Melissa Maynard was a GOVERNING contributor, working as a project reporter on the Government Performance Project, a project of the Pew Center on the States.
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Patrol Less, Ticket More
The relationship between budget shortfalls and speeding tickets is becoming infinitely more complex in Michigan.
More state troopers will soon likely be parked on the sides of roads with radar guns, according to the Ann Arbor News , but the financial strategy behind the move shows much more ingenuity than the coffer-filling speed traps of Michigan's rural municipalities.
In an attempt to help overcome an expected $3.1 million budget deficit, the Michigan State Police Department is asking troopers to cut mileage by about 20 percent. Ypsilanti post commander Lt. Ann McCaffery told the News that "more troopers will only patrol on the way back to the post from calls, and will run radar and other stationary activities, rather than spend the day driving." The department overshot its mileage budget by $1.6 million last year.
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Written and compiled by staff writers and editors, GOVERNING View is an on-the-ground, and sometimes behind-the-scenes, look at the topics we're covering in print and online. From notes on what's up in statehouses, county courthouses and city halls, to encounters with people, places and things, GOVERNING View is a window into the side of state and local government you don't always see.
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