Name: Do We Need Police To Curb LA's Traffic Violence? Some Cities Are Saving Lives Without Them
Brand: laist.com
SKU: laist-com-158
Availability: OnlineOnly

critic

Do We Need Police To Curb LA's Traffic Violence? Some Cities Are Saving Lives Without Them

preview

By Ryan Fonseca&nbsp;&nbsp;TWITTER&nbsp;&nbsp;FACEBOOKAre the police effective?Are the streets safer?Do alternative methods work?What's the current thinking in L.A.?RACISM AND TRAFFIC STOPSSign up for our daily newsletter to receive the latest on local politics, food, culture and the absurdities of L.A. life.HOW DO POLICE FEEL ABOUT REDUCING THOSE ROLES?"When Mike Bonin was running for re-election he said we didn't have enough police officers in his District, he pleaded for more; when he wanted to improve traffic safety, he got rid of vehicle lanes until a recall was organized against him, now he's headline-grabbing again," Lally wrote."It's shameful and will end up putting public safety at risk," he continued. "Councilmember Bonin might want to clue in his constituents before he implements red-light and speed cameras that will auto-send tickets to Angelinos and also have unarmed parking enforcement officers crackdown on reckless and drunk drivers on our roads.""If we free LAPD from the need to take collision reports, issue speeding tickets and write citations for a broken tail light, they can focus on real emergencies," he said. "My constituents want a system of public safety that makes Black people and other people of color feel as safe as it does white people. The history of racial bias in traffic stops demands we do things differently and move traffic enforcement from LAPD to other agencies."I reached out to the LAPD for comment on the study into rethinking police roles in traffic safety. A department spokesperson provided the following statement:"We are still working with the city council to explore non-law enforcement options in traffic enforcement while still ensuring public safety. At this point is too early to comment on any specifics."But that assertion -- which Cronin made three times in our interview -- is not invariably true, according to Captain Jonathan Pinto of the LAPD's ."It's situational based on the officer," Pinto told me, using pulling over a motorist for texting while driving as an example."The officer's going to look through the window and see that the driver is distracted" before making that stop, he said.Pinto said that in some cases, an officer may well not have seen the driver or passengers, say if the vehicle whizzed by at a dangerous speed. But officers are required to fill out a report for each traffic stop, Pinto explained, which includes a question asking if the officer knew the ethnicity of persons inside a vehicle prior to stopping it. And sometimes that answer is yes.A Stanford-led study analyzed some 95 million police traffic stop records and found that Black drivers "are , when 'a veil of darkness' masks their race."SO WHAT WILL LAST?WHAT CAN BE DONE ABOUT SPEEDING?HAVE ANY CITIES MADE STREETS SAFER WITHOUT POLICE?138th St and 31st Road joins our countdown, featuring traffic calming, new concrete pedestrian island &amp; enhanced crossings.-- NYC DOT (@NYC_DOT)WHAT ABOUT EQUITY ISSUES IN TICKETING? UNPAID TRAFFIC TICKETS CAN HAVE A CASCADING EFFECT.SO WHY ISN'T L.A. LOWERING SPEED LIMITS OR INSTALLING CAMERAS?THAT DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE. HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?WOULD CAR-CENTRIC L.A. EVEN EMBRACE SPEED CAMERAS?LA'S STREET SAFETY SHORTFALLSWHEN COULD WE SEE A DIFFERENT APPROACH ON LOCAL STREETS?READ MORE ABOUT L.A. TRAFFIC SAFETY:Advertisement

By Ryan Fonseca&nbsp;&nbsp;TWITTER&nbsp;&nbsp;FACEBOOKAre the police effective?Are the streets safer?Do alternative methods work?What's the current thinking in L.A.?RACISM AND TRAFFIC STOPSSign up for our daily newsletter to receive the latest on local politics, food, culture and the absurdities of L.A. life.HOW DO POLICE FEEL ABOUT REDUCING THOSE ROLES?"When Mike Bonin was running for re-election he said we didn't have enough police officers in his District, he pleaded for more; when he wanted to improve traffic safety, he got rid of vehicle lanes until a recall was organized against him,...

Do We Need Police To Curb LA's Traffic Violence? Some Cities Are Saving Lives Without Them

No article scores yet.

CRITIC REVIEWS

PUBLIC REVIEWS