Associated Press

Students, faculty and staff aren’t the only ones driving in the direction of the Fresno State campus. Motorcycle police are on patrol, and looking for drivers exceeding the speed limit.

Fresno State student Laura Pola drives towards Fresno State on Shaw Avenue several times a week. Pola said she was running late to class one day, driving over the speed limit and had an iClicker quiz that she didn’t want to miss when a motorcycle policeman appeared from behind a tree with a radar gun aiming directly at the hood of her car.

Traffic violations are certainly not cheap. The maximum sentence on most traffic related infractions is $250, plus assessments and fines. That’s the cost of a few textbooks. That’s gas for the semester depending on the commute, or three to four months worth of Pacific Gas and Electric.

“They’re expensive ”” that’s money that could go towards tuition, rent and new shoes definitely,” Pola said. “It’s embarrassing because everybody is driving by and looks while I get a ticket.”

Dirt bikes wielding police patrol Shaw Avenue, but there’s no dirt. Two permanent officers are assigned to the Suzuki dirt bikes, and they drive them four days a week. They’re primarily used to patrol the area around the San Joaquin River near Herndon and Highway 99, but they do patrol the streets and write tickets. The dirt bikes are actually better suited for the street than mud.

“One of our dirt bike riders is our top radar guy and ranks near the top in total citations issued,” Fresno Police Department Sgt. Charlie O’Dell said. “That bike goes places where other police can’t.”

The Fresno Police Department has approximately 70 motorcycles patrolling the streets and two dirt bikes. The police operate RT 1200 and RT 1150 state-of-the-art BMW motorcycles, and Suzuki DRZ 400 dual-sport custom dirt bikes. The bikes are painted white with prominent black graphics identifying the department to distinguish the bikes from civilian motorcycles. The bikes have lights and an equipment box mounted on the rear to assure the public that it’s a police vehicle.

“BMW sells a police specific motorcycle,” Jack Harwood of BMW Fresno Motorcycles said. “They customize the bikes with various options depending on the specifications of the department.”

Harwood added that the Fresno Police Department bikes have red and blue emergency lights, but that may be different in other cities.

Each year Fresno Police writes approximately 70,000 tickets. O’Dell said pedestrian fatalities are one area where there are a high number of incidents.

“Most officers are always out working speed enforcement, because speed enforcement is the key to everything,” O’Dell said. “The faster people go the more pedestrian accidents you’re going to have.”

The current economic crisis is creating problems for several departments.

Major Ashley Swearengin’s office said they are planning to cut $8.8 million from this year’s budget to deal with a budget shortfall. The most significant cuts will come from the fire and police departments. The police department is looking at $3 million in cuts, but plans to keep all sworn officers on duty.

In 2003, Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer received a federal grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety for $560,000. The money was used to purchase 20 state-of-the-art BMW police motorcycles as well as training and related costs. The Fresno Police Department nearly doubled their traffic patrol officers from 22 to 42 in 2003. The traffic citations issued also increased two-and-a-half times from 2002 to 2003.

Riding a bicycle or walking to the campus can be difficult lately due to the constant weather changes, but another way to avoid a traffic citation is to drive the speed limit and to be aware of pedestrians.