Editing Washington, Louisiana (section)

== Speed trap ==
Washington has a reputation of being a [[speed trap]]; that is, a town where traffic laws are enforced extremely strictly as a means of generating revenue. A 2007 report from the Louisiana Legislative Auditor found that more than 50% of the town's revenue came from traffic-related fines in the 2005 fiscal year. It was one of 15 such towns.<ref>[http://www.thenewspaper.com/rlc/docs/2007/la-speedtraps.pdf Excessive Fine Enforcement] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717025650/http://www.thenewspaper.com/rlc/docs/2007/la-speedtraps.pdf |date=July 17, 2011 }}, Louisiana Legislative Auditor. June 6, 2007.</ref> In 2009, then-mayor Joseph Pitre told ''[[The Advocate (Louisiana)|The Advocate]]'' newspaper that he believed the town had collected between $700,000-$800,000 from speeding tickets yearly.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Need for Speed|url=http://theind.com/article-permalink-8114.html|access-date=February 18, 2022|website=theind.com|language=en|archive-date=February 18, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220218040932/http://theind.com/article-permalink-8114.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2014, [[Louisiana House of Representatives|State Representative]] [[Alan Seabaugh]] targeted Washington as the most "notorious" speed trap in the state. He obtained approval of the House Transportation Committee to allow enforcement of traffic laws only if a community had incorporated at least one-half mile of land that extends to each side of an [[interstate highway]], excluding overpasses and ramps. At the time, Seabaugh reported receiving many complaints from constituents in [[Shreveport, Louisiana|Shreveport]] as well as out-of-state drivers who have been ticketed for speeding only slightly over the legal limit.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thetowntalk.com/article/20140423/NEWS01/304230025/Bills-aimed-speed-trap-advance-Louisiana-House|title=Mike Hasten, Bills aimed at 'speed trap' advance to Louisiana House|newspaper=[[The Town Talk (Alexandria)|The Town Talk]]|access-date=April 23, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140423235035/http://www.thetowntalk.com/article/20140423/NEWS01/304230025/Bills-aimed-speed-trap-advance-Louisiana-House|archive-date=April 23, 2014}}</ref>