Police on the lookout for jaywalkers
Santa Monica Police are paying special attention to jaywalkers this holiday season.
Citizens are urged to be careful when crossing the street. If they aren’t, they could be slapped with a jaywalking ticket.
“We enforce a lot of jaywalking tickets, especially in the downtown area where there are a lot of cars,” said Santa Monica Police Lt. Frank Fabrega. “We want people to have a good holiday, not in the hospital.”
The Santa Monica Police has beefed up jaywalking enforcement during the holidays as part of the city’s “Walkable Westside” pedestrian safety program.
On Saturday, many shoppers on the Third Street Promenade may have noticed larger-than-life signs that give people “tips” on how to get around town whether it’s in the car or on foot. The “Moving Violators,” wearing the orange signs were on hand Saturday serving as crossing guards at all of the intersections along the Promenade.
If you are stopped for jaywalking, you had better sign the citation or you’ll end up in jail. That’s what happened to Doris Johnson last week when she refused to sign the ticket for illegally crossing Santa Monica Boulevard along the Promenade. If a person refuses to give information about themselves to officers, they have no choice but to place them into custody for a vehicle code violation, Fabrega said. He added that often times people who are hauled off to jail eventually sign the ticket when faced with incarceration, which is what Johnson did last week.
“A citation is only a notice to appear, it’s not an admission of guilt,” he said. “By signing the ticket, it does not mean you are guilty.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 10, 2001. Read the original PDF.