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Buckeye Police moving to new citation system

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BUCKEYE — The Buckeye Police Department is switching to a new electronic traffic citation system.

A grant from the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety will help make this happen. That grant was accepted as one of the actions taken by the Buckeye City Council at Tuesday’s meeting.

Buckeye Police are transitioning from the Brazos E-citation program and converting to the TraCS software system. TraCS (Traffic and Criminal Software) will allow officers to write electronic citations on mobile data computers from their vehicles, according to a staff report.

AZGOHS will fund the purchase of the software and printers through reimbursable grant funds up to the amount of about $62,000.

On Tuesday, Vice Mayor Craig Heustis asked Police Chief Larry Hall some questions about the software, procedures and how the program will work.

“Right now, our system is kind of cumbersome,” Hall said, referring to the Brazos e-system. “State law dictates which data on traffic accidents we transmit for ADOT statistics and reports. This new TraCS system will give us more quality control and allow us to compile data more efficiently.”

Hall said it will compress interviews, citations and other data into files shared with courts, ADOT and other law enforcement agency systems into a single system that can be accessed in a number of ways and formats.

Heustis asked if the system will allow Buckeye Police or other city officials to more easily or efficiently look up a particular occurrence, such as a traffic stop information.

“Not only will it allow for that, in several types of formats, but this system will also get our officers out of traffic scene quicker,” Hall said. “Every minute an officer is pulled over on a highway, the chances of the officer or a vehicle being struck by another motorist go up by 2%, studies show.”

Hall said the system will also allow accurate data validation at the scene and associate multiple forms with a case, along with data-sharing from the field. It will also integrate well with Buckeye’s Spillman Records Management System.

The staff report says federal 405c funds will support the program.

A staff report shows there were more than 1,000 traffic crashes in Buckeye in 2019. That was more than double the amount (448) just two years earlier, in 2017. The number of injury crashes went from 57 to 144 in that span in the fast-growing city.

There are 448 miles of roads for Buckeye Police to patrol in the city now — 299 miles of urban streets, a number that grows almost weekly — and 199 miles of highway.

In other actions taken Tuesday, council elected Heustis as vice mayor for 2022.
Council member Tony Youngker held the title for 2021.

The Buckeye Water Resources Department received approval to run a 1.5-mile water reach line from the intersection of Rainbow and Broadway roads to the Jackie A. Meck Water Campus Reservoir at a cost of $370,000.

Council also approved, in its consent agenda, a contract for improvements to Buckeye Municipal Airport. A bid for the reconstruction and realignment of approximately 11,500 square yards of Taxiway “D3” and Taxiway “J” will cost about $232,000, to be paid using an Federal Aviation Administration grant.

A consulting contract with the firm Hazen and Sawyer, for $122,000, will allow that firm will prepare recommendations on repair or replacement of 64 manhole covers in the city.

Council also approved a map for the intersection of Miller and Lower Buckeye roads accounting for additional rights-of-way to allow for traffic signals.

An executive session to review candidates for the city manager position was held prior to the meeting, but no announcement on any decisions was made at the regular meeting.