THE BORDER REPORT

I don’t know about the rest of you, but here in Arizona, the bola de ratas that is our state government found a terrific way to fix what was considered the worst budget deficit in the entire country – flood the highways with speed cameras and nail speeders.

The enforcement effort is so blatantly a revenue enhancer for the state that even top law enforcement officers are turning against it. Last week, it was the Pinal County Sheriff, a Republican who won his seat virtually by campaigning against the scam. Surprisingly, the sheriff stuck to his word, telling the company that operates the cameras he was ending the county’s contract.

This week, the U.S. Border Patrol’s union in Tucson Sector has turned against the cameras. Here’s their posting on their Web site, “We have had a number of agents, especially from Nogales station, having their pictures taken by DPS photo radar cameras while the agents are trying to do their jobs. We have yet to find a way to overtake a suspect vehicle that is traveling 75 miles per hour without exceeding the speed limit. … DPS is mailing the photo radar information to Sector. It is not clear at this time what they expect Sector to do with citations.”

The union is using the same argument most people use against the cameras: Agents aren’t going to remember precisely what they were doing at any given moment when they receive a citation three weeks after their photo was taken.

Myself, I’m glad to see local law enforcement taking a stand against them.

Redflex Holdings, the company that holds the contract for photo enforcement cameras in Arizona estimated as early as 2006 that they could pull in $3 billion a year in ticket revenue. What a deal.

In Arizona, the company makes about 25 percent per ticket. If cities and states are going to draw $9 billion a year in ticket generated revenue, that is more than they take in with seized drug assets: Local government took in about $1.6 billion in seized assets – over four years.

That is obscene.

Safety is not the issue here. Last year, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety trounced the most recent studies into red light cameras and found that the methodology used to gather the stats showing they reduced accidents was flawed.

“The upshot is that Garber’s study cannot provide any useful guidance to communities considering the use of red light cameras,” the institute surmised.

Not that any of this is going to get in the way of the incoming Arizona governor who has so far stayed quiet on whether she’ll drop the cameras.

And in case there was any doubt about the real motive behind the cameras, a North Carolina study to be published next month finds that for every one percent a government’s revenue falls, the number of traffic tickets increased by a third of a percent.

The study, Red Ink in the Rearview Mirror, only focused on North Carolina; but I have little doubt its realities are reflected everywhere else in the union.

Meanwhile, the Border Patrol’s union suggests the agency has found a way to deal with its traffic citations:

“It is disturbing that we have received information that at least one supervisor has demanded that agents he supervises personally assume responsibility for photo radar citations. Sound ridiculous? We agree,” it states.