Latest news with #TempePoliceDepartment
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Tempe red light and speed cameras begin issuing $250 fines on June 6
The Brief Tempe's new speed and red light cameras will begin issuing tickets starting June 6. This follows a month-long warning period designed to help drivers adjust to the new technology. The ticket will be $250. TEMPE, Ariz. - Red light and speed cameras are officially back in Tempe. FOX 10 reported in April that the cameras were being installed, and on June 6, citations will begin. For the past month, an offender has only been sent a warning as people and police get accustomed to the new system. So, how has it all been working out so far at the 14 intersections? What they're saying "I see a lot of people speeding, so maybe it will be a good thing," a driver said. "I think that it's bringing awareness so eventually, yes, it will prevent crashes," another driver named Nicole Crenshaw said. "Don't run red lights," Maya Coleman, a driver, said. "That's pretty much it." By the numbers In just one month, Tempe Police says it has issued several warnings. Tom Haubold is the traffic program supervisor for the Tempe Police Department. "So far, 5,186 have gone out," he said. Haubold is able to review video and pictures showing drivers running red lights or speeding. "Well, this one, they're doing 59 in a 40," he said, looking at a video of a violator. Data is also broken down by how fast people are driving over the speed limit. "This one was 21 miles an hour. All of these people were 22 miles an hour. All of these were 23," he said. Before a citation can be mailed out, there are steps the police department takes to make sure a violation is valid. "They'll look at all the information that's in there, and then they'll decide, 'OK, yes, this is a good violation.' Now, they have to look at the driver's photo and the registered owner's name. Is it a match? Is it a male driving in a male name? That's better, right? So then they'll run the plate, they'll get the driver's license photo of the registered owner. "Now they have to compare the two photos, and if that's a match, then it can go out as a citation," Haubold said. If you are photographed running a red light, you could expect to see a $250 citation in the mail. Dig deeper The city of Tempe is leasing the cameras on a monthly basis. The red light cameras are $2,000 a month. The mobile cameras that move every two weeks are $3,000 a month. "The biggest thing I want to see is, I want to see the reduction in our fatalities and our serious injury crashes," Haubold said. Here's a fun fact: the city of Tempe had these cameras years ago but got rid of them. They brought them back as part of their Vision Zero program.
New York Post
02-05-2025
- New York Post
Arizona bar ripped for calling underage drinking raid 'our 9/11' — and advertising a ‘disgusting' tee shirt referencing the attacks
An Arizona college bar took 'never forget' to a new level. The Tempe Tavern in Tempe, AZ, came under fire for comparing a recent, massive underage drinking bust to the September 11 terror attacks — and advertising tee shirts calling it 'our 9/11.' 'They hit the second tower!!' the bar quipped in a now-deleted Facebook post after cops detained nearly 200 suspected underage drinkers, many from the nearby Arizona State University. The joke came with an ad for tee shirts bearing '#TavernStrong' on one side and an American flag with 'our 911' on the other, 12News reported. 5 The Tempe Tavern in Arizona, where cops detained more than 170 suspected underage drinkers last month. Tempe Tavern/Facebook 5 The Tavern's now-deleted Facebook post joking about the raid. Tempe Tavern/Facebook Cops nabbed 173 people and issued 163 misdemeanor citations in the April 24 raid, the Tempe Police Department announced. Officials confirmed to 12News that the raid was one of the biggest underage drinking busts the city had ever seen. 'This crackdown targeted underage drinking and sent a strong message: we're watching!' the Tempe Police Department wrote on Instagram. Arizona State University students took to social media to defend their local watering hole, but locals condemned the underage drinking — and said the shirt crossed the line. 'While I tend to believe that there's a time and place for joking about anything, this certainly wasn't it. I suppose it's to be expected that students don't really grasp the importance of 9/11, considering few of them were even born, let alone old enough to remember,' one commenter wrote on the ASU Reddit page. 'I like dark humor but this wasnt even a joke, it just said 'this is our 9-11' like, yeah you guys are f—-d,' wrote another. 5 Cops rounding up suspected underage drinkers, many from the nearby Arizona State University. Tempe Police Department/Instagram 5 Cops said many of the detainees used fake IDs to get into the bar. Tempe Police Department/Instagram 5 The Tempe Tavern (pictured) is under investigation but remains open. Tempe Tavern/Facebook 'I just think it's offensive, especially since I'm from the East coast, I'm from New Jersey, I know a lot of people who were in 9/11,' ASU senior Christopher Robinson told 12News. The Tempe Tavern later blamed the Facebook post on a 'younger staff member who did not appreciate the significance of that tragic day,' adding that it had been originally designed and shared by a student unaffiliated with the business. '911 is nothing to joke about; the reference was reprehensible. The shirt is tasteless and disgusting,' the bar wrote on its Facebook page yesterday. The Tempe Tavern received a citation for being over maximum capacity on the night of the raid, but it could face additional penalties from the Arizona Department of Liquor & License Control, police told The Post. The bar declined The Post's request for comment on the raid, but it confirmed that the 9/11 shirts are not for sale.
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Tempe brings back photo enforcement for red light runners and speedy drivers
The Brief Speed and red light photo enforcement is coming back to Tempe after the city ended the program in 2009. The city says with these cameras, officers will be able to patrol the city instead of waiting for drivers to speed and/or run red lights. TEMPE, Ariz. - For the first time in over a decade, red light and speed cameras are coming back to Tempe. The backstory Drivers spoke to FOX 10 in 2009, just before police said the cameras were removed, who were not fans of programs like this. "I would agree with it more on a street corner where there's a school or something, but why on the freeway, why every five miles? It's a revenue scam basically," a driver previously said. Now, years later, some Valley cities are bringing back photo enforcement. Phoenix is working on a new red light camera program, and you can add Tempe to the list, too. What we know Tempe is adding cameras to 14 intersections in the city, and officials say it's all about saving lives on the road. The cameras are being installed throughout the city at some of its busiest intersections. Starting May 7, anyone who speeds or runs a red light at these intersections will get their picture taken. "And the people will just get warnings to start out with, and then on June 5, hopefully we're going to start issuing true citations where people will be held accountable for their violations," Tempe Police Lt. Mike Hayes said. Tempe drivers will soon see red light and speed cameras at 14 high-risk intersections, but that's not all. "Then we have four other mobile cameras that will be moving throughout the year," Lt. Hayes said. "We use the same kind of statistical analysis to put those cameras on those major roadways to places where we've seen high amounts of wrecks on arterial streets, where people are picking up big, heavy speeds, and through speed studies that show that people are a little bit faster on those roads as compared to other roads." The Tempe Police Department says this is all in response to achieving Vision Zero and reducing deaths on Tempe roads. "What we did is, to figure out where the photo radar cameras should be positioned was, we did about a three to five year study in our worst intersections and areas that have had bad collisions. We can use our officers in other locations around the city to kind of make the city as a whole much safer," Lt. Hayes explained. He says drivers who violate the law and are caught on one of the cameras can expect to see a civil citation with a fine of $250 in the mail. "We receive video and still photos from the company, and then we can see everything that they did while they were driving that vehicle through the intersection or pass one of the mobile cameras. We can see their face, everything. We have to judge that. Our people internally judge that to make sure it's the correct person, the violation is correct. If none of that is true, then we don't send it out. We don't send that back and verify that. They will never get a ticket," Lt. Hayes said. What we don't know FOX 10 asked how much the program is costing the city, and we are waiting for a response. What you can do If you receive a citation, Tempe Police say you'll have the opportunity to go to court, pay it outright or go to driving school if you are eligible. If it's not paid, it'll go to collections, the same way the court handles other citations. Click here to learn more about Tempe's photo enforcement.
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Yahoo
Man accused of sex crimes in Tempe arrested in Texas after cutting off ankle monitor, police say
A man accused of sexual assault and aggravated assault in Tempe was arrested in Texas after cutting off an ankle monitor and attempting to live off the grid to avoid capture, Tempe police said. Alex Bangash, 23, was accused of a series of crimes dating back to 2018, including seven counts of sexual assault, kidnapping, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and aggravated assault, Tempe police and the U.S. Marshals Service said in a news release on April 8. According to police, there were five known victims, including one person who was a minor at the time of the assault. Bangash was first arrested in Tempe but was granted a $250,000 cash-only bond. As a condition of his bond, he had a GPS ankle monitor, officials said. On March 10, Bangash cut off his monitor and fled the state, officials said. The Tempe Police Department requested help from the U.S. Marshals Service-led Arizona WANTED Violent Offender Task Force, which took on the case. The U.S. Marshals Service then traced Bangash's movement from Arizona to New Mexico and then to Texas, officials said. When Bangash was located in Texas, he was working as a ranch hand in exchange for room and board, living off the grid, officials said. He was located and arrested on April 3. 'Alex Bangash thought he could hide from the consequences of his actions,' U.S. Marshal Van Bayless said in a statement. 'However, the U.S. Marshals considers the capture of sexual predators a priority, and with the cooperation of local and federal law enforcement agencies from multiple states and districts, he was found and brought to account for his actions.' Bangash was awaiting extradition to Arizona. 'The successful apprehension of this suspect is the result of tireless investigation, coordination, and teamwork,' Tempe police Chief Ken McCoy said in a statement. 'This arrest brings us one step closer to justice for the survivors.' Corina Vanek covers development for The Arizona Republic. Reach her at cvanek@ Follow her on X @CorinaVanek. Left behind: PS5 controller leads to arrests in string of ATM robberies in Tempe, Tucson, other states This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Police: Man cut off ankle monitor, fled to Texas after Tempe arrest
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Yahoo
Cop Arrested For Squealing His Tires Sues Police Department
Read the full story on The Auto Wire A Chicago police officer who was on vacation in Tempe, Arizona was arrested for allegedly squealing the tires on his rental Dodge Charger. Now, he's lawyered up and has announced he intends to sue the police department for violating his civil all went down in August 2024 on Mill Avenue, a street that's heavily patrolled by Tempe Police Department, something Jalen Woods probably didn't know. But what Tempe bike officers didn't know at the time is they were dealing with a fellow cop, not just some random suspect. As Woods' attorney says, 'he knows his rights, he knows the law' and that's why he hasn't let Tempe Police skate on his arrest. A filing with the court says the incident was 'malicious prosecution' and constitutes a 'false arrest.' Bodycam footage obtained by ABC15 shows Officer Woods was rapidly pulled over after allegedly squealing the Mopar's tires, then asked to exit the vehicle. Immediately, he was handcuffed. But the bodycam footage doesn't show the Charger's tires spin at all and you can't hear the Hemi V8 engine rev, which is what officers claim they heard. City prosecutors later dropped the case. But the ordeal is far from over for Tempe. Woods' attorney alleges the officers were profiling as they repeatedly asked if there were guns or jewelry in the 'fancy' Dodge. Even after they found out Woods is a cop, officers didn't slow down and make sure they had their ducks in a row. In fact, they gave him a lecture about how he should know better. We've personally seen this kind of behavior before as police often like to target performance cars, saying they appeared to be going fast, chirping tires, or revving their engine. Tempe Police impounded the rental car, presumably so they could search it thoroughly. However, they didn't find anything illegal inside. Now the city has an expensive lawsuit on its hands it will likely settle out of court. Image via ABC15 Arizona/YouTube Join our Newsletter, subscribe to our YouTube page, and follow us on Facebook.
