9-Day Police Traffic Crackdown Leads to 7,044 Tickets

A nine-day traffic enforcement crackdown that ended Monday led to 454 drunk-driving arrests in the San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles police said Tuesday.

Citywide, police made 1,128 drunk-driving arrests and issued 36,030 traffic tickets during the week, Sgt. Greg Meyer said.

The crackdown was part of a citywide effort that coincided with the state’s Traffic Safety Week.

In the Valley, the drunk-driving arrests averaged about 50 a day, contrasted with the area’s 33-a-day average so far this year, Meyer said.

Extra officers deployed in the Valley issued 7,044 tickets,, an average of 783 a day, he said, well above the year’s average of 454 a day. Of the tickets, 6,176 were for moving violations and 868 were for jaywalking, the police spokesman said.

Last week also was the end of a six-week crackdown on unregistered vehicles, according to Lt. Alan Kerstein. Officers working overtime impounded more than 800 cars and motorcycles that had been unregistered longer than a year, he said.

During the three-day Memorial Day weekend, the California Highway Patrol also deployed extra officers, as it routinely does on holidays. In Los Angeles County, the CHP arrested 689 people, with nearly 100 of the arrests coming in the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys, CHP Officer Steven Lewis said.