- Arizona lawmakers want voters to decide on camera bans.
- The move follows years of failed photo enforcement efforts.
- A Mesa citation scandal reignited the push to ban cameras.
The debate over traffic cameras in Arizona just won’t stay buried. Last year, it was big news when Phoenix approved the use of $12 million in taxpayer funds to reinstall traffic cameras that it scrapped years ago.
At the time, officials argued that it was necessary because there weren’t enough police to keep streets safe. Now, after a scandal involving a retired judge and more than 45,000 photo enforcement citations, the government might ban them all over again.
In Mesa, Arizona, lawmakers found that the police department issued 43,096 citations with a retired judge’s signature on them. That happened between 2020 and 2021 but then in 2024, a similar instance happened where another 2,446 citations went out to citizens with another retired judge’s signature…