Posted on 04/25/2018 6:16:55 AM PDT by SandRat
PHOENIX — Motorists who speed a little too much or drift through stop signs may soon be paying a bit more in their debt to society.
Legislation approved Tuesday by the Senate would tack a $4 fee on all traffic fines. The proceeds would be used to pay for new training equipment for police.
But those who seek to avoid fines by going to defensive driving school won't get off the hook. HB 2527 tacks that same surcharge on to what they pay for those classes.
Mike Williams, who lobbies for the Arizona Police Association, said officers need access to the latest state-of-the art equipment to simulate situations they might find themselves in on the street. And that, he said, means more than just training to be sure that officers do not kill the wrong person.
He describes it as a room with screens covering 300 degrees. But this is more than just a movie.
"What's different about it is the characters on the screen, which are filmed by live actors, they react to how you react,'' Williams said. "So it's not really just an 'active shooter' scenario. A lot of it is teaching officers how to de-escalate a situation or talk somebody down from a situation.''
He also said the equipment also has available software that allows police departments to go out and create their own situations. What that means, Williams said, is creating a situation in an actual local school as preparation for what might happen in the future.
All that promotion still left some lawmakers cold — at least to the idea of yet another fee.
Sen. Sylvia Allen, R-Snowflake, said she sees the fee — and the $2.5 million a year it would raise — as just another unjustified growth of government, even for a good cause. And Sen. Warren Petersen, R-Gilbert, said he believes the state has plenty of revenues coming in now to meet its needs, including police training.
Williams, however, said the experience with the seven of these $300,000 interactive systems already set up across the state proves it works and it's worthwhile. powered by
He said the Tucson Police Department has already run 1,700 officers through the training.
"It's getting about a 97 percent approval rating'' from officers, Williams said. "They've also seen a reduction in their officer use-of-force incidents.''
The result, he said, is other departments want access.
Williams said Tucson could use a second one, made available for other southern Arizona police agencies. He said there also are requests from the sheriff's departments in Pinal and Yavapai counties.
The new simulation software isn't the only thing on the law enforcement shopping list if they get more money.
Williams said police departments and their training academies also want a "virtual shooting range,'' one where officers practice their skills — but without live fire.
One issue, he said, is financial: A single bullet can cost anywhere from 30 cents to $2. By contrast, the cost of operating one of these virtual ranges is in the neighborhood of a quarter-cent per "trigger pull.''
The $80,000 price tag for that, Williams said, pays for itself in five to six months.
He said these are not just some sort of video game, saying they are accurate to one-half millimeter over 500 yards.
Tuesday's Senate vote sends the measure to the House, which has never considered the issue.
Williams, sensitive to that fee question, said the legislation has language allowing a judge to waive the surcharge in cases of financial hardship.
And he said he would consider amending the bill to have the fee self-destruct after some period — perhaps five years — when the equipment has been bought and paid for.
I’m pretty sure it is. I beat my ticket showing that there was no way the officer could’ve seen what he claimed to see (they my seat belt buckle was hanging visibly). The buckle sits behind the side pillar when not worn and thus is not visible regardless of where it is hanging when unworn. That, plus I was driving a pickup and he in a car as well as I was to his left - literally no way for him to see a “flash of silver”.
I was wearing my seat belt at the time as I always do, but got accused of lying (by the officer). All told the ticket for that was going to be 180 plus (I think it was closer to 200 dollars). There was an explanation on the ticket referencing the statutes. I looked them up and they apply to all moving violations.
A tax on a fine?
There is a table that lists some offenses, the base fine and all administrative fees. I'm pretty sure when I looked last year that the seatbelt ticket I got was going to be a lot more than 112 bucks, but that's what the table shows.
DumbOCrat logic.
This excuse is a lie. There already is money for the programs mentioned. This again is for paying the pensions.
Any fee or tax is for pensions and not fixing potholes.
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