appropriations; highway
patrol
DP |
Committee on Transportation |
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DP |
Committee on Appropriations |
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x |
Caucus and COW |
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As Passed the House |
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HB 2464 appropriates monies from the Highway User Revenue Fund (HURF) to the Department of Public Safety for the purpose of providing: 116 new FTE's over Fiscal Years 2001-02 and 2002-03, overtime compensation associated with highway patrol officers, and new highway patrol vehicles.
Since 1972 the Department of Public Safety has received appropriated monies from the HURF and State Highway Funds (SHF), with the remainder of the budget coming from the state's general fund. In 1993 DPS adopted the Police Allocation Model (PAM) as a means to determine minimum staffing levels. Using this model, DPS determined that 1.42 officers are needed (as a base minimum) to effectively patrol one mile of the Metro Phoenix Freeway system. By the end of 2001, an additional 27.3 miles of freeway will be open, and by the end of fiscal year 2003, an additional 23 miles will be complete. According to the 1999 PAM report, DPS projected 161 officers as the minimum number able to effectively patrol Phoenix area highway systems. The actual number of officers was 124, a deficit of 23 percent. For fiscal year 2003, PAM projects a minimum staffing requirement of 243 officers to adequately meet safety and enforcement needs. According to DPS, lack of funding to hire and train additional officers will result in a 49 percent deficit.