Governor Seeks to Beef Up CHP to Halt Violence

Declaring that roadway gunslingers “should be behind bars, not behind the wheel,” Gov. George Deukmejian on Saturday called for legislation to hire immediately 150 Highway Patrol officers to help break the epidemic of California freeway violence.

Under the “urgency” bill, which would take effect immediately upon the governor’s signature, Deukmejian promised that the new officers would “be assigned to the areas experiencing the greatest freeway violence problem.”

Noting that the CHP has reported at least 119 incidents of violence statewide since the middle of June, although not all of them involved actual gunfire, Deukmejian said, “Motorists who use guns illegally should be behind bars, not behind the wheel.”

Deukmejian issued his call for legislation in his regular weekly radio program.

Cost of $27 Million

Deputy press secretary Donna Lipper Lucas said the cost of the additional officers would total about $27 million spread out over 18 months and would be paid for from existing driver license and vehicle registration funds.

In addition, the governor said he will authorize spending an extra $2 million in overtime pay for current officers assigned to freeway violence duty. He said 10,000 overtime hours already have been spent on the anti-violence campaign.

Highway Patrol Commissioner J. E. Smith estimated that it would take five to six months to train the new officers and get them on the freeways after the governor and Legislature had acted. Meantime, he said, “We are going to selectively use overtime to increase our efforts.”

Deukmejian deplored the violence as “senseless and dangerous,” observing that it has taken the lives of four people and “terrorized millions of California motorists.” Most of the incidents have occurred in Southern California.

“This kind of violence has no place in a civilized society, and it is up to all citizens to see that it is stopped,” the governor said.

If the progress of another major bill to dramatically increase the strength of the Highway Patrol is any indication, Deukmejian should have little difficulty getting his proposal enacted, barring an unforeseen complication.

The Senate has passed legislation by Sen. William Campbell (R-Hacienda Heights) that would add 360 new officers in 1988 and another 360 officers in 1989. They would be financed by a $1 increase in vehicle registration fees next year and a second $1 increase the following year.

Governor’s ‘Interest’

Commissioner Smith said the CHP neither supports nor opposes the Campbell bill, although he reported Deukmejian has expressed an “interest” in it. The legislation cleared the Senate and one Assembly committee without a dissenting vote.

Currently, according to Administration sources, there are 4,200 Highway Patrol officers on the roadways statewide. Campbell and the California Assn. of Highway Patrolmen estimate that the overall strength of uniformed officers is about 100 fewer than in 1974.

During the same 13-year period, they say, the number of licensed drivers has soared from 13 million to more than 18 million, registered vehicles have increased from 14 million to more than 21 million and traffic accidents in CHP jurisdictions have increased by 27%.

The summer wave of highway violence has also prompted other legislation, including a bill by Assemblyman Burt Margolin (D-Los Angeles) that would make it a felony punishable by a prison term to carry an unlicensed handgun in the driver’s compartment of a vehicle. Currently, it is a misdemeanor to do so.

Another bill, by Assemblyman Paul E. Zeltner (R-Lakewood), would send to prison for up to seven years anyone who willfully shot a firearm or discharged a pellet gun from a motor vehicle. This crime now is a misdemeanor.

On Friday, the Los Angeles City Council’s Police, Fire and Public Safety Committee recommended that the city spend $90,000 to pay overtime for 15 police helicopter squads hunting down gun-toting motorists. The panel also recommended that the city urge the California Department of Transportation to accelerate its installation of video cameras mounted on freeway overpasses to help investigate the freeway shootings.