The city’s proposed budget for next year has a surprise for us relating to the police department.
Last year they budgeted $2,036,645 as revenue from moving violation fines (traffic tickets).
This year they plan to budget $2,817,661 or 38% more.
That’s a bunch.
We deserve better
Brutus
elpasospeak 
Yeah . . . that’s presuming a lot !
That’s a unknown constant based on . . . . nothing.
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Wow! A proposed 38% increase traffic citation revenue? Is that from additional citations or doing a better job of collecting outstanding tickets?
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A large part of no go 10 will supposedly be finished before Black Friday, guess that means a lot of west side speed traps will be put back in place since there will be shoulders to pull people over to once again.
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Start by enforcing laws applicable to pedestrians and bicyclists.
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That should be interesting considering there APPARENTLY is no budget, no money to put Police on the streets in El Taxo. Maybe the “Plan” of the politicos is to jack up a “Budget” for Police IF they write a lot tickets. They could write MILLIONS$$$ in ILLEGAL Registrations, no car insurance, people who live in Texas and have MEXICO tags. Ever see any of them on a traffic stop? Uh NO. And MILLONS$$$ more for speeding, reckless driving on I10, highway 54. DUI is just an accepted “Local pass time”. No cops on the streets is how THEY can say “Low crime rate”. Don’t get reported, ain’t no crime.
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One time at a traffic light I pointed out to an El Paso Police Officer that the car right behind him had no plates at all and the driver was trying to stay out of view. The police officer gave me “the look” . . . And drove off.
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The POLITICIANS in El Taxo don’t, won’t, refuse to provide money for OUR Police to be paid, be proactive, patrol, PREVENT crime, traffic accidents, DWI, or reckless driving. They are “provided” out of the “goodness, generosity” of El Taxo politicians “hearts” to REACT, provide assistance, help AFTER something has already happened. Look around. MOST enforcement, patrolling is done by Texas DPS Troopers. ELPD are not paid, retirements not funded. Why would any self-respecting Officer want to work in El Taxo??
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The recent decision not to jail those who do not pay their fines is going to result in profiling. If the city wants money, police are going to ticket only people who look like they have the money to pay the fine. That will also influence where they choose to set the traps.
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West side. The rest of the city will be a brown out.
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GO El Paso Blue !!!
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The mayor has admitted to breaking the law by using private email for city business. Instead of giving him a free pass, why don’t we find him guilty and give him a huge fine instead of jail time?
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If they just work on Mesa St, they should be able to fine at least 50% of the drivers there…unless the speed limit signs now indicate the minimum speed allowed! But what will happen is “stop sign traps” where you get a couple hundred bucks fine for stopping 4.5 feet behind the sign rather than the apparently mandated 5 feet.
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They should write tickets to the people driving 25 mph in the left-hand lane on Mesa. The far right lane has become the fast lane.
After that, they can ticket the packs of bicyclists that blow through stop signs without ever slowing down.
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It certainly seems to be just a tad fiscally irresponsible to budget an unknown such as income from traffic citations to this poor old man. I think they’d be better off not counting on this kind of “revenue stream,” and then treating whatever they do get in the end as if it was found money.
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Exactly, John D. from one old dude to another At LAST count there were 300,000 people on the list with UNPAID tickets. To the tune of many MLLIONS$$$. At one point they even hired a law firm to scare, intimidate, threaten people with little to NO results. So now they are going to “Pad” the “budget” with the idea that more USELESS, uncollectable tickets will help. MILLIONS$$$ owed by Mexicans in Mexico, people who live in Texas and have Mexico tags, no Registration, no insurance. no Drivers Licenses. Where is that “Enforcement”?? Where are the Police?? The solution is to IMPOUND vehicles on the spot including Mexicans, hold til fines are paid.
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You missed the part where they decided that throwing people in jail for unpaid fines was debt slavery.
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Well, look on the “bright side.” Our local government does such a horrible job when it comes to finances – not estimating nearly enough $ for the cost of a project and being too optimistic when it comes to how much $ a project will supposedly generate – means that they’re probably once again way off. Yep, being optimistic in this town means that the ‘glass is half full’…..of Rio Grande water.
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My favorite and classic example of that is Cortney Niland telling us that trolleys have a “10 to 1 return on investment.”
For who, Cortney? Especially if they are carrying only one or two passengers, like the typical Brio bus that Wilson gave us. But don’t worry, our city rep Swarz Mui Bien has proclaimed that the trolleys will remind us of who we are.
Yep – broke.
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I support the Police. Most like almost all Police are good folk who have chosen to work a tough job for the public good. But when the city council turns the police into ticket quota machines, supposedly in the name of public safety, but in reality to fulfill $ quotas, they will become objects of fear rather than security for society. And if we are going to turn El Paso into a “global tourist destination”, how will a reputation as a speed trap help that genius plan? Oh well, we’ll save time and money because the Police they won’t have to carry around those heavy bulky warning tickets anymore.
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