Flowery Branch Police

[@daveystod]

What a cry baby. The law states you must either be one lane over from operating emergency vehicles or slow down considerably if changing lanes is not possible. Learn to drive and quit bothering police .

[@MichaelHolmes777]

You know what would be an interesting stat - How many people are injured because police are too lazy to drive 4 miles to the next exit to conduct their road piracy. If it is really dangerous than they should stop creating the dangerous situation to enrich themselves.

[@MichaelHolmes777]

No response Donut Operator?

[@daveystod]

@@MichaelHolmes777 , I assume your tepid name calling is to infer that I am a police officer . Sorry to disappoint you but I am not. Helicopter pilots will tell you about target fixation being a real problem for pilots. It causes them to actually fly into the target they are looking at. The same thing happens to drivers. Thats why they enforce the new law regarding emergency vehicles. Actually if your response was concerning the LED lights used by law enforcement and how they could create a dangerous environment for some drivers I would have to agree with you. Law Enforcement is a shitty job so I generally try not to get upset about the small stuff, they have to get paid and pay for the equipment they use to keep the peace.

[@Fastgt2003]

Davey Stoddard Bootlicker these tickets are easily won by demand of jury ....no lawyer needed how’s that make you feel ?

[@kylehopkins3802]

@@MichaelHolmes777 Lol this must be a joke.

[@patrickfarmer215]

I saw this video as an advertisement and I am glad I saw this. I have all the respect in the world for the police, it is true that there is always a possibility that whatever night an officer works might be the last one. In Georgia, there are too many low population towns that have police departments that really have no business having one. I am a Hall County resident, not Flowery Branch, but I see the FBPD all the time on 985 and they have no reason to be there. I would love it if you would do a similar video on Oakwood, they have not even 2,000 residents I suspect a large part of their revenues come from ticketing and fines. Who is going to have a police department next? Lula? Clermont? When will it stop?

[@MichaelHolmes777]

Thanks for the comment. You're 100% correct. Oakwood is even worse than FB ranking #32 for the state. drive.google.com/file/d/0B7MKQvUmdZS1YzNsRldLUkUwMmc/view?usp=sharing My plan is to address this thru political action. It only takes 360 votes to become mayor and dismantle the police department from the inside. If only 20% of the 2,700 tickets per year votes we win in a landslide. The mayor, city manager, police chief, and officers need to know that every ticket they write brings us one step closer to reform.

[@stephaniebennett5325]

Michael Holmes because a large amount of dope runs through 985. Hall county does not have the man power to catch the major amount of dope due to crimes reported. therefore as many city departments who can step In and catch the dope and dui's are welcomed. this whole video sounds like a millennial who got mad because he has gotten a few tickets. boo stop getting tickets then. I have lived in flowery branch for 35 years and not once ever got a ticket or pulled over. obey the traffic laws.

[@zeketaney6282]

How many dope runners have Flowery Branch cops caught?

[@XDAWG15]

Stephanie Bennett I’ve yet to see anything in the news trumpeting the exploits of Flowery Branch Police Department hauling in any significant amounts of illegal drugs. So, that ain’t why they’re sitting on 985 on a nightly basis. Those cars are either parked in front of the courthouse, Curt’s in Oakwood or on 985. The main purpose of their existence is to shakedown out of towners for busted tail lights and speeding not stopping actual crime.

[@bradentoncane8830]

Flowery Branch is no doubt one of the worse depts in north ga.

[@mtsflorida]

Thats some smart reasoning and active participation in the system. As a former trooper and city cop near here I can help you with my limited experience. The deterent to crime is when there is a police presence. If you you get a speeding ticket or common infraction citation its considered a civil matter in traffic court and you don't have an option of a trial, unless its a criminal matter like DUI. Crimes have two levels of misdermeanors and felonies whereas civil don't include any jail time unless you are in contempt of a Judge or fail to obey a sworn Police Officer. I Began my career with a small town agency that wrote a speeding ticket to a congressman and it was given to GBI and it was concluded that a speed trap was used. The penalty by The Georgia State Department of Law Enforcement was a 1 year suspension of radar usage. The result was all but a handful of Officers were left with positions. A reserve volunteer force was started to fill positions. After 10 months the budget was so low that there was only the Chief, me as his back up and two that worked 6pm to 6am. I left and then the Chief after a few months and then the Department was disbanded. Without being able to write those tickets as done before is was just too dificult to get revenue. The town had two counties in its border. Clarke and Oconee. Clarke County had both a Police Department like Athens P.D. and a Sheriff's Office unlike Oconee County who was smaller. Oconee took over patrolling and enforcing the laws and Athens expanded there territory. The town of Bogart pretty much dried up to a ghost town. As Trooper you are highly motivated to write traffic tickets and your numbers are tracked. Fall off that number and its one of the only ways to get fired without committng a crime. A simple traffic ticket is more valuable than a drug arrest. It ensures jobs from a statistical standpoint. It would be a good idea to have people on the City Council as well as high positions in the Police Department that could direct their activities to an area that is more productive for the community. I gave out more warnings than tickets which is why I did not fit in. I did have a plan however that could save millions to tax payers. By developing a DNA database of all our general public that come inside our jurisdiction we can easily solve the simplest of crimes and put away the offenders. This greatly reduces taxes. From litering to petty thefts. Instead of only solving 10‰ we could

[@mtsflorida]

We could run our DNA and solve 99‰ of the crimes and virtually end all crime.

[@HoosierAuditor]

A DNA database?! U sound like a Nazi.

[@LiquorAndWh0rz]

Flowery Branch is definitely by the book and operate a tight ship. As a resident of Hall County for over two decades I can't tell you how many complaints on FBPD I've heard about over the years. Even the ones that funneled up for investigation were never found to be in violation of anything, though.

[@teddissen6935]

LOL

[@LiquorAndWh0rz]

Laugh all you want, man. The GBI doesn't discriminate or hold bias in their investigations of local law enforcement.

[@OffOnAnotherOneOfHisAdventures]

It's been a while (2008), but I was ticketed by FB police for running a stop sign. I had been sitting at the stop sign for at least 30-40 seconds while traffic passed in both directions. A woman was turning onto the road I was leaving from and she waved me out so that she could make the turn with more room. I made the left turn and proceeded down the road. I looked in my mirror and a FB police car was flying up behind me so I pulled over. He was rude and unprofessional and obviously lied (I sat at the stop sign with a bowl of soup for my wife in my right hand, my phone in my left hand, while my son ate ice cream. Not exactly a "flying through a stop sign" state of preparedness). He asked me why I was in such a hurry, and I said I wasn't in a hurry. He said "oh bullshit! You flew through that stop sign!" I said I had sat there for several seconds and he said " yeah right, you can tell that to the judge". The charge was $280+/-. I pled nolo and it was reduced to $180 plus court fees. When I showed up to court, I thought a town party was going on. There were 3-400 people in the downtown parking area. They were ALL there for court. The ticketing officer was gloating to his victims about the tickets they'd been awarded. The circuit judge was in on the racket as much as the police dept.

[@OffOnAnotherOneOfHisAdventures]

BTW, I was a resident of FB at the time. I moved shortly thereafter.

[@MichaelHolmes777]

Thanks for sharing. It only takes 360 votes to become mayor. I'm thinking about becoming a resident just to dismantle the corrupt police department.

[@Redpillliving]

sorry to hear, it happened to me too, fake speeding ticket by harrison NY.."google harrison NY speeding scheme and you will see an article reg how this small town generated almos 3Million! in revenue..they have a sicker scam going on there..I am writing letter everywhere..

[@MichaelHolmes777]

The country is filled with corrupt small towns. Everyone says to worry about big government but small government is even harder to hold accountable. Who even keeps track of all the money that these tiny municipalities fleece as a whole? Some observations from showing up to court: 1) One was ticketed for broken tail light on a vehicle they were TEST driving. 2) Numerous tint violations. This is just one way of illegally stopping any car b/c most cars have tint and you have to prove your innocence while the police try and find other charges. Tint should only be chargeable if it causes an accident. 3) I was pulled over for failure to move over. This was basically a law designed to save lives of heros changing flat tires. Police use it to line their pockets. They pull one car over with two police cars for some bogus offense. Then they wait for ANY car to pass them. They are themselves creating the dangerous situation by making other cars change lanes. They can conduct these bogus fundraising stops off the interstate to make travel safer for themselves and the public.

[@hjbuell]

Great video. I’m surprised how many people complain about irrelevant elements of it. Good to see someone suggesting how citizens can work towards stopping this abuse of authority by the police. Perhaps if it were explained in another video how property taxes (which impact everyone) are contrasted against home insurance policies (in case you’re robbed), more eyes might open up to the absurdity of police collecting revenue rather than actually bettering their own communities.

[@carriage1960]

Flowery Branch absolutely is a speed trap on 985. This guy makes great sense.

[@edwinj1224]

Every night @ 3am they are on 985

[@BlueRonin44]

Mr. Holmes, I have a few arguments to your logic and one piece of constructive criticism: You start with the premise that each FB resident pays more for traffic tickets than property crimes. You then follow up with a complaint that renders the entire premise false: that most tickets are issued to non-residents! A lot of targeted traffic enforcement is based off complaints filed by residents. As for the criticism, please drink some water or something between takes. Your mouth seems dry and the smacking after you exhale is distracting. Although there are gaps in your logic, I agree that FB like many agencies nowadays does appear driven by ticket revenue than patrolling.

[@MichaelHolmes777]

Well the main point is you're 38 times more likely to be robbed by a cop than a criminal. That goes for either residents or non residents. I framed it this way because the residents are the only ones that can actually bring change. If you look on this forum you can search for "tint" on every page and find someone being ticketed for factory tint by FBPD. www.topix.com/forum/city/gainesville-ga/TMH1C8AN609J57AM2/p7 Flowery Branch is a town where you can follow the law and they'll find a reason to ticket you. As as side note on the reddit forums they commented about Ludowici. In the 50s and 60s this small town was so corrupt they installed a switch for the traffic light in the barber shop. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludowici,_Georgia For the lip smacking that's something I didn't really catch but you're right. I was standing too close to the camera and the focus was a little soft too because of that. If you decrease the volume it's less noticeable, but something I should have caught.

[@themartinandersson]

Does this mean you're back in the U.S. now? I thought you were living in Europe? Also.. if you care lol, please let me know if you're planning to return to the EU. That was the reason I subscribed lol.

[@MichaelHolmes777]

I was back for a bit, but now I'm back in the European Georgia. Here's a drone video I made. What type of content are you interested in about Europe? kzbin.info/www/bejne/jGavimeInqmrhcU

[@themartinandersson]

Everything! In particular people and people's mindsets, I guess. Too often KZbinrs film scenery and museums but never interview locals on the street. Or not even the film makers' owns thoughts to be honest. For example, why are you where you are? Why Georgia? How did you get a Visa, what Visa? Do you intend to stay forever and ever in Georgia? How does the U.S. and E.U. compare? Film your everyday life! What does your washing machine look like? The stove? What do you eat? What groceries do you find in the store? Et cetera =) But please know that I think you're already doing great. I look forward seeing how far you can go with this channel. You have a great personality/carisma almost as made for video =)

[@skullfire8086]

So obviously this guy has no clue how big Flowery Branch actually is. Flowery Branch extends not just the small town that everyone knows as down town flowery Branch. Flowery Branch has a population of almost 8 thousand residents if not more now. The ratio between cops and citizens is that in reality there are way less cops to citizens of Flowery Branch as a whole. And there is also a exit that is literally a Flowery Branch exit off of 985. So very poor on evidence. Cause he has no facts correct. He showed the bridge that does not have an exit but what about when you go a little bit further and bam Flowery Branch exit. But nope no right cause there is not an exit for Flowery Branch. It is so stupid that this dude is pulling numbers out of his but but has no actually math to prove it. What are you guessing a couple hundred people live in Flowery Branch or what. Like how many people live in the city of Flowery Branch for one. It would be like saying oh I'm gonna go over here to downtown Buford and say alright well there are no exits coming off of 985 to downtown Buford so nope they shouldn't be on 985. Come back out with a video when you have the facts correct.

[@Fastgt2003]

You don’t need a lawyer for a jury trial they will dismiss it .

[@amiecain1199]

Chief David Spillers of the flowery branch police department would definitely not be the person to contact on any type of issue such as this due to the fact he is the center of corruption. His wife is a known IV Meth user. Investigator Hulsey manhandled the last female officer they employed while other officers just sat back and watched. One of there officers is an avid steroid user as well.

[@stephaniebennett5325]

you speak like you have proof. if you have proof be a man a put it up here. if not shut your pie hole on things u know nothing about.

[@necroodin]

Can we please stop using meth as some kind of verification of ones argument lol it's stupid

[@smithrichard5141]

Stephanie Bennett I don’t know about the meth, but what he said about the investigator is believable.

[@dawnlara422]

Well she was actually just arrested for heroin...just google police chief's wife arrested for heroin. 🙄 10-12 years ago the epidemic was meth now it seems it's moved on to heroin.

[@emericanmann]

I would bet my bottom dollar Stephanie falls into one or more of the following categories: 1. Government Employees 2. Those useful fools who believe the saying, "If you don't have anything to hide, you have nothing to fear" where the overreach of the government is concerned. 3. Those who are are either too stubborn or too stupid to admit that more government is not the solution, but the problem.

[@deidralynnspence]

They ticket a lot of people with in city limit. And they’ll follow you till they see you do something wrong and then pull you over. But I can say there’s a few good FB Officers that are not like that, they’re actually really nice and helpful people, just trying to do their job and go back to their own home with their loved ones....

[@hightowerplaysgames]

I have an answer to this gripping social issue: Stop driving like a fool and obey traffic laws.

[@MichaelHolmes777]

The City of Flowery Branch is breaking state laws to earn revenue. I was following the law and still got a ticket. Details to come...

[@RoguePhysicist]

You're probably a Flowery Branch cop.

[@teddissen6935]

You don't have to drive like a fool to get a ticket in Flowery Branch...........their main play is the old "window tint" stop. Then if your tint is 30% or less, they snoop around and write you up for something else. Every other week they line at the courthouse circles around the block.

[@Hamza_105]

Go Back to California it’s cheaper 😀

[@PANTTERA1959]

The reason we have such a low crime rate in The Branch is because of our FBPD. Don't let crime rule our streets. Support our FBPD.

[@denverlabrec]

Lol.. smh. They don't care. In suburbia it's all about the money. That's it!