Michigan police have been engaging in extortion tactics against random citizens in order to raise more money for the department.

According to ABC affiliate WXYZ in Detroit, Michigan State Police are responsible for conducting 300 traffic stops along a stretch of I-275 in Livonia over the weekend. These roadside shakedowns resulted in officers issuing 314 tickets during a single eight-hour shift, ranging from failure to use a seatbelt to other moving violations.

Officials with the MSP said traffic cops were stationed along this particular road in the interest of public safety, but could there have been more of a monetary agenda?

The Free Though Project recently found that 41,000,000 speeding tickets are issued every year in the United States, costing an average of $152. So, with over $6 billion being made every year from this offense, as well as the additional revenue from busted tail lights, expired license plates, etc., it is easy to see that moving violations are big business for police departments.

Unfortunately, some police departments have taken this earning potential to despicable levels, going as far as to consider anything dangling from a motorist’s rearview mirror (air fresheners, fuzzy dice) a ticketable offense. Reason TV reports that a police department in Colorado often writes “obstruction of view” citations as a means for extorting additional money from the very residents they have been hired to serve.

Have you ever been ticketed for having an air freshener or fuzzy dice?

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