Scott Powell was fed up. It was April of 2012 and the Santa Fe man was one of the thousands of people who'd been mailed a ticket generated by one of the city's automated speed-enforcement SUVs. He'd tried unsuccessfully to dispute it.
One night after dark, wearing a nightshirt and
toting a revolver, Powell took aim at the same kind of SUV that snapped a photo
of his car speeding. The automated camera was rolling video as Powell stepped
up and let fly five rounds into the windshield.
While most folks agreed he'd gone too far, more than a few understood his frustration with the unpopular program. The City Council stopped the program after the contract with Redflex ended in 2013. The traffic-enforcement company was in hot water for a bribery scheme to win business with the city of Chicago, a crime for which the ex-Redflex CEO served prison time.
Wednesday night, the City Council voted to find a new vendor and bring the program back.
In a 5-4 vote, with Mayor Javier Gonzales and
Councilors Joe Maestas, Renee Villarreal and Chris Rivera dissenting, the
council agreed to find a new company to start the program again.
The ordinance says the speed SUVs will start
issuing tickets at 11 miles per hour over the posted speed limit under normal
conditions and at six miles per hour over the limit in school and construction
zones.
A first violation will ordinarily cost the owner
of a speeding vehicle $50. A second time within two years doubles that ticket.
For special zones, that cost rises to $100 and then $150. Several councilors
feared the speed vans would unfairly impact low-income drivers, though the
council had already amended the measure to let people work community service at
the prevailing living wage rate—$11.06 right now—instead of paying a fine.
District 2 Councilor Mike Harris, one of the
resolution's four sponsors, said the fines are substantially less than the $116
ticket a police officer would write during a traffic stop for driving 11 mph
over the limit.
"So really this is a discounted rate," Harris
argued. "That may strike people as odd, but that is, in fact, what's
happening."
SFPD Chief Patrick Gallagher added that the
ticket cost the same whether drivers were 11 mph over or blowing past the SUV
at 30 mph beyond the limit.
Councilor Peter Ives, also a sponsor, said the
bill wasn't targeting low-income Santa Feans.
"We're actually targeting speeders," Ives
reminded his colleagues. "Not just any speeders, but to get a ticket with one
of the vans, you have to be doing in excess of 10 miles over the limit."
“There’s a big sign prior to getting to the speed van that says ‘Speed Van Ahead.’ It’s not a gotcha program. It’s a pretty lenient program," added Councilor Signe Lindell.
Gallagher told councilors the department's DWI
forfeiture officer will review each potential violation before it gets mailed
out as a ticket. Gallagher said the automated-enforcement SUVs will free up
officers for other patrols, including on state highways around Santa Fe where
unmanned enforcement vehicles are banned by law—including Cerrillos Road, St.
Francis Drive, St. Michael's Drive and Highway 599.
Councilors amended the ordinance to delete
provisions that would have allowed the city to seize vehicles for 90 days if
owners didn't pay fines on time. They also got rid of a section that would have
allowed police to seize a vehicle if an officer discovered unpaid fines during
a traffic stop. Language that referred to booting vehicles got the axe, as did
part of the law that would have allowed for civil forfeiture.
Eleven people stood up to oppose the measure,
including Rick Martinez, who told councilors he'd seen empty police cars work
just as effectively as speed-enforcement SUVs.
"You can put a dummy in a cop car and you don't
have to pay nobody nothing," Martinez said to laughter from both councilors and
the audience.
Once the city selects a company to provide the equipment for the program, it expects to spend $313,000 on the program during its first year; the city expects to earn about $400,000. Santa Fe and the state will split what's left over after administrative costs. The measure passed Wednesday directs the city's share of the money to the public safety departments.
Sponsors agreed to craft the new contract to force the winning company—and police—to use traffic data to decide where to put the SUVs and to more closely track the perceived impact on both speed and traffic crashes. The City Council will also review the contract more frequently to make sure the program is having the impact they expect.
Scott Powell appears to have avoided the radar
of both speed SUVs and the criminal justice system at large since his 2013
conviction.
Santa Fean Buddy Rosacker recalled the incident
to the council Wednesday night and gave them a hint of what to expect when he
drives past. Rosacker bears a slight resemblance to Powell—maybe more if he's
wearing a nightshirt—and his granddaughter asked him a pointed question as
pictures of Powell's revenge hit the news: "Was that you in the paper shooting
the speed van?"
“No, hita,” Rosacker answered, “I just throw ‘em
fingers.”
Santa Fe Reporter