Several weeks ago your paper wrote about tickets issued to two participants in a Sussex County Democratic car caravan. This week I wrote to Delaware State Police Superintendent Col. Melissa A. Zebley, outlining concerns and questions I have regarding this event. Readers may begin to understand that this is about more than just an $82 ticket for unnecessary horn honking when they read the letter to Col, Melissa A. Zebley, Delaware State Police.
Several weeks ago, while participating in a visibility car caravan for the Democratic Party in parts of Sussex County, another driver and I were issued violations by the Delaware State Police for unnecessary horn use. I have been conflicted as to whether I should pursue this through the courts or pursue it as an administrative and policy issue.
Did I know it was illegal? No, because over the decades I have heard plenty of horn tooting - at weddings, football homecoming events, high school graduations, sports celebrations, parades and demonstrations, and witnessed police completely ignore the honking. I have researched the issue enough to now understand that it is in fact illegal to honk one’s car horn unnecessarily in Delaware. But is that really the underlying issue at play here? I think not. Some folks have said that honking a car horn is considered a First Amendment-protected expression of speech. That is for a court to decide. There is mixed case law on this matter and I was unable to find any case law concerning a case in Delaware.
The officer asked for my driver’s license, registration and proof of insurance. When the officer returned to my car, he handed me a ticket for unnecessary use of the horn. There was virtually no talking. There are a number of questions associated with this episode that deserve answers that a court cannot provide, so I am writing to you in search of answers.
1. If the goal is to stop illegal horn honking, why weren’t all the car drivers ticketed and/or warned?
2. What is the protocol, and discretion provided to officers, in deciding that a particular offense does not warrant a ticket but rather just a warning?
3. In these highly charged partisan times, is it possible that conscious or unconscious bias by the officer influenced his decision to issue a ticket instead of a warning?
4. How many illegal horn-honking violations have been issued in the state in 2020, and how many warnings have been issued in lieu of tickets? How many illegal horn use violations have been issued by this officer in 2020? How many warnings has he given in lieu of a ticket?
5. Has DSP pulled over any of the vehicles with Trump signs and flags that I see regularly? I saw and heard a truck with Trump banners honking its horn as we passed on Route 9 the same day that I received my ticket.
6. What is on the 911 complaint call and the dispatch audio tapes?
7. I hear and/or see cars racing up and down Coastal Highway night after night. Where is the DSP enforcement to stop this dangerous behavior? How is it that illegal horn-honking has become a priority for the DSP when it is well known that they have limited police resources down here in Sussex County?
8. Was the car caravan targeted for enforcement action that typically is ignored by the police, and if so, why? Were the officers lying in wait on Savannah Road just outside Lewes?
I realize the difficult job that police officers sometimes have, and I appreciate their service. I also know there is a long history of voter intimidation and suppression in parts of the United States, particularly directed at people of color and other minorities groups. Sussex County is very Republican, with the Democrats virtually invisible in many areas of the county. If a phone call complaint was placed out of bias, and it resulted in this episode, then that is a form of voter intimidation. We need to be sure that nothing inappropriate has taken place before we move on, and so I ask that you conduct an investigation to determine what changes in procedure may be necessary going forward.
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