Ticket-Fixing Law May Have Tripped RTD Police Chief

The RTD’s transit police chief, who is the focus of an internal agency investigation for alleged nepotism and mismanagement, may have run afoul of a tough new anti-ticket-fixing law when he ordered dozens of parking citations canceled last year.

James Burgess, chief of the Southern California Rapid Transit District police, acknowledged Monday that in December, after receiving a complaint from a district secretary who car-pooled with the assistant police chief, he ordered between 20 and 50 parking citations issued by one of his officers removed from the cars and canceled. The tickets had been issued at the RTD’s El Monte bus station, adjacent to the San Bernardino Freeway.

A new state law, which took effect last June after a ticket-fixing scandal in San Diego, prohibits police chiefs from canceling their officers’ citations.

Series of Charges

The ticket cancellations are being investigated by the RTD inspector general as part of a series of charges raised by a former RTD police officer, Nicholas Granados. Among Granados’ allegations, made in a lengthy letter to RTD board members, is that Burgess canceled the tickets to cover up the fact that among them were two issued to the district secretary.

Burgess has strongly denied doing anything improper or acting to benefit any individual. He said he voided the tickets, which he acknowledged were probably justified under the law, because they were issued contrary to his orders. He had instructed officers to cite only “flagrant violators” at the depot during a disruptive period of construction.

“We felt it was improper to be strictly enforcing (parking) regulations when we were creating such an inconvenience to passengers,” Burgess said.

Under the new law, it is illegal for police officers or police executives to alter or nullify a parking ticket once it has been written and placed on an automobile windshield.

Authority Limited

“Only a judge and jury are entitled to make that decision,” said Assemblyman Larry Stirling (R-San Diego), who authored the legislation.

While stressing that he was not familiar with the details of the Burgess matter, Stirling noted that prior to last June, when his legislation took effect, police could cancel tickets in the “interest of justice.”

“The technical thrust of the (revised) law was to remove that discretion,” Stirling said.

Burgess said he was aware of the new law.

But Burgess said part of the problem at the El Monte station was that his officers were not consistent in issuing citations, because some did not like parking enforcement duty. “Some officers would go out and do nothing. Others would go out and write everyone for every little chicken thing,” he said. “I try to correct my officers mistakes. If that’s a violation of the law, so be it.”

Thinks Law Is Unclear

Burgess also suggested that the law is unclear. “We are still awaiting (guidance) from the court on how to proceed on these things. I don’t think it really was intended to take away the discretion . . . of doing what is proper enforcement.”

However, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol said the new law is “pretty cut and dried” and noted that the agency drafted new procedures about nine months ago to ensure that commanding officers no longer altered or nullified citations.

“The decision whether or not to dismiss solely rests with the courts,” CHP Sgt. Mike Mass said.