Chippies Try to Polish Image With Free Road Checks, Sans Tickets

You’re late. But, miraculously, the freeway is clear.

You shift to the fast lane and punch the gas. The speedometer needle inches toward 75. You check the rear-view mirror, praying they won’t see you.

Then, out of nowhere, you hear them. The sirens. Then the flashing red lights. The Chippies are on your tail.

For Angelenos in a hurry, the California Highway Patrol is often something to be avoided. But officers are trying to change that image.

On Saturday, a handful offered passing motorists in Altadena the chance to have their cars checked for violations that would normally result in a ticket.

“I think most people have the tendency when they see cops to go the other way,” said Lt. Cliff Williams, as he waited for the first motorists to pull up. “But this would be the time to come to us. . . . We promise not to give tickets.”

For officers working in the Altadena YMCA parking lot, the first ticketless inspection is the CHP’s answer to community-based policing: a way to make the streets a little safer, improve the CHP’s image and give drivers something they want--a free car inspection.

It is also a chance for police to make intelligible some of the 43,000 vehicular regulations with which California drivers must comply, said Officer Al Amore.

But the first question was: Would anyone come?

Just before 10 a.m., officers arrived with a patrol car crammed with incentives. There were legal pamphlets to educate drivers. And, for children, there were bags of cuddly chipmunks in CHP uniform, minus the scary gun and nightstick.

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Early traffic, however, was slow.

At 10:30, the first driver pulled into the lot. Tom Lathouwers, an Altadena electrician, climbed out of his white ’95 Ford Ranger and watched as inspectors went to work.

Brake fluid. Check.

Windshield wipers. Check.

Seven minutes later, the only problem was a rear tire that needed more air. Lathouwers thanked the officers and headed back to his car.

“I’ve got a 2-year-old,” he shouted back, “and you know what he says when he sees you guys? ‘Ticket! Ticket!’ ”

As Lathouwers pulled away, Officer Bob Laird walked into the road and flagged down motorists, offering them a free inspection. Traffic began trickling into the lot.

But would drivers, once in the lot, appreciate the CHP’s community efforts?

A few remained cautious.

“Maybe there’s an election pretty soon,” said Hassan Ghamlouch, 32, in front of his new Ford Explorer, as his 3-year-old son Zachary played with the baseball cap the officers had just given him.

Most, however, were more enthusiastic.

“I think it’s good for the community,” said Sheldon Wright, 37, who brought his bright red ’65 Volkswagen Beetle to be checked. “It’s good PR and it gives a feeling of investment in the community when you see the police out here doing good.”

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Shahrzad Arzani arrived as a critic but drove away with a more favorable view of the CHP.

“I watch for them on the freeway all the time,” she said at first. “I definitely don’t want to get a ticket.”

Arzani complained that she has accumulated $84 in fines during the last month for not wearing a seat belt and failing to display her registration sticker. The sticker had been stolen, she said.

Suddenly, officers were crouching in front of her rear license plate, slicing through Arzani’s replacement sticker with a pocketknife to foil future thieves.

Officers told her to bring back the registration citation and they would see what they could do. By the time Arzani’s family got back into the car, their impressions of the CHP had changed.

“The CHP are usually nice and polite and professional,” said Arzani’s husband, Farid, just before the family drove away.

And the final question: Would any violators escape citation?

Well, by 12:30 p.m., just two.

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Jim Warren, 41, and his son discovered that their Chevrolet truck could have been cited for a bald rear tire and no proof of insurance.

And a Times reporter was allowed to leave without a citation, despite having failed to produce proof of registration for his Geo Prizm.

“Isn’t this a better environment than the red lights behind you?” Amore asked.