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Crime & Safety

Valley Traffic Division's Days Are Packed

To help reduce accidents, officers do a lot more than patrol the streets, and their efforts seem to be paying off. With the division's resources stretched thin these days, a volunteer group helps out by fundraising.

There isn’t a moment in the day when the Valley Traffic Division of the Los Angeles Police Department rests.

The 230-member unit is on the streets, responding to traffic collisions, writing citations for drivers breaking the law, conducting sobriety checkpoints and pedestrian decoy stings, investigating traffic-related crimes or showing a parent how to safely secure a child seat in a car. When not on patrol, officers educate drivers—young and experienced alike—at school and community forums.

“Our goal is to get transportation and drivers and pedestrians to their destination safely,” said police Capt. Ivan Minsal, who began as the unit commander earlier this year.

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Valley traffic officers patrol 2,823 miles of streets to help protect the 1.6 million people living in the San Fernando Valley within 230 square miles.

In keeping the streets safe, they work with the city’s Department of Transportation, Parking Enforcement, the California Highway Patrol, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the county Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Metrolink.

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“Everyone must obey the rules of the road. Stop at a stop sign, obey traffic lights, walk off curbs when it’s safe,” Minsal said. “And when [something] doesn’t work, we get the call.”

Detectives are trained in the special skills needed to respond to a complicated traffic collision. Those skills include math, for instance, which is needed to calculate speed and distance in an accident. Traffic detectives also learn about the court process and criminal charges involved in DUIs and in cases of  hit-and-run and reckless driving. They testify in court and work with the scientific investigation division on blood alcohol levels and fingerprints.

Traffic-related accidents drop in Valley

The top four primary collision factors are speed, left turns or U-turns, DUIs and driving through a red light, according to police records.

In 2010, there were 61 fatal collisions compared to 59 in 2009; 67 in 2008; 62 in 2007; 85 in 2006 and 71 in 2005. So far this year, there have been 10 fatal collisions reported. Four included pedestrians, according to Minsal.

LAPD statistics also show accidents were down in 2010, with  a total of 14,525, compared to 15,713 in 2009.

Experts attribute the decline in accidents during 2010 to a number of factors, including educating the public about driving safely. They said new laws regarding hands-free cellphone usage and the ban on driving and texting are also contributing factors.

Of the top 20 streets with the highest rate of collisions during the past two years, Vanowen Street posted 50 serious accidents, the most in the Valley, followed by Victory and Roscoe boulevards with 48 and 47, respectively. Vineland Avenue had seven, the fewest reported.

In 2010, 16 fatalities occurred on Sherman Way, followed by Victory Boulevard with 14, and Roscoe Boulevard with 10. Fallbrook Avenue, where three fatalities happened, had the fewest.

“It takes due diligence on the part of drivers, and their undivided attention, to go from point A to point B. They can’t even be distracted for a moment, because in that small amount of time, it can be disastrous,” Minsal said.

Attacking the root cause of accidents

The Valley Traffic Division's strategy for reducing the main causes of traffic accidents is three pronged: engineering the streets for safer maneuverability, educating the community about new laws and safe driving, and enforcement of the laws.

Another function of the unit is to act as a liaison to the area's public and private schools. Officers give presentations on topics such as pedestrian and bicycle safety at elementary schools; “sober graduation” at high schools; alcohol awareness at colleges; pedestrian safety at senior citizens centers; and other traffic safety programs to various groups.

The Valley Traffic Division faces challenges with the current city budget crisis and the proposed $350-million deficit next year.

The Police Department is trying to stretch its resources, make its equipment last longer and use supplies sparingly and efficiently.

It helps to have a secret weapon.

The division’s ally is the Valley Traffic Advisory Council, a volunteer group of individuals, business owners and community leaders that serves as a fundraising arm.

The money the council raises, which varies in amount from year to year—one year it reached $40,000—is used for traffic safety and education.

The money also has been used to buy cameras, computers and equipment the city doesn’t provide, said council board member Rob Ritter.

The group’s fundraising efforts are expanding to draw in more donors and sponsors. With a shaky economy nationwide, donations are dropping. Corporations and individuals are cutting back on their giving, Ritter said.

“We have our golf tournament and child and traffic safety fair,” he said. “We support the Baker-to-Vegas [relay run] team [and] training for officers to learn how to teach parents to put a child’s car seat in properly, and we support the softball team, a real morale booster.

"It’s the little things that the city doesn’t support [financially], and that’s where we come in…to keep [officers] happy in doing the great job they are already doing,” Ritter said.

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