NCJ Number
226193
Journal
Law Enforcement Technology Volume: 36 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2009 Pages: 52-57
Date Published
January 2009
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This article suggests ways to increase a law enforcement agency‘s revenue through the assessment of user fees.
Abstract
The principle promoted in this article is that although agencies must never put citizens in a position of failing to request emergency services because they cannot afford to pay for them, habitual abusers of police services who use law enforcement resources must either change their behavior or pay a price with a user fee. One area for generating income for a law enforcement agency is reducing the backlog of open arrest warrants. Studies show that each executed arrest warrant generates an average of $1,100. Assigning officers to execute warrants can bring a net increase in new revenue each year. Other sources of income include a fee for every citation adjudicated by the court, with the exception of parking tickets; increasing illegal parking fines to $100 when a given vehicle has outstanding parking tickets; imposing a fee of $75 per release of impounded vehicles; imposing charges on each prisoner in order to recover costs associated with the booking process ($125 is common); and focusing on freeway patrol by providing more cars, equipment, and overtime in order to increase income from traffic tickets. Other income sources are towing service franchise fees, fees for VIN (vehicle identification number) checks by the agency, fees imposed on utility companies for guarding downed electric wires following a severe storm, and false alarm fees. Other fee sources mentioned are the processing of drunk-driving cases, fees for businesses and residents of special enforcement districts, a tax on the student enrollment of colleges that rely on public police services for the campus, and a fee for extensive accident investigations that involve no resident of the agency’s jurisdiction.