Sen. Sylvia Allen, a Republican from Snowflake, asks DPS officials why she was flashed by photo-enforcement cameras when she was only going 60 miles per hour. DPS officials said sometimes the cameras are simply being recalibrated.

Further cuts to the state's police force won't be easy to absorb, but they won't compromise officer safety, said the top cop at the Department of Public Safety.

"If I'm going to cut pennies, it's not going to be on a vest for an officer," said DPS Director Roger Vanderpool. He said that the safety of "front line" officers won't be compromised to cope with budget cuts.

Included in a list of budget-cut options presented to lawmakers at the a joint hearing of the Senate and House Appropriations committees on March 10 was a $1 million reduction in funding ear-marked for safety equipment for officers in the upcoming fiscal year. Lawmakers already removed $125,000 from that fund in January when they fixed the fiscal 2009 budget.

Members of the Appropriations committees were given a list of budget options that could reduce funding to DPS by $12 million. After the budget corrections made in January, the department is slated to receive about $347 million this year.

But Vanderpool did caution lawmakers to carefully consider a $2.6 million cut to the state crime lab that would result in local law enforcement agencies shouldering the cost of forensic work they send to the DPS lab. Many communities are also facing severe budget cuts and may not be able to pay those costs, he said.

"If the crime labs aren't able to function, criminal just shuts down," he said.

Senate Appropriations chair Russell Pearce said he believes there should be no charge to local law enforcement agencies for cases they send to DPS.

"It's too critical," he said.

Instead of the state reimbursing charges to local departments, Pearce said lawmakers should create a dedicated funding source to pay for the lab. He suggested diverting surcharges on defensive driving courses.

The hearing also presented an opportunity for Republican lawmakers to grill DPS officials on the state's highway photo-enforcement program, which was championed by former Gov. Janet Napolitano, a Democrat, as a way to increase road safety and raise additional revenue.

Since its inceptions, a number of Republicans have been outspoken in their opposition to the photo-enforcement program, and there is legislation being considered this year that would eliminate or significantly reform the use of speed cameras on Arizona highways.

Phil Case, the budget director for DPS, told the joint panel that the program resulted in $4 million in gross revenue in February, a significant increase from the $2 million in January and $1 million in December.

"I would say that we are just hitting full stride," Case said.

Highway Patrol Chief Jack Lane told the committee that about half of all citations issued by the program have resulted in a collection of fines.

The percentage of tickets issued as a result of speed-camera activations, however, was much smaller, according to early results. Roughly 25 percent of all photos taken during the first two-and-a-half months of the system's operation resulted in citations, according to DPS statistics released in December.