A Helping Hand : L.A.’s Traffic Trainees

The winter class of ’89 is learning how to write parking citations, get abandoned vehicles off the streets of Los Angeles and direct traffic. Above all, says city parking administrator Robert Yates, traffic officer trainees are being impressed “with the image they present to the public and the importance of their roles in making sure we have traffic mobility.”

The trainees--who will work for the city’s Department of Transportation, not as sworn police officers--spend two weeks studying city parking law, radio communication, driving techniques and how to deal with motorists. They spend another week in the streets learning traffic control. Each new traffic officer is on six months’ probation under the tutelage of a veteran.