Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe AUTAUGAVILLE, Ala., March 13 (UPI) -- A class-action suit has been filed in federal court claiming that rookie officers in a small Alabama town wrote traffic tickets without supervision. The lawsuit asks a federal judge to void 317 tickets written since February 2004 by new hires in Autaugaville who had not received Alabama Police Officer Standards and Training Certification, the Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser reports. Under state regulations, police officers without the certification, which requires attending a police academy, can write tickets or make arrests only with direct supervision. Advertisement The police department wrote an average of 85 tickets a month during the period covered by the lawsuit. That's about one ticket for every 10 residents. "Yeah, they do write a lot of tickets for a town this size, but there's a lot of folks speeding through town," said Ella Whetstone of Autaugaville. "I walk a lot, and it's scary on (Alabama state highway) 14 sometimes. I want them to write tickets, but they need to make sure they do it right."
