Police to Step Up Traffic Ticketing

A steady rise in San Fernando Valley traffic deaths has prompted the Los Angeles Police Department’s Valley traffic division to order patrol officers to issue more traffic citations, a spokesman said Monday.

What started as a mention in morning roll calls two months ago has turned into a new system, now in its third week in the West Valley, in which a motorcycle officer rides with patrol officers to teach them traffic law enforcement, said Ron Bergmann, deputy chief commanding officer of operations.

Officers will be encouraged to target certain streets, such as Roscoe Boulevard and Sherman Way, and intersections where fatalities have occurred, he said.

Traffic Sgt. Bill Justice said motorcycle officers write 12 to 16 tickets a day, but vehicle patrol officers write only four to five a month because of their responsibility for radio calls and arrests.

“Some [vehicle patrol officers] feel writing traffic tickets is not important,” Bergmann said. “But that’s one of the basic things we do as police officers.”

Studies have shown that tickets, not warnings, deter traffic violations, Bergmann said.

There have been 21 fatal traffic accidents in the valley this year, compared with 18 in the same period last year, Bergmann said. Most of the deaths resulted from drunk driving, speeding, running red lights and right of way violations such as unsafe left turns.

Valley Traffic Sgt. Roger Archambault said some pedestrians were struck as they crossed streets in mid-block or jaywalked.

Authorities said two pedestrians were killed in separate Valley traffic accidents over the weekend. Jonathan Nakashima, 22, of Quartz Hill was believed to have been walking along an unlighted road, and Nasrollah Rezaie, 77, of Valley Village was waiting on a sidewalk for a bus when he was struck, police said.