The city of Los Angeles could soon be using citizens, not police, to enforce traffic laws, according to a new report from the city’s transportation department, which suggests they take on the duties.
Los Angeles hired an outside firm during the backlash to the 2020 murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin, sparking nationwide anti-police protests.
It also comes on the heels of an announcement that the state of California will pay a $24 million civil rights settlement to the family of a man who died at a traffic stop in 2020 after yelling “I can’t breathe” when multiple officers approached him. while trying to take a blood sample, lawyers said Tuesday.
The city government at the time pushed for the idea that traffic duties could be handled by the transportation department instead of the police.
However, the outside company hired by the LADOT to produce the report says the plan cannot go ahead without significant investment in infrastructure that would organically improve the city’s streets.
The city of Los Angeles could soon be using citizens, not police, to enforce traffic laws, according to a new report from the city’s transportation department, which suggests they take on the duties. The city is also trying to reduce traffic violence
The report calls things like narrower streets, bicycle-specific lanes and more clearly marked crosswalks “self-reinforcing infrastructure.”
The report says that as they expand these programs, they should also be less dependent on the police for enforcement.
Criminal justice reform activists say violence at traffic checkpoints is a symptom of overpolicing and has not helped make the city a safer place. the L.A. Times reported.
However, those on the side of transportation safety argue that more action should be taken against reckless driving in low-income neighborhoods.
The LAPD, in the wake of the Floyd protests, began placing restrictions on stopping people for minor traffic violations and using it to search them for possible other crimes.
The report recommends that they extend these restrictions further.
LAPD Chief Michel Moore has even said that “finding alternatives to a police response is something the department is very interested in.”
He added, “If [department of transportation] if we took up that work, I think we would welcome it.’
LAPD Chief Michel Moore has even said that “finding alternatives to a police response is something the department is very interested in.”
The LAPD, in the wake of the Floyd protests, began placing restrictions on stopping people for minor traffic violations and using it to search them for possible other crimes
The city has been trying to reduce the number of road deaths in recent years. The number of road deaths increased by five percent in 2022 and by 29 percent compared to 2020, with 312 deaths.
There was also a 19 percent increase in deaths in collisions with pedestrians and drivers, and an 11 percent increase in deaths in collisions with cyclists and drivers, according to the LAPD.
Cities like Berkeley, Oakland and Philadelphia are cited for using unarmed citizens to limit speeding.
It also proposes ‘resource-based’ compensation models. Think of vouchers to repair broken rear lights and road safety targets that ‘do not maintain’ income inequality.
It only adds to the many problems plaguing the city and the Golden State, in addition to crime and homelessness.
“As a city, we get an F for our traffic, traffic violations and our ability to mitigate serious deaths and injuries,” Damian Kevitt, executive director of Streets Are For Everyone, said in a statement.
“I understand we have a housing crisis, I don’t disagree with us prioritizing that. But us [also] having a public health crisis in traffic.’
Police unions remain less convinced and any changes may have to be brought about through collective bargaining with the Los Angeles Police Protective League.
Mayor Eric Garcetti has been looking for ways to reform the police system since the 2020 Floyd protests
Los Angeles Police Department Chief Michel Moore attends a ‘Unity March’ against racial inequality in the wake of George Floyd’s police custody death in Minneapolis
While they are willing to allow citizens to do low-level enforcement work, they don’t want to part with traffic stops.
The transportation department would need a significant increase in staff to even make such a change as they currently have close to 70 open positions.
The next stop once the report is officially published is for the state legislature to act.
In September 2021, Governor Gavin Newsom signed a law stopping the police from using certain face-down grabs that led to multiple accidental deaths. The bill was designed to expand the state’s ban on chokeholds following Floyd’s murder.