CAMPO – Just a few miles north of the Oklahoma border sits Officer Brad Viner, the Town of Campo’s sole police officer who helps rake in more than 90 percent of the town’s revenue.
“Yes, Campo thrives on tickets,” officer Viner said with a chuckle during an interview with 9Wants to Know. “Basically, the police department pays for the town.”
Campo tops the list of towns across the state that rely the most on traffic and court fee revenues, according to an extensive analysis of 270 town budgets by 9NEWS and Rocky Mountain PBS.
Campo, population 107, brings in 93 percent of its revenue through traffic enforcement and court fees. The state average is about 4 percent, according to the 2013 data obtained through the Department of Local Affairs.
Mountain View: 53 percent
Morrison: 52 percent
Nunn: 40 percent
At first glance, Campo resembles many rural small towns that have seen their population dwindle over the years.
Truckers and other drivers constantly speed past the decayed and abandoned buildings that line Highway 287.
At any time of day, Viner is waiting at either end of town, clocking drivers while in an unmarked white SUV.
On the way into town, drivers roll past several speed limit signs that bring the limit down from 65 MPH to 30 MPH.
“Everybody is treated the same. If you’re 10 (MPH) or over, you should get a ticket,” Viner said, claiming his first priority is public safety for the town. “If a kid darts out in the middle of the road from one of these sides streets, that 10 over could cost a life.”
The big scandal
But beyond the façade of a typical small town, a scandal over what happened to some of the town’s ticket revenue has injected tension between residents and those who run the local government.
Two years ago, former Mayor Ray Johnson and his twin sons were caught on surveillance cameras pumping about $5,000 worth of town gasoline into their personal vehicles and trucks.
One of those twin sons, Kevin Johnson, happened to be one of Campo’s three police officers at the time.
Viner helped turn the Johnsons into the Baca County Sheriff’s Office, where the case ended with plea deals and misdemeanor theft convictions against the three men.
“Sometimes you have to take action against people you know very well or somebody you might have had a BBQ with yesterday,” Viner said.
Ordered to write more tickets or lose job?
The small town politics and loyalties are difficult to read here without knowing who is standing behind who in the wake of the theft scandal.
Residents who run the town share the same last names of people who have ties to the criminal investigation. Some may have remaining allegiances to the Johnson family.
Viner’s wife is currently on the board.
During an interview with 9Wants to Know, Viner claimed Mayor Tim Gray ordered him to write more traffic tickets or risk losing his job as a police officer.
Cash flow for the town has been low since the scandal brought down Campo’s police force from three cops, to two. Viner is the only one left writing tickets after a fellow officer resigned in the wake of the heated politics.
When 9Wants to Know asked Mayor Tim Gray during a public meeting in March about Viner’s claim, Gray said he made no such an order but only an observation about the town’s finances.
“I’ve said several times we may have to rearrange or reduce the police force if that revenue isn’t paying for the police force,” Mayor Gray said.
Gray asserted the ticketing that happens in town is strictly about public safety and not to generate revenue.
“I can say on my own, watching individuals come up and down through the town, there are more people speeding through than any one, two or possibly three police officers could possibly stop,” Gray said.
The ACLU of Colorado dismisses the public safety claim as a charade.
“You can’t have your town completely dominated by that kind of revenue and claim that it’s such a public safety risk,” Denise Maes of the ACLU said. “It’s a trap and it’s just to make money.”
Viner says he won’t change the way he tickets drivers under political pressure. Ten miles over the limit will still be a practice, regardless of any order from the mayor, he says.
“Public safety comes first. It falls under integrity,” Viner said.
(KUSA-TV © 2015 Multimedia Holdings Corporation)
They have surveillance cameras in a town with 107 people? THAT is downright scary compared to a corrupt cop. (which is the usual kind)
“Basically, the police department pays for the town.”
I”ll bet the police department doesn’t even pay for itself, and the town would be a lot more prosperous without them.
sounds down right criminal if you ask me
Henry has a town like this north of him. Not one mile over the speed limit.
I think it was Oakridge, but can’t remember for sure.