Lawtey isn’t so much a town as a mode of transport. There’s a single stoplight, two gas stations, and a steady stream of tractor trailer traffic.
Route 301 roars through the town’s center, creating a kind of microclimate of wind and noise. Some 17,000 vehicles whip past each day; 24 times the number of people who actually live in Lawtey.
The highway defines the town’s physical presence, but also its national reputation. To the extent anybody who doesn’t live there knows its name, it's because Lawtey is a designated speed trap -- the last one in America.
“I don’t know when AAA designated Lawtey as a speed trap, but it’s been for a long, long time,” says Lawtey Police Chief Shane Bennett. "They put billboards up on both ends of town as motorists were coming into town, and pretty much all communication stopped.”
Chief Bennett took office in 2014, succeeding Millard "Butch" Jordan (who, after nearly 52 years, holds the Guinness Book of World Records title as the longest-serving police chief in history). No disrespect to Butch, but Bennett aimed to bring a few things up to date when he took over: getting laptops in squad cars, creating a web page for the police department.
He also set about getting rid of the unwelcome Speed Trap moniker.
“We think it is a relic of the past,” says Bennett. “Things have changed. It’s no longer the same police chief here.”
Lawtey used to be one of three AAA-designated speed traps in the country, all on Florida Highway 301. But the town of Hampton disbanded its police force following a corruption probe, and the town of Waldo dissolved its police force in the wake of a ticket quota scandal.
Only Lawtey still wears the scarlet AAA.
“It seemed to be an issue of the amount of revenue that was generated from traffic citations,” Bennett says. At one time, more than 70 percent of Lawtey’s budget came from ticket revenue. That’s down to about 49 percent today. And while that seems high, Bennet says it’s less a reflection of the number of tickets officers write -- about 15 a day – than the town’s tiny tax base.
“There’s not a lot of other revenue,” he says. “This is a small town that doesn’t have a very large tax base. Ride around Lawtey and see how many people are paying a whole lot of property taxes.”
Bennett formally asked AAA to remove the speed trap label last year. He says the agency was receptive and responded with a lot of questions about the town’s budget and revenue sources. He also provided them information about how the town attempts to warn oncoming motorists of the speed limit to drop from 55 to 45 – both with a series of signs and a public information campaign. But since then, he’s heard nothing.
Kevin Bakewell, AAA’s Vice President of Corporate Public Affairs, demurred when asked about the apparent lack of progress. “The only thing to report at this time is that we are still gathering information needed to make a fully informed decision,” he told First Coast News. “We don’t take lightly imposing the traffic trap designation and, likewise, we don’t take lightly removing such a designation.”
Bennett says he knows the agency has “bigger issues to worry about than little Lawtey,” But he’s hopeful the agency gets around to removing the title.
“Nobody wants negative reputation where they think they’re coming through here and they’re being fleeced by the local police,” he says. “I think it’s time to move forward.”