Here's another doozy form today's fishwrap:
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 01.20.2008
The number of traffic tickets written in unincorporated Pima County has dropped 30 percent since 2001, despite a steady increase in population.
Although the city had been experiencing a similar drop in traffic tickets, the Tucson Police Department stepped up enforcement last year, dramatically reversing a five-year decline.
Law enforcement officials say they've increasingly had to back off on traffic enforcement over the years to respond to other kinds of calls, although TPD last year restored traffic as a priority and tickets soared.
In 2001, Pima County Justice Courts processed 101,820 civil traffic citations from the Pima County Sheriff's Department, the Department of Public Safety and such small agencies as the University of Arizona and Tucson Airport Authority. In 2007, the Justice Courts processed just 71,115 citations.
Hundreds of offenses — from speeding to broken taillights — are considered civil traffic citations and generate fines but no criminal charges.
Tucson's City Courts saw a similar decline from 2002 to 2006, with civil traffic charges dropping 41 percent, from 166,275 to 97,987. But in 2007, city citations rose to 142,858.
Law enforcement officials offered a variety of reasons for the decline, starting with the very population growth that logic says should have increased the number of tickets.
"Our people have less time to enforce traffic laws," Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik said.
"The population has grown, and we haven't kept pace. We just don't have the resources to do proactive enforcement."
State Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Officer Carmen Figueroa said new procedures have also had an effect. DPS officers used to impound vehicles only if a driver was impaired or if the license was suspended for a previous drunken driving offense.
Now they must impound vehicles of all drivers with suspended or revoked drivers' licenses, whatever the reason.
"We're doing a lot of impoundments, and they can take two to three hours, waiting for a tow truck to show up," Figueroa said.
"In talking to our officers, sometimes they are doing two or three a day, so their numbers are down."
The ticket decline has hit Pima County Justice Courts in the wallet. The courts support themselves through fines and fees, and revenue from traffic tickets fell $338,300 from 2005 to 2006 fiscal year.
The loss would have been greater, but the Justice Courts are doing a better job of collecting fines, said Deputy Courts Administrator Douglas Kooi, who stressed he was not trying to tell law enforcement how to allocate resources, only noting the decline.
Whatever the reason for the decline, it's not that drivers are better behaved — a factor in the city's renewed enforcement zeal.
"The reason to do it is in the numbers: 52 fatal collisions that killed 54 people in the last year, and every one of them was needless," said Lt. Mike Pryor, commander of TPD's traffic unit.
Pryor said he hadn't seen the City Courts numbers and didn't realize that the increase in city traffic tickets last year was so great.
Photo radar vans and red-light cameras have played a role, but not enough to account for the entire increase within the city. As of mid-December, the cameras had generated 4,200 tickets. Pryor said the department has renewed its commitment to traffic enforcement.
"Departmentwide, there has been a renewed emphasis on traffic enforcement, and officers are constantly reminded that it is part of their job and they are expected to stop violators," he said.
Also, the traffic unit often will flood a problem area, meaning each officer writes more tickets.
Pryor said the department hopes increased enforcement will result in safer driving, fewer accidents and better quality of life for the community.
And traffic stops also increase the likelihood that officers will find suspects in other crimes, an approach Pryor called "looking beyond the ticket."
"We know that a lot of people committing crimes are not walking to and from their crimes," Pryor said.
"Every time you have an encounter, it's an opportunity to stop another crime.
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