City Keeps Plan Alive to Add 270 Motorcycle Police
A proposal to more than double the number of motorcycle police officers to help crack down on traffic violators was kept alive Monday despite a city report that said it might not be cost-effective.
The City Council’s Public Safety Committee rejected a move to shelve the proposal, calling instead for more study to determine if the city can find a way to add as many as 270 officers to the LAPD’s squad of 257 motorcycle officers.
“Enforcement is what we need. We have seen more and more violations,” said Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski, the panel’s chairwoman. “Bar none, it’s the No. 1 concern that I get when I go out to my constituents in any community: Help us with traffic.”
The proposal by Councilman Hal Bernson of Granada Hills would add 90 officers each year for three years. It came after the city Transportation Department reported that traffic accidents have increased 4% from 1997 to 1999.
The cost of the expansion would be $23.4 million in the third year, while officers might generate only about $8.4 million in revenue from traffic tickets if they write the average of six tickets per day, city administrative analyst Jerry Greenwalt warned the council panel. If the officers write 16 tickets each per day, they would generate $22.2 million annually.
Miscikowski said she wants the new study of the issue to look beyond how much the expansion might cost.
“We have to look at this not just from a monetary standpoint,” she said.
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