Valley Traffic Cops Hop to It for Pedestrians

Police officers trying to keep the city’s crosswalks safe for pedestrians say their job is an uphill battle. The situation has become so bad that police officers in the San Fernando Valley resorted to wearing bunny costumes Wednesday in a holiday-inspired attempt to catch wayward drivers and jaywalkers.

Withstanding the good-natured ribbing of their colleagues, Officers Kurt Garcia and Connie Silber donned matching pink Easter Bunny suits complete with big, floppy ears and patrolled--on foot--one of the most dangerous intersections in Los Angeles: Woodman Avenue and Parthenia Street in Panorama City.

“I have no problem doing this,” said the 320-pound Garcia as he patrolled the intersection in costume. “If drivers can’t see me as a big, large bunny crossing the street, what can they see?”

Not much, apparently.

“We still had two really close calls with drivers slamming on the brakes at the last second,” Garcia said after his shift ended about noon.

So far this year, traffic police have issued 1,372 citations to motorists and jaywalkers in the Valley, where 40 pedestrians were fatally struck by cars last year, representing a 19% increase over 2000. But despite their efforts, infractions have risen rather than declined.

Garcia got the idea to patrol in costume at Christmastime after buying a Santa Claus suit for a family party. As Easter approached, his boss, Sgt. Dale Turner of the Valley Traffic Division, assigned Garcia to wear a bunny suit on traffic duty.

“We’ve had a problem at that location for a number of years,” Turner said. “Last year, one of the accidents there was a fatal.”

Garcia, Silber and a backup team on motorcycles issued 31 warnings and 12 citations at the intersection Wednesday during a 4 1/2-hour period, Turner said. The number was smaller than usual because more drivers and pedestrians spotted the officers in their bunny suits, Turner said.

When Garcia’s shift ended, he met Turner in the parking lot rather than walk into the station where his colleagues could see him. “He avoided the building like the plague,” Turner said.