Originally Posted by
asmac
According to the article I posted, police in little places like Ferguson depend on fines to finance their operations as there is no local tax base.
More generally, I conclude from the emphasis police place on bulk ticketing for trivial offenses and their apparent unwillingness to enforce more difficult serious offenses that there is some connection between traffic fines and funding though not a direct one. Parking fines (enforced by the courts) are a direct city money-maker, of course.
A common misconception but the courts don't enforce anything. The executive branch enforces and the judicial branch interprets. I don't know what terms are used in Canada but the concept is the same.