In just two hours, Phoenix police Sgt. Doug Hardin scanned more than 900 license plates, yet his hands rarely moved from the steering wheel of his unmarked pickup truck. The magnetically mounted cameras on the flatbed of Hardin's truck automatically scan vehicle tags using technology that recognizes the characters on each plate. Software in the laptop mounted inside the truck processes the characters in real-time, rapidly looking for matches against stolen vehicles in law enforcement databases. An audible alert reminds him when a vehicle reported stolen is captured by the Automated License Plate Recognition cameras. The Arizona Department of Public Safety Vehicle Theft Task Force, said the technology used by Phoenix and other local police departments helps officers find everything from expensive stolen cars to unreturned rentals - all automatically, with very little physical effort required. "I can run 5,000 plates a day," Hardin said. "An officer (manually) concentrating on nothing but stolen vehicles could run 400 a day, maybe, if he's working real hard." Phoenix auto theft investigators attributed the recent 29 percent drop in citywide vehicle thefts not only to the rising use of ALPR technology, but also to an updated Arizona law requiring people who report auto theft to provide police with an affidavit that ensures greater accuracy in investigations. ALPR has made Phoenix detectives' jobs easier since the cameras were introduced about 18 months ago. Phoenix police use two cameras that are shared between precincts. The Phoenix Desert Horizon Precinct was approved for a grant to buy its own camera system to use across exclusively in the northeast part of the city, officials said Phoenix ALPR technology is provided by Tennessee-based PIPS Technology, which is contracted with nearly 300 U.S. law enforcement agencies, according to a company spokesman. The units cost roughly more than $25,000 apiece. Lt. Troy Finley, who oversees Phoenix police auto theft investigations, said one arrest will make an impact on the numbers, since one talented auto thief could steal as many as 10 cars in a day. Finley added that the strategy of "dredging" parking lots at malls like Desert Ridge Marketplace and Metrocenter will lead to at least a couple of arrests per outing. Desert Horizon became a focus for auto theft investigations in recent years because of the size of the area and number of affluent neighborhoods that draw thieves. Finley credited his team of about 16 investigators for the recent impact, adding that he lost four people through recent budget cuts. "It helps buy-in from the patrol guys because they see us out there," he said. "We can help them write search warrants for chop-shops and help them shut down some of the bigger operations out there." Stealing cars is as simple as knowing how to wield a screwdriver or "jiggle key," often created from a nail file. Finley said auto theft is mostly a juvenile crime, common for teens. It also draws young adults with drug problems, he said. A 16-year-old boy, for example, was shot and critically wounded Saturday by Phoenix officers during an attempted auto theft in south Phoenix after the boy reportedly tried to strike officers with a stolen vehicle. The boy had an outstanding felony warrant for auto theft, according to police officials. His father, who had a history of drug-related arrests, was arrested at the scene. The Arizona Department of Public Safety is set to deploy as many as 25 mobile ALPR cameras over the next two months after investigators work out the kinks with software.

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Five years after a Superior Court presiding judge stripped Constable Annette Clark of most of her duties, it remains unclear whether Clark will be allowed to return to her post full time in the Arcadia Biltmore Precinct. A recent ruling by the Arizona Court of Appeals found that while the presiding judge, Colin Campbell, had the authority to restrict Clark's duties, he went about it inappropriately. "Supervisory authority must be exercised reasonably, and Clark should have received notice and an opportunity to be heard followed by an explanation of the reasons for the actions," the ruling states. Now, Clark's fate is in the hands of the current presiding judge, Barbara Mundell, who can either uphold Campbell's decision or reverse it and reinstate all of Clark's duties. The next step in the process depends on consultations with the state Attorney General's Office, which represented Campbell in the case. The Attorney General's Office said Thursday it's reviewing the ruling to decide whether to appeal.Clark, who is running against an opponent in the Sept. 2 primary election, said she hopes to put this all behind her and get back to work as soon as she can. Clark has said from the beginning that she does not believe Campbell behaved reasonably and that she was never given notice or an opportunity to be heard. "If my side was told, this would never have happened," Clark said Thursday. "I have not done anything wrong. I don't even have a parking ticket, so why did they do this?" Clark found out in 2003 most of her constable duties were being revoked when she received a letter from Campbell that said, " . . . for the duration of your term as Constable, your services . . . are no longer required." Clark was allowed to retain her Constable status, along with her salary, and in 2004 she won re-election. Clark said some of the duties she was allowed to maintain include attending training sessions, keeping records and answering phone calls from her constituents. Clark sued the judge who took away her duties and the case wound up making its way to the Court of Appeals. Clark said she considered the court's decision a victory. "I've been waiting for the decision (for) God knows how long," she said.

A pilot Department of Public Safety photo speed-enforcement program will soon mushroom from just two mobile vans to 60 stationary cameras and 40 vans snapping speeders along the state's roadways. The citation-generating cameras could potentially pump millions into Arizona's budget, but the program is drawing criticism because it lets drivers pay the ticket without license points or insurance consequences. DPS announced the numbers Thursday, saying they will target spots around Phoenix and Tucson like major freeway interchanges known for speed-related crashes. Expansion will start Sept. 26, and all 100 devices are expected to be operating by January. Citations carry $165 civil fines but no other consequences. Critics say allowing violators to pay the tickets this way is a ruse to raise money and help the state out of a budget deficit. "This will create an autobahn for the wealthy," said Barrett Marson, spokesman for House Republicans, referring to the German roadway system where the speed limit is 130 kilometers, or about 81 miles, per hour, in some sections. "People who can afford to pay can drive at higher speeds. There's no reason to do it this way other than to create an incentive to pay the fine and not to challenge it," he said, adding the provision was slipped into the budget under lawmakers' radar. Senate Minority Leader Marsha Arzberger, D-Willcox, said beefed-up photo enforcement was part of the negotiated state budget. Higher payment rates are a good thing, and fines are punishment for speeding, she said. "There is nothing wrong with making speeders pay." Recent figures released by Chandler show only about 10 percent of the city's photo-enforcement citations issued are paid. Unlike the DPS citations, the city's are forwarded to the state Department of Motor Vehicles and carry license penalties and potential insurance-rate increases. However, cases are dismissed if drivers didn't acknowledge receipt of the citations and were not served, court administrator Carla Boatner said. Evidence from a pilot DPS mobile enforcement program that started in October with two vehicles shows the enforcement vans are reducing accidents, DPS spokesman Lt. James Warriner said. The test focused on the most dangerous stretches road in Maricopa and Pinal counties. One of the prime targets has been Arizona 347, the popular route from west Chandler to Wildhorse Pass Casino, Firebird Lake, Puerto Peñasco and San Diego. Before cameras started nabbing speeders, the agency responded to two or three serious collisions along the stretch every week, Warriner said. "Now there have been only one or two accidents here in the last six months." Numbers from the test program also show its money-generating potential. A citation van frequently stationed along Interstate 10 or on Arizona 347 is generating so many tickets that Keith Frankel, Chandler San Marcos justice of the peace, said he might have to extend court hours to handle them. The two enforcement vans generated 2,063 speeding tickets in Maricopa County between Feb. 1 and June 28. Numbers for Pinal County, where they were also stationed, were not available. Frankel said that before the program started, planners told him they expected just 50 a month. Drivers who don't respond to mailed citations or who are challenging the citation are summoned to appear in the San Marcos or Casa Grande justice courts, depending on where the speeder was photographed. "So far we haven't seen a huge number, but we're getting ready for the influx," said Karma Buckner, chief clerk for the Casa Grande court. The vendor for the expanded program, Redflex Traffic Systems, will get about $20 million, according to DPS Director Roger Vanderpool.

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Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's immigration and crime sweeps are being targeted in a lawsuit that alleged his officers have racially profiled countless Hispanics. The attack on the sweeps alleged the officers based some traffic stops on the race of Hispanics who were in vehicles, had no probable cause to pull them over and made the stops so they could inquire about their immigration status. "From what we have been hearing on the ground, (Arpaio) has been violating people's civil rights left and right," said Kristina Campbell, an attorney for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, one of the groups pushing the allegations. The allegations were filed Wednesday as part of an existing lawsuit. While Arpaio defends the sweeps in Phoenix, Guadalupe, Mesa and other cities as crime suppression efforts, he has been criticized heavily for conducting the crackdowns in heavily Hispanic areas and has fueled a backlash from some officials who consider the operations to be an unwanted intrusion into their communities. Sheriff's spokesman Capt. Paul Chagolla declined to comment on the lawsuit's contents, but said the agency doesn't racially profile people and that the sweep allegations were an attempt to refresh a civil case against the sheriff. "This is not a new lawsuit," Chagolla said. Allegations about the sweeps were added to a lawsuit, filed in December, that alleges a Mexican man in the country legally was unnecessarily detained by a deputy investigating the man's immigration status. Among Arizona's local police bosses, Arpaio has taken the most aggressive approach to cracking down on illegal immigration. His efforts include creating a special immigration unit, arresting more than 1,000 illegal immigrants under a state smuggling law and setting up a hot line to report immigration violations. The latest court filing alleged Arpaio, who has 160 patrol and jail officers trained in enforcing federal immigration law, has let deputies and posse volunteers perform immigration duties when they weren't trained to do so. The federal agency that gave the officers the special training has said the sheriff has stayed within the bounds of its training agreement. Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon, who disapproved of the sweeps in Phoenix and has become Arpaio's most prominent critic, has asked for a federal investigation of Arpaio for possible civil rights violations. The U.S. Justice Department has declined to say whether it would investigate the sheriff.

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Democratic state Rep. Mark DeSimone is expected to resign his seat following his arrest early Friday morning on charges related to an episode of domestic violence involving him and his wife. DeSimone, 45, a first-term legislator representing District 11 in Phoenix, was booked into Maricopa County's 4th Avenue jail. He faces assault charges, a Class 1 misdemeanor. Phoenix police responded to DeSimone's north-central Phoenix home after receiving a 911 call from his wife around 11:45 p.m. Officers were told that the couple had engaged in a verbal dispute that turned physical, said Sgt. Joel Trantor. DeSimone, who had been drinking, is believed to have struck his wife in the face at least once, Trantor said. She had lacerations to the inside of her mouth and lip. No medical treatment was required. One of the DeSimones' young children was in the home at the time of the incident but was not involved or harmed, Trantor said. DeSimone's looming resignation, confirmed by the Arizona Democratic Party, complicates Democratic efforts to retake the House of Representatives in the November election. The party needs to flip at least four seats to claim control of the body, now led by the GOP. District 11 leans conservative, with registered Republicans outnumbering Democrats by nearly 14,000. For that reason, DeSimone's election to the seat was one of the biggest Capitol surprises of the 2006 election. But DeSimone, owner of the Hidden House tavern in Phoenix, was considered a pro-business Democrat with a strong chance at re-election this year. Earlier this week, he was named Freshman of the Year by the Arizona Chamber of Commerce. Arizona Democratic Party spokeswoman Emily DeRose said the party hasn't yet begun contemplating ballot replacements for DeSimone, but issued a statement saying, "Our thoughts and prayers are with his family."

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Maricopa County sheriff's deputies will return to Mesa Friday afternoon to continue "Operation Ghost," their controversial crackdown on undocumented immigrants. Mesa police also are preparing for the second day of the crackdown, working to keep the peace with demonstrators expected to return. Mesa police are establishing a command post near the county's Superior Court building, not far from the Sheriff's Office substation. The Sheriff's Office announced Friday that they had arrested 37 people on the first day of the operation, including 14 who are undocumented immigrants. "During the operational period, nine additional illegal aliens were rescued and detained by the Sheriff's SWAT deputies during a hostage rescue operation at a Mesa drop house," according to a sheriff's office press release. The release said deputies arrested 12 suspects on warrants for various crimes including driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, theft, forgery and drug charges. "Today, we are returning to Mesa to continue our operations," the sheriff's office said. The first day drew about 200 protesters. The majority denounced Arpaio's tactics as racist and pointless, saying the undocumented immigrants would return to the U.S. But a small group of Arpaio supporters stood a short distance away, across a police barricade, waving American flags. There were no reported incidents between the two polarized camps. Detective Diana Tapia, a Mesa police spokeswoman, said the demonstrators are expected to return Friday and Mesa police also will be on hand with the same mission as on Thursday. "Our objective in being present today is to make sure peace is maintained for all demonstrators," Tapia said. Mesa Police Chief George Gascón and Sheriff Joe Arpaio have traded barbs for months over the Sheriff's Office's enforcement of federal immigration laws. Gascón has accused Arpaio of grandstanding, saying that many of the undocumented immigrants would be deported, but return to the U.S. anyway. But the crackdowns in Mesa, Guadalupe and Phoenix have drawn considerable support from the public, with many Valley residents praising Arpaio for enforcing the law. Similar crackdowns in Phoenix, Fountain Hills and Guadalupe led to 174 arrests, with 91 of those suspects undocumented immigrants and 41 of them accused of additional crimes beyond entering the country illegally, according to Capt. Paul Chagolla, a sheriff's spokesman.

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