The reasons are in dispute, but the trend is clear: The California Highway Patrol is handing out more traffic citations than it did a few years ago, which has generated tens of millions of dollars in revenue for state and local governments. Local and state police positions are becoming more and more popular as careers, while both their recruitment and pay have increased as well. The demand for law enforcement comes from the need for additional revenue for state and cities that are nearing bankruptcy. Because of this, traffic fee's are much more common and much more costly. For example, in California, a cell phone violation while driving is $142! The CHP issued about 200,000 more traffic citations in 2009 than it did in 2007. Driver advocates say that such growth in traffic enforcement is happening all over the country and that the timing isn't coincidental. Revenue from ticket citations have increased as much as 50 million dollars between 2007 and 2009. This helps to keep local and state governments afloat. While in office Arnold Schwarzenegger expanded the CHP by a third. Interestingly enough, there are still not enough officers in "crime ridden" areas, but there are still many police men in wealthy areas. Discipline on the road is not tolerant of small traffic violations nowadays and hits your wallet harder than ever before. When governments manipulate law enforcement, they are taxing society, wasting valuable manpower, and are creating a bad image for law enforcement. In a positive light, law enforcement is helping our government stay away from bankruptcy and default. Law enforcement is in such high demand that governments are willing to pay their employees a very generous salary. An officer takes a difficult 6 month course and gets handed a lifetime agreement of a generous salary and a generous pension, which includes consistent over-time. The only requirement to join to CHP is a high school diploma and a clean criminal record. A very do-able and relaxed prerequisite. The Department provides an excellent salary, full medical benefits, and up to 90 percent retirement. The starting salary for an officer is $73,969.44. With overtime and other benefits, that can add up to $87,228.64. After five years, the salary goes up to $90,184.68 and with overtime and other benefits, up to $109,147.08. Full-time, full-year wage and salary workers ages 25–34 with bachelor's degree had an average annual earning of $40,100 in 2009. During the first year of being in the CHP, you can automatically be at the top 26% and after five years of experience, you can be at the top 15%. With the huge demand of officers, there is an even bigger supply of candidates. Law enforcement is known for its dangerous conditions. Two hundred and twenty CHP officcer's have died on the job since 1929. That means that a total of 2.65 officers die each year in a state with over 33 million people. It seems as the judicial and law enforcement work close together trying to recieve revenues from traffic violations. All of a sudden drivers get worse because the economic outlook for the state is bad? No its CHP collecting revenue.
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