The article ‘City comes up short on fine revenue,’ March 19 Gazette made me laugh. Fine revenues should not be part of the policing (or bylaw) budgets. There should be no pressure on the police to raise any estimated amount of funds through fines in order to meet their operational needs.
I have prepared policing budgets in other Alberta communities and yes, there is a line item for fine revenues, but that number was always an extremely low estimate. The city should fund policing operations fully and any revenue should not go into the policing budget or general revenue but to the community and protective services’ divisional budget to be used to benefit the community.
The community where I worked treated all enforcement of traffic laws as a safety program, not a source of revenue. All photo enforcement revenue should be used first to offset the cost of the safety program, and then any surplus revenue should be used to fund volunteer organizations or other worthwhile community ventures.
This approach accomplishes two things: it removes any perception that a safety, enforcement program is a ‘cash cow’ for the police department or the city, and it provides a source of funding for volunteer groups.
Even more importantly, it removes the need for the photo radar van to lurk in the bushes. The goal of a true safety program is to change behaviour, not raise money. The photo radar van and cameras should be out in important areas such as school and construction zones and high-accident intersections — not at the edge of speed transition zones. Photo radar areas should be accompanied by appropriate warning signs to reduce speeding. Then only the very foolish and inattentive will get the tickets.
The bottom line is enforcement programs are about changing behaviour and saving lives and this change can be accomplished only when the politicians get the message that enforcement programs are about safety and not about raising revenue.
Paul McLennan, St. Albert
