Seat-Belt Police Buckle Down to Buckle Up Tots : Child safety: Some parents caught in Orange dragnet took the video pep talk. Others, in a hurry, drive off with $271 ticket.

The seat-belt police prowled the busy streets of this community Saturday, looking for parents who deserved a gentle scolding, a video pep talk and--in some cases--a hefty $271 ticket.

“Would you allow your 2-year-old child to walk along the roof ledge of a three-story building?” was the sermon distributed in flyers by five officers, two reserves, eight Police Explorers, and two volunteers who established a seat belt checkpoint long a stretch of Katella Avenue between 10 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.

The Police Department inspection, timed with Mother’s Day weekend, was designed to ascertain that children in cars were protected by either seat belts or car seats.

Motor officer Brent Taylor said the “Buckle Up for Love” checkpoint resulted in 24 citations, the sale of six car-seats, one arrest for drunken driving and the instant deputization of dozens of junior seat belt police advised to monitor their buckles.

“We could have written more tickets,” said Taylor, who helped invent the idea for the checkpoint. “It was such an endless supply of people who didn’t have belts on their kids. But we can’t stay out there forever.”

The goal, according to Taylor, was to educate parents about the hazards of riding unfettered. The force of a car crash or jolting stop at 30 miles per hour has the same impact on a child as tumbling from a three-story building, police noted in flyers passed out to parents.

During yesterday’s inspection, families who lacked child car seats were given the chance to buy one on the spot for $35 from the Orange Police Department, which will also continue to sell them at its headquarters. Police officers also gave quick lessons on installing the car seats properly.

California law requires that every child under the age of 4 or below 40 pounds must be restrained in a car seat meeting federal standards.

“People who didn’t have a car seat got a ticket, “ Taylor said. “We offered them the opportunity to watch a video in a trailer set up nearby. If they sat through the program, they got a certificate to take to court so they wouldn’t have to pay the fine.”

But several parents declined the invitation to view “Don’t Risk Your Child’s Life,” and drove off with the ticket. What many may not have realized--since the fine was not spelled out on the citation--is that the price of seat belt freedom is extremely high.

The fine, said Taylor, is $271.