Chevy Chase looks to use speed camera money on Tasers
By: Alan Suderman
Examiner Staff Writer
October 11, 2009
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| (ASSOCIATED PRESS) |
Chevy Chase Village is looking to spend $30,000 raised by speed cameras to buy 12 Tasers for its police force.
Village Police Chief Roy Gordon said Tasers were an important public safety tool that would give his officers a less deadly option than a firearm.
"Anytime we can put a tool in the hands of a police officer that's going to be less than lethal force, why not?" Gordon said.
Where Montgomery County spends its speed camera money:
Family Crimes Division investigators: $1.4 million Exercise and training administrator: $105,000 Planning for installing video cameras in police patrol cars: $100,000 Overtime for additional driver training of fire fighters: $132,000 Source: Montgomery County report Reassessment of pedestrian signal timing: $62,000
But Montgomery County Councilman Phil Andrews, a longtime supporter of speed cameras, said the money raised by the machines ought to be spent on fixing the problems they were supposed to address.
"I think the public would prefer to see speed camera revenues directly related to traffic safety," said Andrews, adding that such spending controls would temper the frequent criticism of speed cameras that local governments see them as an easy way to raise extra revenues.
Gordon said he was only following the law, which allows governments to spend speed camera money "solely for public safety purposes, including traffic safety purposes."
The village's cameras on Connecticut Avenue between the District line and Bradley Lane drew fire last year from drivers advocacy group AAA Mid-Atlantic, which said the village was using them to make money and not to reduce safety.
A recent report on speed cameras said the village's two fixed cameras and two mobile cameras had reduced speeds and accidents in the village.
In addition to the Tasers, the village plans to spend $1.2 million building a sidewalk on Brookville Road and $4.6 million in building new streetlights and putting energy-efficient bulbs in existing ones, according to the report.
Montgomery County is spending about $11.5 million of speed camera revenues on its police and fire departments. Much of the money the county spends with its camera money does not have a direct link to improving traffic safety, the report shows.
Gaithersburg spent $37,000 raised by speed cameras during the last fiscal year on accident reconstruction equipment, digital cameras and traffic vests, according to the report.
And Rockville spent $100,000 on a police vehicle and a truck to fix traffic lights, the report said.
