By Michal Golan Santa Monica
Once again a homeless person got a $70 ticket for jaywalking. He safely crossed a quiet and empty street at 6:30 a.m. on Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles. He carried a big blanket in his arms when two police officers appeared as if from nowhere to issue him the ticket.
During the last nine months, I personally encountered 21 people who received jaywalking tickets in Los Angeles and Santa Monica. None have cars. All are poor and several are homeless. In comparison, during the last nine months, my car was almost hit by a reckless SUV driver four times. It was only my alertness that prevented a deadly collision yet the police were never there to issue a ticket to the irresponsible driver who most likely continues to endanger others. According to insurance companies’ recent statistics, SUV’s are the No. 1 growing cause of accidents in LA County.
Indeed it is much easier to meet quotas by targeting the poor. They don’t drive, you don’t have to chase them and they don’t have the funds to hire a lawyer and defend themselves in court.
But then one wonders, what is the real purpose of enforcing the law? If it is to make us safer, surely targeting people who are safely crossing a street is not an effective use of police resources. On the other hand, if ticketing is meant to raise revenue, this would hardly be a viable tool since most of these individuals can not afford the ticket. So I am left with the notion that police are either (1) not exercising common sense when enforcing the law, and/or (2) systematically and intentionally harassing the poor sending the message that poverty is a crime.
The individual recently stopped at 6:30 a.m. has been trying to get a job for a while. He finally secured a space in a vocational training program which is about to begin. Since he can not afford $70, he will have to show up in court. As in most cases the judge sides with the police; he will be likely found guilty and if he accepts community service, he will only find out that he has to pay $60 to the community-based organization for the processing fee. Since he won’t be able to do so, he will have to go to jail.
Meanwhile, chances are he may lose the space he worked so hard to secure in the above mentioned training program and may stay trapped by a system which crimi-nalizes him simply for being poor. Unless... this stops right here. Enough is enough.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 21, 2003. Read the original PDF.