So my Girl friend calls me and tells me she is at the New Rome Poloice Trailer (What a JOKE that place is) 300,000 Dollars and they have a Trailer, but anyhow he pulls her over and tells her he was checking every 25th car license plate. And he seen that the primary driver had a Temp Licenses (Sounds Fishy to me ) so the cop tell her she is under arrest and she would have to come with him and the only reason he wasn't putting handcuffs on her was because My 5 year old daughter and My G/F 5 year old son was there, For a NON MOVING Violation they arrest her and my kids? So I picked her up and was very pissed off I went up into the trailer and was aready for battle, I called my lawyer and I was pissed.  As I walked into the Trailer I was on my cell phone talking to my lawyer and I noticed this lady standing at the Window. She was bringing them lunch. So as I was talking on my phone the lady behind the window asked me how I could help, I told my lawyer to hold on one sec and begain to tell her I was here to pick up my G/F and My Children, There might have been a few cus words flying out and a comment or two on how crooked the little town of New Rome is, When the lady standing on the same side of the window turned to me and said you soundl't have let your G/F drive with no license with your kids. My question is how did she know about the case and is that legal? Well this is my story, She has to go to court on Thursday and suggestions?

Steve

Jim says:

Isn't that some crap they pull?  What has your lawyer said?  Lots of people seems to think anytime one gets a ticket in New Rome you should right away have your case transferred to Franklin County Court.  So maybe do that and at least you will get a fair trial.  They also seem to be more willing to drop charges and the fines are less.  Of course I'm no lawyer so don't take my word as law.

Jim says:

Thank Donna.  You're a perfect example of someone who did nothing wrong.  You weren't driving recklessly fast or a danger to anyone, but you still got treated like an everyday criminal.  Our great freeway system runs fine with the random stops that police do.  We don't need someone to constantly watch every driver that drives by.  That kind of scrutiny is insane.

Jim says:

Random check.  How's that for a line?  Next they will be telling you how they did it for your own good.

I think your site is awesome and all of those people that defend New Rome are either benefiting from the $365,000 they're bringing in each year from fines or are completely out of their minds.

Here's my story:

I sped through New Rome. I didn't do it on purpose. I don't want any pity for the fact that I got the ticket. I looked down and looked up and missed the sign. That's my fault. I sped. What isn't my fault is that right in the middle of a 45 mph zone, those crooks decided to put a glaringly obvious speed trap. Then they give me a ticket, but conveniently tell me to "call in" to find out how much I need to pay. I was planning on fighting it or at least appearing in court, but again I screwed up. I didn't go and I didn't call. My ticket was due on Friday. So Monday I was going to take my lunch hour to go pay it and get it taken care of, but before I could, two nice police officers come to see me at my work. The receptionist buzzes me, and says that I have two visitors in the lobby. I come up the steps and run face to face into two cops holding a picture of me that completely takes up an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper. I stuttered out, "Is this about my ticket?" in complete astonishment and they said yes and that I had to go with them. Now picture this, I'm 25 years old, the worst thing I've ever done was getting this speeding ticket and now I'm being arrested for it at my place of employment!  Ok, so they walk me down to get my purse and then take me outside and put me in the cruiser. Once in the cruiser, they HANDCUFFED me and drove me down to the trailer they call a police station. On the way there, the Sgt. is telling me jokes and trying to make me laugh while I'm struggling to wipe the tears away because my hands are cuffed. We finally get there and I asked if I could have the handcuffs taken off because there is a large construction crew working close by and they tell me no that it's policy to keep them on until I get in the station. Then I'm told to sit on the lovely bench while they process my warrant. The guy finally comes out and tells me that I owe $103 for the ticket and $50 for the warrant. I paid the atrocious amount and then they had the gall to ask me if I knew Spanish. I said no and they said, "Oh, we have an inmate coming in and he only speaks Spanish." These idiots think that I'm actually going to translate for them after what they've put me through! You've got to be kidding. Then they tell me that I need to find my own ride back to work. I called a friend from work and she comes and gets me. We get back and a few people had seen what was going on, but not everyone. Thank God. So I think the nightmare's over and I could chalk it up as a MAJOR lesson learned. But it gets better...this happened in November, and last month I received a letter in the mail that my license had been suspended. I quickly jumped on-line to get the transaction number from when the check card debit had gone through. Then on Monday I called New Rome. They said, "Oops, your file was accidentally put in the wrong pile." I said, "That's great, now what do I have to do to fix this." They told me that I had to come back to New Rome and pick up a Release of Forfeiture and take it clear out on the east side to have my license reinstated. I couldn't believe it! I live 30 minutes from either location and because they screwed up I had to take time off and run all over the city. I told the guy at New Rome to try to fax over the forfeiture so I wouldn't have to take time off of work. He did and gave me a number to call to make sure that it was taken care of. I called the number and the not-so-nice guy on the other end of the phone said that he couldn't help me. He said that the fax could be there, but he wouldn't check and that my license would be released in 10 business days. He also, sweetly told me that if I came over there face to face, he could do it for me right then. I struggled with the fact that he could walk over to the fax machine if I was THERE, but not if I was on the phone. I refused to give up and ended up talking to 7 different people at the BMV and calling New Rome around 6 or 7 times. The ladies and gentleman of the BMV proceeded to treat me as if I was a serial killer and kept asking me why I had lost my license in the first place, needless to say, they were very condescending. I repeatedly told them, that it was mistakingly revoked but their attitudes didn't change. Finally, I had to call New Rome again and have them call. Still nothing. In my last desperate attempt, I finally spoke to Jay at the BMV who within 1 minute walked to the fax machine and said, "Done. It's all taken care of." So five days later, and what seemed like a thousand minutes on hold I was a legal driver again.

That's why I think New Rome Sucks! I really hope that Mr. Mueller will clean the place up like he says he will. If so, I'm behind him all the way.

Thanks for providing an outlet for this. You're doing a great job :-)
 

Jim says:

Thanks for sharing that with us.  Another fine example of public humiliation that New Rome seems to like to cause.  Mental and financial abuse all rolled into one.  I'm still upset I didn't get arrested.  I would have been in The Dispatch!

Great site; I love it. I live way over here in Springfield, but I hate the New Rome police, too. I go to some of the stores on West Broad regularly so I fear being stopped by the cops when I'm in the area. Once a few years ago I was in the freekin' PARKING LOT in front of Big Bear when one of them popped his lights on me! I stopped right there and in a moment he just smiled and waved me to go on. I don't know even what he planned to get me for but it appears as if one of those old boys had a microsecond-long flash of decency and common sense! I'm sure he was written up, fined, and eventually executed by his superiors for his transgession. Keep up the good work, and good luck; I've bookmarked your site and will check back regularly.

rich

Jim says:

Those police are just insane!  They probably try to ticket people while off duty!  Anyone out there actually know one of these police?  I would like to chat with one and see how they rationalize the stuff they do away!  If you are a police, mail me!  I won't post your address.  Let us hear New Romes side of the story!

l.  Why did he run my plate if I was sitting on private property?
2.  Why is he permitted to abuse the LEEDS system in this way?

He had NO valid reason to run my plates.  AND this officer knew me from a previous conversation in passing which had nothing to do with LAW ENFORCEMENT.  I do believe they sit like vultures and wait for someones chops to bust just so they look like they're working.  I was NOT amused.

Betsy

Jim says:

You are right.  They sit and wait for people to stop and ticket.  They wouldn't have nothing to do otherwise.  New Rome doesn't have any crime and contrary to popular believe, it's not because of the police force.  There is just nothing there the criminals want!  If they were a wealthy area, you can bet there would be crime!

I had only lived in Ohio for a year as of November and hadn’t obtained an Ohio driver’s license yet. My boyfriend and I both had a Virginia driver’s license that was NOT expired. The officer asked me why I hadn’t gotten an Ohio driver’s license yet. I told him I had a valid Virginia driver’s license and I didn’t think I needed to until my Virginia license actually expired. He said you only have 30 days after you establish residence here. He then said, "Do you know this is an arrestable offense?" I said no sir I did not. The two went back to their cars, I thought they were writing me a ticket. About 10 minutes later they returned to the car and asked me to step out of the car and come around to the back of the vehicle. He pointed to the light above my license plate and said it should be "illuminating my license plate brighter than it actually was." In fact – the light was working just fine – it was just a little dirty not making the light bright enough. I showed the officer that the light was working, he still said it wasn’t bright enough. So at this point he has pulled me over for a faulty light he thought wasn’t working – but in-fact it was working fine, it just need the dust brushed off… so his probable cause theory was out the window.

He then reached for the cuffs on his belt and told me he was placing me under arrest for not having an Ohio Operators license. I said I have a Virginia license, it’s not like I am driving around on suspended license or never obtained a driver’s license. He put the cuffs on me and my boyfriend went to step out of the car and the other office went over to him "step back into the car, step away from the police car blah, blah, blah." He then put me in the back of the police car. The officers told my boyfriend they were taking me down to the station for not having a valid Ohio operators license and if I wanted to go home tonight he would have to come up with $350 bail money within 2 hours – otherwise I would spend the night in jail. They wouldn’t let him drive my car either because they knew he had a VA driver’s license as well, so they left him to walk. They were going to impound my car… but decided if I would let them, they would drive it over to Frank’s Nursery. I think their tactics were to get into my car hoping they would find something else in there to hold me for or they were going to watch my car and wait for me to pick it up…but I had my friend pick it up the next day.

So, they took me to the police station handcuffed, once inside the pitiful trailer they handcuffed my ankles to the bench as well. In the meantime, my boyfriend is walking to the bank to come up with this ridiculous amount of money for such a ridiculous charge. While I was sitting on the bench they were asking me questions, and then they were discussing whether to give me a ticket for the faulty light or just for not having an operators license. Once my boyfriend arrived with they money they released us free to walk home – lucky us. By this time it’s 2:00 am and freezing outside. My court date is the following week. I called a couple lawyers to try and get some advice. I was really close to trying to fight the entire thing or having it transferred to Franklin County Courts – but the lawyer fees were double what I had to pay in bail money. Every lawyer that I talked to didn’t have one nice to say about the New Rome district… they said they have never heard of anyone being arrested for this charge – but when I told them where I was ticketed, they said it didn’t surprise them one bit. So, I went to court and plead no contest. I brought my new Ohio Drivers license with me and they charged me with no-ops - $75 fine and kept 10% of my bail money.

I had never been in a court room like this – it was like a classroom. The cops passed around piece of paper before court even started…giving you the "new rome rules." They made us initial and sign this piece of paper agreeing to all sorts of bull. All of the charges in that court room that day were as ridiculous as mine – they were making a killing off of us all!

I am with anyone who is trying to shut down New Rome, I think what I had to go through was ridiculous; If anything I should have been given a warning… not been arrested and treated like a criminal. I had a drivers license – it just didn’t say OHIO !

Thanks for listening…

Kerry

Jim says:

I sat in the same "court" for 3 hours and watched them rake in the money from the fines.  I hope you will join in our Class
Action Lawsuit and help shut them down!

"Doc"

Jim says:

Weak license plate light.  What kind of crap charge is that?  Makes me so mad.  I have heard of people getting seat belt tickets for unlatching to do something.  I think if I ever have to unlatch I will make sure the police verifies they see it is latched before I get out of the car.

But you might to scout the area. Find the best non New Rome places for people to park. This way no one needs to drive IN New Rome. I'd suggest the old Drug World parking lot about half a mile east of New Rome.

I also have a  T.o.W. to tell. Long story short my dad was pulled over and fined and needed to pay it at the New Rome office. He did pay it every week for what seemed like ever. He gets it all paid up and then a few weeks later guess who shows up at our front door. YEP! New Rome cops. They said he hadn't paid any of his fine and he was to come with them. Well he showed them his receipts but he still had to go get it figured out in New Rome. Turns out this was the start of the 2nd big
money scandal at the clerks office. The lady he gave the money too would write the receipt then pocket the money. Nice HUH! He didn't have to pay again and the clerk got in tons of trouble.
 

Jim says:

Clerks taking money seems to be a big part of New Romes problems.  Only seems fair really.  Someone screwing over the screwers.  Very good if you ask me.

When I was in high school at Westland back in the mid 80's, I was traveling down one of their streets south of New Rome towing when I was stopped and cited for traveling the wrong way on a one way street.

Those illiterate losers had the one way sign posted at the end of the street. You did not know you were going the wrong direction until you got to the end of the street where one of their losers was sitting waiting.

Another problem I have had with this is their total disregard for the safety of the motoring public. I have seen those idiots do U-turns in the middle of the road and take off like they were chasing a wanted felon. Later you would hear them on the scanner say they had stopped them for expired tags or some BS stop.

A friend was stopped one night for her license plate light. Not because it was out, but because the illiterate fucks said it was too dim????  No where in the ORC does it say anything about how bright it must be. New Rome must be covered by the  ordinances of some alien planet.

Being a member of the law enforcement community myself, many others make fun of New Rome. They are a standing joke.

I have heard stories from a friend that works for Franklin County Sheriff's office that they have had to respond to the New Rome "Justice Center" for fights and domestics. New Rome cant even handle problems of their own.

I am like you, I used to live on the west side, and I avoided New Rome.

Good luck and keep up the fight.

Paul

Jim says:

Thanks for sharing Paul.  They tried to blame ODOT for posting their speed limit sign wrong and the U turn sign upside down.  I didn't buy it for a minute.  I'm not surprised they have to call the Sheriff for REAL crime.  They wouldn't know what to do with themselves if anything really happened in New Rome.

Jim says:

There needs to be some sort of authority over all Law Enforcement Officials run by the Federal Government.  The expectations they have for these sort of small Village are insane.  If people were all good and honest like the State seems to think then everything would be fine and dandy!  WAKE UP OHIO!!!

Jim says:

Typical New Rome PD for ya!  Don't use common sense to do anything.  Shouldn't have taken that long to clear it up, but they like to drag things out.

I don't put my credit card info on the net, is there a way I can get some NEW ROME SUCKS  merchandise  from a different
source?   you should open a NEW ROME SUCKS store just outside of town, you couldn't loose.

I will trade you a copy of my CD,  I am a musician with a CD out...  for a 2xLarge NEWROME SUCKS t-shirt. ok,  then ,  two CDs.......

P S   if i get in another band,   and I can get a NEW ROME SUCKS t-shirt,  It will replace the t-shirt I normally wear now when I play...........

SKEETER

Jim says:

I don't know if they profile so much as just run as many plates as they can and take advantage of the fact that we are human and make mistakes.  If every police force did what New Rome does people would have to stop driving or we would constantly be paying tickets.

As for being in a band, that is awesome!  If you or band has a web site let me know and I will put a link the New Rome Sucks Supporter section!
 

I am a stubborn guy myself so I continued my route home as usual. A week later I see Barney, Gomer, Floyd, or whoever got deputized that week do the "Uie" on me. I pulled over into the IGA parking lot. He went on by. I waited for his return. I waived him to come to me. I asked him what his problem was. He said he didn't have one. I then told him if he would ever follow me down Galloway Rd. again and floored it that I was going to take action. He played dumb and said it wasn't him. It may not have been, I'm not sure. He then informed me that my license plate light was out and that the could give me a ticket if he wanted to. I told him get to writing but don't ever do that to me again. He, believe it or not didn't ticket me. Wonders never cease.

I thank the Dispatch for it's great coverage of this story. There is more so keep digging. I love this site. Go mayor Jamie. To all the good people of New Rome, understand that you may be aligning yourself up with the most corrupt government in all the land because you are afraid of change. I know some of you are upset (G. D.) because you feel that the new mayor doesn't really live in New Rome. Well maybe he doesn't. But legally he has established residence there as far as the Board of Elections are concerned. Legally it looks as if he is the only one really in office. Get behind him and rid yourself of all these money stealing, corrupt mayor, bully policeman, (read any of these letters), and go with a guy that will not only clean up the corruption, but clean up an unsightly section of West Broad street. Look what he did to the dilapidated  Lincoln Lodge. I can see those good folks of New Rome becoming council members and using it's funds to fix up that small stretch of the National Rd. to make it part of Americana that could be cherished, rather than the embarrassment of western Franklin County.   Thanks for a place to tell it like it is.
    Rocky,  Now living on the New Rome by-pass.

Jim says:

Way to go!  After watching them on the news I am hoping that they are behind Jamie!  At least the people in the meeting not acting like fools seemed to support him.

                                                    Thanks,
                                                    Vicki

Jim says:

I have heard of people just turning on to Norton from Broad or Broad from Norton and getting stopped even though they never go into New Rome.  They are that crazy!

I've lived just outside of NEW ROME for over 25 years now.  I've had family, friends, co-workers, and neighbors who all share the same horror stories.  They all were pulled over and ticketed NOT because they were endangering the lives of others, but of course because the cops found something minor to charge them with so they could make their quota.

I personally encountered the disgustingly fat, donut-eating pigs after just having been recently married in 1992.  It was a Sunday, and my tags expired the day before (Saturday), so yes...a PERFECT opportunity to get me, the law breaking,
trouble-making newlywed!!!

My intentions were to go in on Monday to take care of it.  I didn't know too much about New Rome back then, and didn't think he would actually ticket me.  But the money grabbing, stealing thieves as they are, wrote me up and I was on my way.

I made the mistake of not paying it right away. (Here's where the story gets real good).  With having just moved into a new apartment and just recently married, the last thing on my mind was paying the ticket.  I was leaving the apartment one day and said goodbye to my wife, when I passed a New Rome officer.  I didn't think much of it.  And I found out later that he came to
my apartment looking for me.  My wife told him that I had JUST left.

I was in that Cardinal grocery store at the time and was just about to get into the car, when he runs up to me all out of breath, and about to faint. He reaches into his holster and pulls out his gun pointing it at me like I had just robbed the place!

He takes me to the disposable, joke-of-a-police station and handcuffs me to the chair.  I get my ONE phone call, trying desperately to get a hold of my wife having never been in this situation before. The line was busy.  So I hung up and dialed her
parents.  Just as I entered the last digit, he flies OVER the desk like I was about to detonate a bomb or something and SLAMS the phone down SCREAMING "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!!"  I told him that the line was busy, and I was calling her parents.  He tried to make me feel like a fool by telling me that in order to do that I have to check with HIM first.

Well his intimidation didn't work with me.  The stupid ticket was paid, but only after he joked around how I was only 5 minutes from going downtown cause her parents took forever to get there.

I've DJ'ed now for over 14 years.  It's only a matter of time when NEW ROME goes down...and when it does I think we should all have a PARTY!!! I will provide the DJ services, and would like to know if we could get feedback on this.

Personally, I have not driven through NEW ROME ever since my encounter, and urge others to do the same.  I know there will be VICTIMS from out of town who don't know about that speed trap. But as for the rest of us, if we refused to give
them any of our business and all took alternate routes (like me), that's all money they would NOT be getting.

As for the business owners of New Rome, it's nothing against you.  But let's face it...the town is a joke!  It's not on most maps,
in fact the officers have to leave town just to get gas!  I've seen them over the years driving down the road eating at the OTHER healthy, fast food establishments.  Of course! Wouldn't YOU get sick of eating at the same two places if you could only patrol 2 blocks??

But seriously, I feel bad for the businesses in a way cause I know they are losing money because of the crooked officials, but haven't we???
 

Jim says:

We have lost millions to them over the years.  Of course, the businesses don't like the police either.  I think the only ones who like the police are the police!  A party would be great!  hahaha  Block off Broad Street.  Would be very funny!

John
 

Jim says:

Amen!  We should start a pool about the date New Rome gets dissolved.  ha ha ha

Jim says:

Even throwing darts at their pictures is too good!  Put it in the pets litter box.  Let them be dumped on for once.

The other problem I had with New Rome is that every time I drove through after I got that ticket (I went in to pay it in person and complained to anyone within 5 feet of me...my mom also went in and complained) a cop would fly out of an ally and tailgate me way out of the city limits and sometimes they would pull in behind me when I pulled off the road like they were going to do something. They pretty much harassed me whenever they saw me.
Thankfully the guy I am dating now lives on the same side of town as me and I dont ever have to deal with New Rome ever again!

Megen
'94 Creek Blue Mica MX-3 RS
"Dont hate me because Im beautiful, hate me because my car looks better than your boyfriends!"
 

Jim says:

New Rome leaves no room for mistakes and punishes to the fullest extent.  I got pulled over by Columbus Police a long while back because my headlight was out.  I also had expired license.  I had went that Saturday to get new ones, but the place closed for painting and by the time I got to another they had closed for the day.  I told the police.  He gave me a ticket for that and for the headlight.  I got them renewed and fixed the light.  Went to court and the dismissed the expired license and there for a 5 dollar fine for the bad headlight.  50 bucks after court.  In New Rome, I would have been taken to jail.  $250 or something like that for invalid license, $103 for headlight, and whatever else they could dig up.  End of story.  They are just wrong in so many ways!

South Side Doug
 

Jim says:

I'm surprised he didn't bust out a headlight and try to charge you will that and littering.  ha ha ha ha the little old lady calling them bastards cracks me up!  Too bad she didn't give him a piece of her mind.  Of course from what they say, they would have arrested her anyway.  sigh

Jim says:

You a perfect example of good people being made to suffer their abuse!  It's insane!  I'm sorry.  Going through a yellow light gets a ticket!  Since when?!  And taping a guy up!  Come on!  What happened to not being able to subject people to cruel and unusual punishment!  Of course there are people who need that type of treatment, but you can't actually do it to them!

Ed

Jim says:

Thanks Ed.  That means a lot!  A lot of people think I'm insane.  Maybe a touch.  But most of all I was brought up to believe in fighting for what you believe.  I guess I developed on that as I grew and do what I feel is needed.

Jim says:

They take everything to the extreme.  Treat people like horrible criminals!  There is no need in a power trip.  You tried you best and they still end up beating you down.  Where do they get these people?!?!?

Disclaimer:  The views and opinions posted are solely views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of  Jim or anyone at newromesucks.com.