Homeless in Arizona

The money [from the photo radar bandits] pays for school resource officers, police body cameras, the K-9 officer program, police vehicles and equipment [school resource officers are cops who are paid big bucks for the do nothing job of baby sitting grade school and high school kids. Yea, cops get paid $25 to $50 an hour to baby sit school children in our government schools, or public schools. That's an outrageous waste of our tax dollars]

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The death of a speed trap? Grand Avenue cameras in El Mirage coming down

Jessica Boehm, The Republic | azcentral.com 11:26 a.m. MST March 28, 2016

Gov. Doug Ducey signed a law prohibiting cities from installing speed cameras along state highways The legislation targets photo enforcement along Grand Avenue, but Star Valley is also affected Supporters of the cameras say they're essential for safety — opponents call them "speed traps" Last year, Rabbi Irwin Wiener received a call from Banner Boswell Medical Center in Sun City. A patient was nearing death and needed comfort.

Wiener jumped into his car in Surprise, drove down U.S. 60/Grand Avenue at 59 mph and made it to the hospital "in the nick of time." a few weeks later, he got a letter in the mail stating the photo-enforcement cameras at Grand Avenue and Primrose Street in El Mirage had captured his excessive speed — he was in a 45 mph zone — and he owned the city around $250.

He went to court to contest it. Surely this must be an extenuating circumstance, he told the judge.

The response was curt, Wiener said: "'That's very nice, thank you for your service, but you can pay over there.'"

The cameras that caught Wiener and tens of thousands of other speeders in the five years they've been perched on Grand Avenue will be removed this summer thanks to a law signed by Gov. Doug Ducey on March 21 that prohibits cities from installing photo enforcement along state highways.

Law targets El Mirage, Star Valley cameras

The law specifically targets the cameras on Grand Avenue, notorious for generating millions of dollars in revenue for El Mirage. Grand Avenue, a popular route to Las Vegas, traverses several major West Valley cities, but El Mirage is the only one to install speed cameras — even though he state highway cuts through only a 1.5-mile swath of the city of 33,000.

Other cameras stationed on city streets in El Mirage, Scottsdale and other cities aren't going anywhere — at least for now.

The law, which will take effect 90 days after the end of the legislative session, also affects cameras on State Route 260 in Star Valley, near Payson.

Two camera locations may seem like a small issue, but they raked in big bucks.

A representative for El Mirage said the city does not keep track of how much money is generated from each photo-enforcement camera, but Mayor Lana Mook said in a January newsletter that the city brings in approximately $1 million per fiscal year from five fixed traffic cameras and two mobile cameras. That amount was $1.3 million in 2012, according to an article in The Arizona Republic at the time.

Star Valley Town Manager Timothy Grier did not respond to calls and an email from The Republic.

Former-Gov. Jan Brewer ended the state's photo-enforcement program along state highways in 2010, but some cities received permission from the Arizona Department of Transportation to install cameras along highways that ran through municipalities. In 2012, eight cities took advantage of this, but only El Mirage and Star Valley remain.

Drivers trigger the cameras in El Mirage if they travel more than 10 mph over the 45 mph speed limit. The driver's picture is snapped and a summons is sent to the vehicle owner's residence.

Essential to safety or speed trap?

Supporters of the cameras say they're essential to promote safe driving in their communities. Opponents call them "speed traps" intentionally placed to generate money for cities.

Sen. Debbie Lesko, R-Peoria, who sponsored the bill, said she'd heard gripes about the cameras along Grand Avenue for years.

“I was probably more excited about this than a lot of my legislation that has really major impact because I've been working on it (for so long) and I know that so many constituents were so passionate about it.”

Sen. Debbie Lesko, R-Peoria

"I was probably more excited about this than a lot of my legislation that has really major impact because I've been working on it (for so long) and I know that so many constituents were so passionate about it," Lesko said.

Legislators every year try to ban photo enforcement, either partially or entirely, but this is one of few victories traffic-camera loathing lawmakers have seen, Lesko said. Democrats typically oppose bans, and Republicans are usually split on the issue.

And predictably, not everyone views the new law as a victory. Mook said in a statement that photo enforcement has made El Mirage "safer for our residents, motorists, bicyclists, and pedestrians, many of whom are school-age children." Two of the city's other cameras are in less-trafficked areas, and another is on a busy street near a Walmart.

Mook said collisions across El Mirage have dropped by 45 percent since the traffic cameras were installed on Grand Avenue and the other locations. The city also has two mobile cameras that are moved around.

The number of tickets processed by the city has decreased in the past several years, Mook said. In fiscal 2012, the first year speed cameras were used, El Mirage processed 105,377 citations. In fiscal 2014, the last year for which the city has data, it processed 66,003. That is about double the city's population, according to the latest census figures.

In the January newsletter, Mook said El Mirage received $39.74 from each $234 ticket issued. The money pays for school resource officers, police body cameras, the K-9 officer program, police vehicles and equipment, youth and victim-advocate programs and other projects.

“This (the cameras) is not about safety. It was never about safety.”

Linda Kleiner, photo-enforcement opponent Linda Kleiner, who's never received a photo-enforcement ticket on Grand Avenue, led a citizens movement to abolish the cameras because she said she was tired of hearing about people who feared driving on the highway because of the cameras.

"This (the cameras) is not about safety. It was never about safety," Kleiner said.

She pointed to a study conducted by ADOT last year, which showed that in five years, there had been 530 collisions on Grand Avenue between 111th Avenue and Dysart Road, on either side of the city limits. The average annual daily traffic in 2013 was 26,067 vehicles. That shows crashes in the area were quite rare, Kleiner said.

The study went on to say that the speed limit could be increased to 50 mph in that area, but not until three major construction projects on Grand Avenue were completed, including the Bell Road/Grand Avenue overpass, about a mile and a half away. An additional study would need to be conducted before the speed limit is raised, it said.

'They feel violated ... there's no oversight'

Lawyers from the R&R Law Group of Scottsdale said they've represented many clients who had their picture snapped while speeding in El Mirage and Star Valley.

Attorney Rob Gruler said citations can sometimes take weeks to arrive in the mail, one big problem with the cameras in El Mirage.

One of his clients, an elderly man from the West Valley, passed the Grand Avenue cameras every Sunday morning on his way to church. With no traffic on the road, he drove at speeds varying from 56 to 58 mph, Gruler said.

He received five tickets in his mailbox at once — one from each of the previous five Sundays.

His client would not have continued to speed if he had been stopped by a police officer once, as opposed to being caught by traffic camera, Gruler said.

"If you get pulled over, you're on high alert for six months," Gruler said.

Gruler's colleague Ryan Cummings said "a change is on the horizon" when it comes to photo enforcement, thanks to this law and an opinion published March 16 by Attorney General Mark Brnovich.

Brnovich said contractors who operate photo-enforcement systems need to be licensed and regulated by the state. Currently, these contractors are not licensed.

“It's not the fact that people just want to go speeding, it's the fact that they feel violated, that there's no oversight ... and that's what's creating the problem.” Attorney Ryan Cummings "I think things are starting to turn and people are starting to see what the citizens really have a problem with. It's not the fact that people just want to go speeding, it's the fact that they feel violated, that there's no oversight ... and that's what's creating the problem," Cummings said.

For now, Kleiner said she is content with the Grand Avenue cameras coming down, though she wishes the city were forced to act now, instead of waiting 90-plus days.

ADOT spokesman Doug Nintzel said the photo-enforcement systems could be removed prior to the law's effective date, depending on discussions the department will have with the cities.

Kleiner said she was recently approached by an El Mirage city official who said that the change would lead to traffic deaths and that she and Lesko would have blood on their hands.

Kleiner said it's a risk she's willing to take. She said she believes the cameras are more dangerous than helpful, as drivers suddenly slow down to avoid getting a ticket.

"Speed doesn't cause accidents," she said. "Variation of speed causes accidents."