How do you spell $revenue$?? 15 mph school zones. Original Article Traffic officers at school zones As classes start, police step up speed patrols Jack Gillum The Arizona Republic Aug. 8, 2005 12:00 AM Slow down. That's the message law enforcement officers are stressing for motorists passing through school zones as thousands of Valley students return to the classroom this month. Police agencies across the Valley, including Phoenix, Glendale, Mesa, Scottsdale and Peoria police, have announced stepped-up enforcement with the start of the new school year. In Phoenix, about 150 motorcycle officers will patrol school zones surrounding nearly 2,000 schools. And they aren't cutting motorists any slack. At 7:30 a.m. one morning last week near Seventh Avenue and Vineyard Road, Phoenix motorcycle Officer Mike Warren eyed a driver going a bit too fast. "Got her," he said, tucking away his radar gun before pulling the woman over across the street from Lassen Elementary School. The culprit: A teacher, driving 7 mph too fast. She said she thought the speed limit in school zones was 35 mph. The actual limit is 15 mph. Such zone violations are "a real problem," said Officer Terry Sills, traffic complaint coordinator for Phoenix police. "People just aren't paying attention." Even just a few miles per hour above the limit can be deadly, Sills said. "Any increase in speed increases the stopping distance and puts those children at risk of not being seen until too late," Sills explained. Phoenix officers issued 20 citations at that intersection in just under two hours. Residents near Lassen say they're concerned about the motorists who speed by on Seventh Avenue. Maria Mariscal, who was taking her 8-year-old brother, Michael, to school, worried about drivers simply not seeing kids in the crosswalk. "We don't let him cross by himself," she said. Officials from Valley police and fire departments as well as other government agencies taught about 150 crossing guards on Friday how to keep kids safe by properly displaying their STOP signs and how to watch for speeding vehicles. In the past two weeks, about 350 crossing guards have received training. In Chandler, where students returned to class July 26, Officer John Somerville said 85 to 90 percent of the speeding tickets he writes in school zones are to faculty, staff or parents. "I get a lot of the 'I come here everyday, I've been here time and time again,' " Somerville said. "I don't doubt (that) but I think it creates a degree of commonplace. People aren't paying attention to their speed." Peoria police say that as many as 20 officers may be assigned today for the start of a two-week morning and afternoon school-zone enforcement effort. "The officers will take a zero-tolerance approach, cracking down on drivers violating traffic laws, speed limits and seat-belt or car-seat requirements," said Peoria police spokeswoman Shelly Watkins. And in Scottsdale, crime prevention officers in each of the city's three police districts have been emphasizing the importance of driving carefully in school zones and slowing at school crosswalks. "Typically every year, our traffic units concentrate on school zones at the start of the school year," Scottsdale police spokesman Sgt. Mark Clark said. "We're there to remind motorists who may not be used to driving in school zones to heed the speed limit." Violations can be hefty for school-zone violators. Failing to stop for a pedestrian or speeding in a school zone will cost a motorist $127 and two points on his or her license. Drivers could be eligible for a one-time defensive-driving course. Reporters Brent Whiting, Lindsey Collom, Senta Scarborough and Holly Johnson contributed to this article.