Santa Ana Police Arm Citizens to Combat Speeding

Two people walking across the street in Santa Ana were struck and killed by passing cars earlier this month, adding to the city’s grim distinction of having the highest pedestrian fatality rate in Southern California.

But as part of an ambitious crackdown on such accidents, the Police Department is enlisting the help of residents and arming them with a portable radar gun designed to catch speeders in the act.

Over the last few months, retirees, community activists and even elementary school students have stood on streets across the city, carefully pointing the gray cylindrical device at passing cars.

Traffic investigators hope the sight of the radar gun will cause drivers to let up on the gas pedal. In some cases, residents also write down the license plate numbers of speeders, who are then issued warning letters from the Police Department.

“If you get the message to 10 or 15 of the speeders, if it makes them wake up and slow down, then the program would be beneficial to the community,” said Police Sgt. Dave Smith, a member of the city’s traffic bureau.

“We just flat don’t have the resources to do speed enforcement on every street,” he added. “Citizens thought it would be good if they could supplement our enforcement. We can’t be everywhere.”

The radar gun program is part of a larger effort begun in March that includes extra jaywalking patrols, adding crosswalks and traffic signals, and a new public education campaign targeting the city’s large Latino population.

Since the crackdown began, police have issued 1,490 jaywalking citations and 250 tickets to motorists who failed to yield to pedestrians.

It comes as a UC Irvine study found Santa Ana to have the highest pedestrian death rate in Southern California and the third-highest in the state. In 1998, Santa Ana had five pedestrian fatalities, police said.

So far this year, the city has recorded four such deaths--including a 76-year-old woman who was struck by a van while crossing Bristol Street on April 19. On Sunday night, a 49-year-old Buena Park man was killed by a hit-and-run driver while crossing 17th Street.

Police said the large number of accidents has several causes. One is the pedestrians themselves, who regularly jaywalk across major boulevards, failing to use marked crosswalks. Still, authorities said, motorists often exceed the speed limit on Santa Ana’s narrow, tree-lined streets. Drivers need to be extra cautious in the city’s older districts, where many residents walk to do most errands, they said.

So far, officials have trained nine people in using the radar gun, and the results have been mixed. One resident recorded the license numbers of five speeders near his home on North Heliotrope Drive. But another resident failed to clock any speeders near his house despite spending 32 hours over a one-month period on the curb.

Pio Pico Elementary School teacher Emily Wolk also received the training and used the radar gun, as part of a classroom project with her students.

Wolk said she got the idea after seeing several pedestrian accidents in front of the school. To prove her belief that speed is a factor in the accidents, she and a group of 10 student researchers used the radar gun last week to track speeds along Flower Street.

The project found that motorists regularly travel at 10 to 15 mph over the 25-mph speed limit and that speeding seems most prevalent around noontime.

“We want to slow the cars down,” Wolk said. “When you stand out there with that radar gun, [motorists] don’t know who you are, but they know that you’re watching them. When you stand there pointing the gun, all of the sudden you can watch the rate, the speed, go down, down. There’s kind of a deterrent there.”

Pedestrians crossing Flower Street expressed support for the program--and hope something can be done to stem the deaths and injuries.

Samuel Caballero, 14, who walks several miles every day from his home to Willard Intermediate School, said he is always wary of fast-moving cars when he crosses intersections.

“They pass by like they’re flying,” he said. “A lot of drivers will stop speeding if they know people have radar guns and could report them.”

Pedestrian Gilberto Morones, 22, said he has had several close calls in the past. Typically walking as many as six miles per day, he said he worries most for the people who are most vulnerable.

“It’s a good idea, especially because it could prevent accidents involving children,” he said.

Indeed, the UC Irvine study found that children ages 1 to 14 accounted for 46% of pedestrian injuries in the city.

But not everyone believes the program is necessary.

Kyle Minnus, a disabled resident who crosses busy intersections daily in his wheelchair, said he does not believe motorists drive too fast and questioned how accurate the results of the program would be.

“I don’t see cars speeding,” he said. “Besides, radar guns aren’t reliable anyway.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Have Gun, Will Measure

In an attempt to stem the city’s pedestrian-involved accidents, Santa Ana police have begun using volunteers to stand on streets with a radar gun and check the speeds of passing vehicles.

How the Gun Works

1. Radio wave transmitted at a known frequency that travels at a constant speed (speed of light)

2. Frequency is reflected back from moving vehicle

3. Gun calculates difference between transmitted and reflected frequency

4. Difference equals speed of vehicle

Source: Santa Ana Police Department