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DPS ticketing slows on Valley freeways
Michael Chow/The Arizona Republic
Robert Bond, an Arizona Department of PUblic Safety officer, does paperwork after issuing a ticket Tuesday on Interstate 17.
Troopers blame increasing demands, cuts in staff
Dennis Wagner
The Arizona Republic
Jun. 24, 2004 12:00 AM
If it seems like motorists are getting away with more traffic violations on Valley freeways in recent months, it's not just your imagination.
Arizona Department of Public Safety officers have dramatically cut back the number of tickets they are writing. It is unclear whether the citation slowdown is a form of on-the-job "blue flu" by officers disgruntled about low pay or the result of an understaffed Highway Patrol force that is near the breaking point.
Regardless, Maricopa County Justice Court records show that traffic offenses submitted in May by the DPS plummeted 44 percent countywide from May 2003, with officers writing 5,530 fewer violations than they did in May 2003. Over a three-month period, the number of traffic charges dropped by a quarter; DPS records show that total traffic stops and drunken-driving arrests also fell.
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