Parking officers issue more citations in 2012, but motor officers issue fewer

More than 97,000 citations for traffic and parking violations were issued last year, a sum that changed little compared with 2011, according to figures recently released by Glendale police.

Parking enforcement officers issued 79,392 tickets last year, up 4,397 from 2011, according to the Glendale Police Department. Citations for traffic-related violations, meanwhile, were down from 22,896 in 2011 to 17,784 last year.

“The overall goal behind it is to make the streets safer,” said Glendale Police Lt. Steve Robertson, who oversees the Traffic Bureau.

Last year, traffic officers worked closely with the department’s five geographical area commanders, focusing on various neighborhoods.

The bureau, Robertson said, also focused on reducing the number of DUI- and pedestrian-involved collisions.

To get a better grasp on traffic issues, Robertson said the department created a traffic safety committee, which includes police officers, parents, Glendale Unified and city public works and engineering officials.

The committee, which meets once a month, has recently decided to tackle speeding along the city’s major thoroughfares. They plan to monitor traffic speeds along certain streets and test devices that would force drivers to reduce their speeds in order to change a red light at an intersection to green, Robertson said.

On average, parking officers issue a total of 75,000 citations per year, while 25,000 tickets are given for moving violations, Robertson said.

Officers also issued 3,761 tickets for speeding — down from 5,768 in 2011 — and 3,142 citations for distracted driving violations — down from 4,377 the year prior — according to police.

On the other hand, police issued more tickets for pedestrian violations last year, 411 compared with 470 in 2011.

Drunk-driving arrests increased from 732 in 2011 to 1,183 last year.

This year, traffic officers plan to continue pedestrian safety education and DUI and commercial vehicle code enforcement.

“We need to take this on as a city problem,” Robertson said.

[For the Record, 12:08 p.m.: An earlier version of this post incorrectly stated the number of pedestrian citations issued in 2012 as being 1,971. The actual number was 411.

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