Authorities Say Motorists Will Soon Feel the Pinch of New Parking Policy

Motorists parking illegally in Los Angeles--and getting away with it because of lax enforcement--soon will start feeling the pinch of a tough new policy.

In the next three years, the city’s Department of Transportation plans to double the 1.4 million parking citations that were issued in 1984, including an estimated 237,000 that went to violators on the Westside.

Revenue to the city also is expected to double from the current $25 million to $50 million a year over the same period.

The crackdown follows the department’s assumption of parking enforcement duties from the Los Angeles Police Department.

The transportation department this month opened the first of six city bureaus at 1845 Pontius Ave. in West Los Angeles. It will cover city territory bounded by Mulholland Drive on the north; the Beverly Hills, Culver City and Inglewood city lines on the east; the El Segundo city boundary on the south and the coastline on the west.

Five other offices throughout the rest of the city will be opened between March and June.

Robert R. Yates, parking administrator for the transportation department, said the new policy will strictly enforced.

“We plan an aggressive enforcement policy to ease traffic flow during rush hour, to create more short-term parking in commercial districts and to discourage commuters from parking in preferential parking districts in residential parking areas,” Yates said.

When the transition is completed, the department will have complete control over the 400 traffic officers, supervisors and clerical staff previously managed by the Police Department.

Yates and other city traffic authorities maintain that the transportation department is a more logical bureau than the Police Department to enforce parking regulations.

“It is not that the Police Department did anything wrong in enforcing parking regulations,” Yates said. “It is just that the police have other priorities, like fighting crime. When the Police Department could use a traffic officer on a desk to free up a sworn officer to fight crime, that was good for the Police Department. But it did not help in traffic control.”

Yates said that his department plans to put more of the 400 traffic officers onto the streets in 200 new subcompact autos.

The cars will replace the three-wheel vehicles that the police department favored but that could not be driven by an estimated 100 traffic officers because of minor physical injuries, Yates said.

The transportation department also will increase the ratio of staff supervision, now one supervisor to 10 staff employees, to one supervisor for eight officers.

Walking beats will be established in heavily used commercial districts, including Westwood, within a month, Yates said.

The Police Department views the loss of management of the traffic officers as “a mixed bag,” according to Cmdr. James D. Jones, Police Department traffic coordinator.

“It makes sense to put parking control under one tent,” Jones said. “At one time, there were five city agencies dealing with various aspects of parking--one agency to put in the meters, another to collect the money, another to replace the signs. So we have no problem with the concept of one management group.”

What is of concern to the Police Department, Jones said, is whether the city will replace personnel it lost in the transfer.

His department, Jones said, needs an additional 33 sworn officers and 11 clerical personnel to replace the departed traffic officers. The City Council has agreed to replace the clerical personnel, but has not yet approved the request for the sworn officers.

“We have been told instead to search out other areas in our department where we can replace sworn officers with civilians to make up for the personnel loss,” Jones said. “We are not convinced that is an equitable exchange to our department.”

He said that the sworn officers are needed to continue the department’s investigation of stolen autos--which traffic officers assisted.

Jones said that the Police Department is happy to give up responsibility for enforcing new preferential parking districts in residential neighborhoods.

“You have a hard time explaining to people who have parked there for years that they can no longer park there,” Jones said.

Yates said that will not be a problem for his department.

“We are the ones who recommend creation of those districts,” Yates said. “It follows that must be and are prepared to enforce compliance with the new regulations.”