The groups want Mayor Byron W. Brown and the Common Council to reassess the $3.1 million in ticketing revenue – up nearly $400,000 over two years – included in the mayor's proposed 2020-21 budget. While ticketing may appear race-neutral on its face, the reality of where most crime occurs could dictate where most of that money will come from. As the groups put it in a letter to city leaders: "if the Buffalo Police Department is focusing more patrols in poor black neighborhoods, it follows that it would also be issuing more traffic tickets in those neighborhoods."
 
Along with a second look at the budgeted revenue, they also want data mapping where tickets are issued. The groups suspect most "are issued in predominantly black neighborhoods and for matters that are not related to violations that could cause 'traffic fatalities or severe injuries,'” citing language from the Traffic Violations Agency mission statement. They want the city to revamp its "approach to traffic fines and fees to eliminate any remaining structural racism in their design."

The letter was emailed Monday, which hasn't given the Brown administration a lot of time to respond while also trying to prepare for the local reopening that Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced in Buffalo the same day. However, the administration did note by email that "any revenue estimates are based on the addition of electronic school zone speed cameras or electronic bus arm cameras and not on increased ticketing by any Buffalo police officer."
 
The only problem with that explanation is that the roughly $200,000 increase projected for the coming fiscal year is about the same as this year's increase, when no school safety measures were in place for most of the year.
 
"People are hurting right now. The last thing they need is an additional $75 or $100 for a ticket," said the Rev. George Nicholas of the African American Health Equity Task Force, one of 15 groups that signed the letter along with organizations ranging from the Western New York Law Center and the National Federation for Just Communities of WNY to VOICE Buffalo and the Fines and Fees Justice Center.
 
Nicholas said the task force got involved because economics is one of the social determinants of health. Fines disproportionately levied on black and brown communities for broken tail lights and the like drain resources. And when the driver chooses to pay the electric bill or buy food instead, that can have a compounding effect when it causes the vehicle to be impounded, which can then cost someone their job.

If safety is the goal, the city could employ traffic-calming measures like speed bumps, lane narrowing and lane shifts to slow drivers, instead of reaching into their pockets, said Jalonda Hill of the Fair Fines and Fees Coalition, which also wants the city to rescind 13 new fees it imposed two years ago that can be tacked onto tickets.
 
Brown's proposed budget – which includes $65 million in hoped-for aid in a federal coronavirus rescue package – has yet to be voted on by the Council. The normal deadline would be May 22, but lawmakers want to see if that federal money materializes before finalizing a budget, said Council President Darius G. Pridgen, noting the governor's executive order has extended deadlines and also that the Council has sought legal counsel.

Read the full article on the Buffalo News website here.