The Morning Blend
Welcome
Complete Media Kit
SIERRA VISTA — A top Arizona Department of Public Safety official was on Fort Huachuca Thursday to film a television spot for the department’s new Photo Enforcement Program.
Lt. James Warriner is the commander of the Arizona Department of Public Safety Media Relations Unit.
Along with local DPS officer Joy Craig, Warriner filmed a 10-minute spot at the Fort Huachuca Public Affairs studio on a new statewide program that uses more than 100 stationary cameras and mobile vehicles to photograph drivers breaking the law.
“They are working,” Warriner said. “(The program) reduces collisions … about 42 to 54 percent, and injuries have been reduced 32 to 40 percent.”
 Lt. James Warriner, commander of the Arizona Department of Public Safety Media Relations Unit, and DPS Officer Joy Craig arrive at the Fort Huachuca Public Affairs Office studio to film a television spot on the state Photo Enforcement Program on Thursday. (Derek Jordan-Herald/Review) |
Two Ford Escape hybrid vehicles armed with radar-enhanced cameras have been dispatched to District 9 as part of the program.
District 9 includes all of Cochise, Graham and Greenlee Counties, as well as portions of Santa Cruz County east of Sonoita.
The units will be focusing on construction zones and high collision areas, Warriner said.
Any motorist photographed violating traffic laws by the program faces a $181.50 fine, however points will not be added to their license.
The program has been a topic of controversy, particularly in the Phoenix-metro area, since its last minute adoption by state legislature this summer, Warriner said.
“The legislature and the governor looked at it as a revenue-generating device,” he said, “as opposed to the safety aspect of it.”
As a result, public opinion of the program remains low.
“We can’t overcome that right now,” he said.
On Dec. 4, a Glendale man was arrested for striking one of the program’s stationary cameras with a pick ax along a Phoenix freeway.
A total of 42 mobile vehicle units and 60 stationary cameras have been distributed across the state. The cameras are stationed mainly at the junctions of two or more freeways, he said.
The television spot will air on the Commanders Access Channel, Cox Channel 97 in Sierra Vista, and online on the Fort’s Youtube.com channel, commander97, within the next few weeks.
Herald/Review reporter Derek Jordan can be reached at 515-4680 or by e-mail at derek.jordan@svherald.com.
What Bunk wrote on Dec 15, 2008 8:06 AM: