The City Limits Are No Limit to Tustin Cop’s Authority

Dear Street Smart:

One evening, I was ticketed by a Tustin police officer for allegedly running a red light at the corner of Walnut and Jamboree in Irvine. I later checked my map and with the city of Irvine and confirmed that the intersection of Jamboree and Walnut is indeed entirely within the Irvine city limits.

My question is this: Can a cop issue a traffic ticket for a violation that did not occur within his city of jurisdiction? I seem to recall that police can only follow a violator to another city when an infraction occurred in the cop’s jurisdiction.

Doug Kerr

Irvine

Your recollection is incorrect, according to Tom Hume, a spokesman for the Irvine Police Department.

While law enforcement agencies do not generally encourage personnel to go outside their jurisdictions, police officers are sworn to uphold the laws of the state and therefore have the legal authority to issue citations anywhere in California.

“Traffic laws are basically state laws,” Hume said. “If an officer sees a violation, it’s up to his discretion as to whether he wants to make a stop or issue a citation. I’ve had officers coming down the freeway from the Fountain Valley shooting range and they see someone doing 90. Will they stop them? Sure! Will they cite them? Certainly!”

The situation is a little more complicated when it involves local laws, such as parking violations or municipal speed limits, which vary from city to city. But even then, Hume said, an officer can issue a citation outside his jurisdiction, although in practice it rarely happens.

“The real crossover,” Hume says, “comes when my officers are in another jurisdiction and have to go to court.” From a management point of view, he said, the distances they must travel to do so “can be a problem.”

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Dear Street Smart:

Why are there California state speed limit signs on a private toll road like the San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor, and why is the California Highway Patrol monitoring this private toll road?

Wayne Larson

Laguna Beach

Because the toll road isn’t private, according to Paul Glaab, a spokesman for the Transportation Corridor Agencies, which built and operates it.

“It’s a public toll road, and as such, the California Highway Patrol has responsibility for monitoring public safety,” Glaab said. “Because it is a public state highway, that includes speeding violations, and those state speed limit signs apply.”

There is one truly private toll road in Orange County: the 91 Express Lanes that run along the center lanes of the Riverside Freeway. The CHP patrols that stretch of highway because the private firm that built and operates it contracted the police agency to do so.

The only difference between the San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor and any other state highway, Glaab said, is in the source of its funding.

“The traditional funding sources for state highways are tax dollars,” he said. “This road is paid for through the private sector” with bonds.

In other words, if the cost of the road isn’t met by its toll revenue, the taxpayers won’t have to foot the bill. Instead, Glaab said, the loss would be borne by investors, the people who bought the $2.1 billion worth of bonds to build the road.

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Dear Street Smart:

The Foothill Transportation Corridor and the San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor have no call boxes. Are there plans for call boxes to be installed?

Jeff Jewell

Foothill Ranch

You bet. Sometime after the first of the year, Caltrans plans to begin installing the boxes at half-mile intervals along the two roads, Glaab said. The work is expected to be finished in March.

Street Smart appears Mondays in The Times Orange County Edition. Readers are invited to submit comments and questions about traffic, commuting and what makes it difficult to get around in Orange County. Include simple sketches if helpful. Letters may be published in upcoming columns. Please write to David Haldane, c/o Street Smart, The Times Orange County Edition, P.O. Box 2008, Costa Mesa, CA 92626, send faxes to (714) 966-7711 or e-mail him at David.Haldane@latimes.com. Include your full name, address and day and evening phone numbers. Letters may be edited, and no anonymous letters will be accepted.