lot of those historic signs you see alongside the highways," says Wall, who belongs to the Billy Holcomb chapter in the Inland Empire.
Scott Wall, who is somewhat camouflaged when on duty in his helmet and sunglasses, has gained a widespread reputation in these parts, and his name often is heard when people discuss traffic tickets.
In fact, at the Long Beach gym where Wall trains, a guy recently came up to him, and said, `Someone told me you know a lot of cops, and that Scott Wall worked out here. I want to talk to Scott about trying to get out of a ticket.' I laughed and told the guy I didn't know Scott Wall. What the guy didn't know is that I was the guy who gave him the ticket."
www.presstelegram.com/ci_18171405?source=rv