Sheriff Hopeful In Va. Says He Dismissed Tickets

"You have to be even-handed with everyone. The law has to be administered equally," said James E. Plowman (R), the commonwealth's attorney. "I just don't think that because you're a friend of a police officer you should never get a ticket. My 83-year-old grandmother got a ticket. She was in our court system. If I ever was going to show favoritism, it would have been to my 83-year-old grandmother. But she paid her fine."

Although some law enforcement agencies disavow any knowledge of ticket-fixing -- "I don't think that's a deal with us here," D.C. police spokesman Junis Fletcher said -- others say it's an age-old practice, fueled by camaraderie among officers and the discretion they have.

"It would be almost ludicrous to say it hasn't happened," said Lt. Chris Marsh, commander of the Fairfax Police Department's internal investigations unit. "That's just like asking, have officers ever speeded in their cruisers when they shouldn't have? I'm sure that's happened, too."

Fixing a ticket is relatively easy, Ahlemann said. An officer generally turns in tickets at the end of a shift. If a ticket is torn up before it is turned in, there is no record that it was ever written. In most jurisdictions in the Washington region, police enforce traffic laws and investigate crimes. In Loudoun, the lead law enforcement agency is the sheriff's office.

Loudoun Deputy Brian Curtis, who heads the Police Benevolent Association chapter in the county, said "there's no doubt" tickets are fixed in his department and in many others. "I'm a fourth-generation law enforcement officer," he said. "This has gone on since the beginning of time."

Some officers also say that, as a professional courtesy, they refuse to give minor traffic tickets to fellow officers.

Ahlemann spent 10 years as a Loudoun sheriff's deputy, earning a reputation as one of the department's most prolific ticket writers. But last year, he began saying that high-ranking officers were playing favorites in personnel decisions and in how they handled tickets issued to prominent or well-connected Loudoun residents for serious offenses.

He cited one case in September 2006 in which a western Loudoun man faced possible jail time after being charged with driving while intoxicated, eluding police and refusing to take a blood alcohol test. The charge was reduced to public drunkenness, which carries a $50 fine, because the motorist was a friend of a high-ranking sheriff's official, Ahlemann said.

Simpson said his agency investigated the reduced charge and found that the case had been handled properly.

In late summer, after defeating Simpson for the Republican nomination, Ahlemann distributed copies of the complaint against the motorist to about 100 people at a Republican Party meeting. The complaint contained personal information about the man, a prominent farmer, including his address, birth date and Social Security number.

"That blew my mind," Simpson said. "We give an hour-long program at senior centers and homeowner association meetings about identity theft, and one of the biggest things we talk about is securing your Social Security number."

Ahlemann said he shared a document that was available to the general public. "Anybody could pay 50 cents to the court clerk and get the same document," he said.

Loudoun deputy Curtis said the public doesn't understand the depth of the bond among officers. "It's a little different than the guys who maybe work at AOL," said Curtis, whose association has endorsed George, the Democratic candidate. "We're more like a brotherhood. You know, we're out here 24/7 risking our lives. We try to look out for each other." That's why officers who commit minor traffic offenses deserve a break, he said.

With Election Day approaching, Ahlemann said he thinks his candor in discussing ticket-fixing could taint him in the eyes of some voters.

"If people feel like because I, you know, let people off tickets because they were friends of another officer and they feel like that is a problem, that they can't elect me, then that's their choice," he said. "You know, I mean, I just -- I come to you with what I got."