A dispute brewing between city police and school district transportation officials over speeding citations seems to indicate at least one thing: Somebody's machine isn't working.

Either way it shakes out, there appears to be a problem.

The dispute began after three school bus drivers got tickets from the city's new, unmanned speed-enforcement vehicle charging them with driving too fast in school zones, according to Jim Romero, operations director for Santa Fe Public Schools, and Santa Fe police Capt. Anthony Robbin.

Transportation officials talked to the drivers, who denied they had been speeding, Romero said.

So, officials checked the Global Positioning System devices on the buses, which use satellite technology to track location and speed. Romero said these indicated the drivers were actually traveling under the speed limit at the time cited on the tickets issued by the radar-equipped police vehicle.

Officials took that information to Santa Fe Municipal Court in an effort to dispute the tickets, he said.

However, Robbin said the speed-enforcement SUV — which went into service here in November and is parked part of each weekday in various school zones — is calibrated every morning and de-calibrated every night. If the system detects a problem, it won't turn on, he said. Therefore, he believes the school district's equipment isn't working properly.

"They don't want to face it that their drivers are speeding," Robbin said. "The last person I want to give a ticket to is a school bus driver."

Further, he said that from the information he has received from Municipal Court, it appears the district's GPS devices don't track speeds on a second-by-second or even minute-by-minute basis.

But wait just a second, Romero said. He believes the district's GPS devices do, indeed, track speeds on a second-by-second basis.

Under procedures created by a city ordinance, anyone who wants to contest a ticket issued by the speed-enforcement SUV will have to appeal to a specially designated hearing officer, who Robbin said has not yet been hired.

About 50 of the several thousand drivers who have received such tickets already want to contest the citations, he said. However, no hearing has been scheduled because the Police Department doesn't have to have its new hearing officer on board until April, Robbin said.

The school district will be given an opportunity to contest the bus drivers' tickets, he said.

Robbin also said district bus drivers actually have been cited four times, though he only had details about three of the tickets. He didn't know the dates they were issued but said one driver received a ticket for going 24 mph in a 15 mph zone, though information submitted by the school district indicates he was driving 13.5 mph, Robbin said.

Another driver received a ticket for going 20 in a 15 mph zone — the school district says he was driving 13.3 mph at the time — while a third driver was cited for going 29 mph in a 15 mph zone, though the school district says he was going 11.9 mph at the time, Robbin said.

If the drivers are found to be at fault, Romero said, they would have to pay the tickets themselves. None are likely to be fired, though they might be referred for more training, Romero said.

Robbin said he believes the speed SUV is functioning properly and has had no reports to the contrary. Still, he is consulting with engineers from the company that owns the SUV.

Contact Jason Auslander at 986-3076 or :jauslander@sfnewmexican.com.