Traffic control
Speeding tickets issued by police officers predated the automobile by several decades. President Grant was issued a speeding ticket while driving his horse and carriage on M St. in northwest Washington early in his administration. When the embarrassed officer realized whom he had stopped he offered to ignore the violation, but Grant insisted that the officer do his duty and paid the five-dollar fine. It was not his first speeding fine, nor his last.
As automobiles increased in popularity laws were enacted to control their use, register them, license them, and later license the drivers as well. It became the duty of local police forces to enforce these laws, and signs regulating speed and controlling the flow of traffic were installed, with officers assigned to monitor traffic. Outside of communities, there were less officers available to watch for driver’s infractions.
Rural sheriff departments were often limited in size. To avoid carnage on the roads, and to enhance state revenues, state police departments began to be formed in the United States, with many of them taking the name Highway Patrol rather than State Police. Their organization and jurisdictions vary from state to state, for example, the Arizona Highway Patrol is a state police agency; the North Carolina Highway Patrol, while statewide, is specifically charged with traffic law enforcement.
Several larger American cities formed their own highway patrol departments to control traffic within their communities, including on the interstate highways which run through them. By the 1960s the highway patrol departments and virtually all police monitoring traffic were equipped with radar, and later laser systems to measure speed. They were supported with fixed-wing and helicopter aircraft, and in many areas used unmarked vehicles.
According to the National Motorists Association at least 25 million, and possibly as many as 50 million traffic tickets were written by police officers of all jurisdictions in 2007. There was no national database recording the total, nor is there one today. Traffic laws and their enforcement evolved to include police officers as revenue collectors in many states and municipalities across the country, generating a cash stream which nationally supports a multitude of businesses and professions.