I appreciate your well thought out post.  You are obviously much more informed about the happenings in BP and the HPD than me.  As I started to read your post, I even thought it may have been written by an officer of HPD.  While I tip my hat to your knowledge, I still don't concede any of my positions.
 
The fact that the downhill Chapel location is in 30 Beat instead of BP and is patrolled by traffic division and not HPD is splitting hairs and totally irrelevent to the point being made.  The location is used by many people on this BP forum and the cars issuing the tickets have Hoover on them, which is the point I was making.  The particular division of the officer means nothing in the post, unless you are going by the letter of the post and not the spirit of the post!   Speaking of spirit of the law, have you confirmed that HPD doesn't ticket for violating the spirit of the law?  One would hope that is a correct assessment.
 
I agree that we should all be careful driving around joggers and children, which really goes without saying.  The Ford Explorer you mention should be ticketed for blatant traffic violations.  The problem is when you see increased police presence at a stop sign on Chapel, it gives the appearance that they are only interested in writing tickets.  What else could I conclude since it was dark and the police were sitting way off on a side street?  One might even say hiding?  Maybe they wouldn't ticket you for not coming to a complete stop, at night when there is nobody around, but their actions make it look like an operation to produce tickets.  If they really just wanted to train people to come to a complete stop, they could sit near the intersection in daylight.  The perception just looks bad.
 
Also, in regards to radar use, sitting at the bottom of the hill on Chapel before Simmons, in the dark, when the speeds change in an assinine way (your words) just gives the perception of a speed trap.  Also, I know people who have received tickets going the other direction on Chapel where the speed goes from 40 ot 25.  Why are these two areas of Chapel being staked out?  The answer would seem to be because that is where it is most likely for drivers to be over the speed limit and thus the best place to give out tickets?  I could be wrong, but again, what would a logical person assume based on their actions?  
 
I have friends who don't live in Hoover, but drive through it and they point to Sunday as a bad day to drive through Hoover with the police looking for traffic violations.  These are outsiders who are forming their opinions on Hoover Police based on their own observations.  That is not the perception that outsiders should form about the police who cover BP and Hoover.  With this blitz having been going on for months now, even careful drivers like myself are worried that our record may be tarnished because of some quota.  Again, it is all about perception.  I love the city, even though my house was broken into in the first several months of my moving in.  That was seven years ago, but I guess I am overly sensitive to burglaries and break-ins and would put more weight on them than writing traffic tickets.  
 
We are both passionate about our beliefs and it is great to have a forum on which to share them.  Happy motoring through BP, but stay vigilant!  
 

Jofus, I'm going to reply further to your last post, but I'd like for you to read the following article that appeared in the Birmingham News on May 30, 2007:
 
 
Growing city means constant challenges for Hoover police Department hopes aggressive approach will keep bad guys at bay Author: ROGER BATSON JR. News staff writer  
 
HOOVER AT 40 Fifth in a series examining how Hoover has changed over its 40-year existence  
 
There are few people in the metro area who consider Hoover a sleepy, little town south of Birmingham anymore, Hoover police Chief Nick Derzis said.  
 
The city's growth, coupled with its financial success as a major shopping and entertainment center, has resulted in prosperity but also brought challenges in terms of crime and safety.  
 
''When I first started, this was certainly a bedroom community,'' said Derzis, who joined the department in 1979 and is now the city's fourth police chief. ''There was very little retail, and there weren't a lot of reasons why people would leave other cities to come here.''  
 
Then the Galleria opened in 1986, and other attractions and shopping centers began to pop up.  
 
''It became a retail hub that drew in people from all over the state,'' Derzis said. ''And if you are a bad guy wanting to commit a crime, well, we became an attraction for that as well.''  
 
Almost immediately after the Galleria opened, Derzis said, the city saw a significant increase in reports of bad checks and other financial crimes. The department soon after met with retailers and implemented a policy that if someone writes a bad check and a warrant is issued by the retailer, the Hoover Police Department will travel to any point in the state to arrest them.  
 
Since the policy has been implemented, Derzis said, officers have traveled to cities as far away as Huntsville, Mobile, Foley and Daphne and made hundreds of arrests.  
 
''We realized early that if we didn't do something and get the word out, we would be sitting ducks,'' he said.  
 
The department was a oneman operation when it was founded in 1967, operating out of Hoover's Fire Station No. 1.  
 
It now has 155 full-time police officers patrolling the sprawling city limits in ethanol-fueled Chevrolet Tahoes.  
 
The department now has three separate bureaus: field operations, administrative services and investigative services, and more than a dozen sub-units ranging from interstate criminal enforcement investigators to family services and juvenile crime officers.  
 
The department has needed the growing manpower and resources because crime has increased over the years.  
 
Thefts have jumped from 1,476 in 2000 to 2,028 in 2006, and robberies have increased from 65 to 101 in the same period. The number of burglaries grew from 238 to 341.  
 
Homicides, however, have stayed at about two a year for most years since 2000.  
 
'Aggressive' department  
 
Derzis said the city's relatively low crime rate hasn't been by chance. The department has worked overtime to create an image hostile to criminals.  
 
''We work aggressively when we stop vehicles. We work aggressively when we respond to crime, and I think we have a reputation as an aggressive police department,'' Derzis said. ''And I hope that because of our reputation, that some people would avoid us.''  
 
Hoover police Lt. Randall Shields said a large proportion of Hoover's police calls come from apartment complexes. Still, Derzis said, there is no one area of the city that is particularly troubled.  
 
''We have some situations that may spring up here and there in the city, but we're not like a major metropolitan area that may have one particular area that's really a hot spot, that we tell people not to go to,'' Derzis said.  
 
Residents and business owners in Bluff Park this past year expressed concern about crime in their community, which they said was becoming more prevalent.  
 
A daytime robbery at the Piggy Wiggly grocery store at Shades Mountain Plaza in August prompted calls for a greater police presence.  
 
The Police Department responded by setting up a substation in a donated retail space at Bluff Park Village.  
 
Frank Baker, co-owner of Baker's Famous Pizza, which was robbed in January 2006, said the situation in Bluff Park has improved significantly since the substation opened.  
 
''It's a deterrent,'' Baker said. ''The more police you see, the more criminals realize they might get caught if they do something.''  
 
Helen Roberts, a clerk at Mountain Plaza Cleaners in Shades Mountain Plaza, which was burglarized three weeks agosaid police do a good job, but Hoover's a big area to cover. ''They can't be everywhere,'' she said.  
 
Police 'very helpful'  
 
The Police Department has enlisted the help of everyday citizens, working to help neighborhoods establish community watch programs.  
 
Dennis Cole, president of the Greystone Glen Homeowners Association, said his group is working to start one now.  
 
''The city's police have been very helpful,'' said Cole, who moved to Hoover from Birmingham 10 years ago. ''They've been very responsive to the needs of the community and helped us on traffic, community watch or any issue that's come up.''  
 
One unexpected issue the Police Department has been dealing with more in recent years is the growing Spanish-speaking immigrant population, Derzis said. The biggest problem, initially, was trying to communicate, he said.  
 
The department now has 10 to 15 officers who speak the language at fluent levels, and even more who have taken Spanish lessons offered by the department to improve their level of communication, he said.  
 
Spanish language skills are one of the many things the department looks for in new recruits, Derzis said.  
 
''The challenge is when we get telephone calls from the community, and you hear people say, 'Well, if you know that someone is illegal, why don't you do something about it?,''' Derzis said.  
 
''Well, for one thing, you may say that they are illegal and you may think that they are illegal when they may not be, and it's something that the police don't ask.''  
 
The Police Department has made efforts to make Hispanics, who often are crime victims, more comfortable with filing police reports, he said.  
 
Catching up with growth  
 
The department's greatest challenge, he said, is still the city's growth. ''A lot of times we are having to play catch-up,'' Derzis said.  
 
To keep from falling behind, the department continues to add to its police force and communicates regularly with city leaders to make sure it has enough resources to respond to residents' concerns.  
 
''The challenge to us is to keep our community safe for people to live here and keep it safe for people who visit or shop here,'' Derzis said. ''And that's a challenge every day.''  
 
EMAIL: rbatson@bhamnews.com  
 
Copyright, 2007, Birmingham News. All Rights Reserved.

Quote from RockviewResident on 12/25/08 at 9:44pm:

Yes, there are several spots on Shades Crest Rd that have a 20mph speed limit . more are needed. Today a HPD was near Tip Top grill right under the 25 mph sign. the sign right across states 35mph leading away from Grill. With several blind spots before you get to TTG the 25 mph should be moved right before Crest Lane (Log Cabin).By the way Crest Lane needs to be a one way because a wall and brush block the line of sight from the left.  Stay safe and drive slowly on the crest, its a neighborhood too.