HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC AG PKT 2009-02-09 #AAGENDA STAFF REPORT
DATE: February 9, 2009
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council
THRU: David Carmany, City Manager
FROM: Jeff Kirkpatrick, Chief of Police
SUBJECT: TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT AND FATALITIES IN
SEAL BEACH 2003-2008
SUMMARY OF REQUEST:
This report will summarize the police department's efforts at traffic speed
enforcement and injury reduction related to traffic accidents. particulary Lampson
Avenue.
Staff requests Council receive and file this report.
BACKGROUND:
Lampson Avenue is an arterial feeder to the College Park East neighborhoods. It
was engineered in its day without provisions for safe traffic enforcement today -
meaning there are very few places for an officer to perform stationary
enforcement without undue risk to his or her own safety or that does not
exacerbate the motoring public's safety. Because of this factor, when the officers
conduct traffic enforcement on Lampson Avenue, it is usually while stopped in a
driveway, hampering access to other motorists using the driveways. Using
moving radar is problematic in that the center medians on Lampson Avenue
make it difficult, or dangerous, depending on traffic levels. Unless community
members are actively monitoring police car passing, the police car's momentary
presence is likely missed by the casual observer.
Additionally, every time there is a call for service in the CPE area, a patrol car
must travel on Lampson Avenue to service the call. Seal Beach officers do not
drive down the avenue purposelessly, merely using it as a means to get from
Point-A to Point-B. Every time they traverse the avenue, regardless the reason,
they are scanning for a great variety of things, including potential traffic violations
to enforce.
Agenda Item l~
TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT IN SEAL BEACH
Their presence is fre uent. During 2008 alone, officers had occasion to be in
District-4, 5,324 times handling calls-for-service and officer self-initiated events.
They invested approximately 2,067 hours in District-4. Traversing Lampson
Avenue was required for a great many of these events. The Chief did not
misinform anyone.
Data tables presented later in this report reflect officer's traffic enforcement
efforts specifically related to three violations on our major arterials: Lampson
Avenue, Seal Beach Boulevard, Westminster Avenue, and Pacific Coast
Highway. These are but three out of 42,227 sections in the Vehicle Code -the
vast majority of which are enforceable. These three listed violations: unsafe
speed, traffic signals, and stop signs are key contributors to accidents.
The records surveyed span back to 2003. The data tables presented will indicate
certain dips in traffic enforcement which correspond chronologically with
commercial and retail development throughout the community along with the
result of organizational downsizing. The police department interprets the
statistical dips as reflective of an expansion of calls-for-service to the retail
developments along with the downsizing, addressed later in this report.
STATISTICAL DATA AND ANALYSIS:
Police records since 2003 indicate eleven (11) deaths attributable to roadway
collisions in town.
FATAL COLLIS IONS IN SEA L BEACH
Total Fatal Total In'ur Total T/C's
2003 1 125 205
2004 3 131 277
2005 1 121 341
2006 1 119 310
2007 3 114 291
2008 2 94 318
11 971 1742
ARTERIAL ROADWAY FATALITIES
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Lam son Ave. 0 2 1 0 0 1
Seal Beach Blvd. 1 1 0 0 0 1
Westminster Ave. 0 0 0 0 0 0
PCH 0 0 0 1 3 0
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TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT IN SEAL BEACH
ARTERIAL ROAD WAY FATALITY DESCRIPTORS
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Lampson 0 2 1 0 0 1
Ave.
Basswood: Chicane: Between
Driver leaves DUI driver SBB &
car in gear and traveling Basswood:
exits it gas 117 mph DUI driver
station. Car left leaves
begins circling roadway roadway
out of control and and strikes
and passenger collided bicyclist.
is thrown from with tree. Crime.
vehicle. Crime.
Accidental.
Candlewood:
Driver runs red
light and
collides with
victim vehicle.
Crime.
Seal Beach 1 1 0 0 0 1
Blvd.
Bolsa: Goldenrain: Goldenrain:
Solo SUV Red light Inattentive
vehicle runner. Crime. driver ran
rollover. red light
Too-high and
Center of collided
gravity. with vehicle
Accidental. exiting LW.
Crime.
Westminster 0 0 0 0 0 0
Ave.
PCH 0 0 0 1 3 0
12 St.: Between Bridge
Auto vs. and Mariner: Racer
Pedestrian. traveling at
Pedestrian excessive speed
at fault. leaves roadway
Accidental. and collides head-
on with oncoming
vehicle. Kills (2),
passenger in
violator vehicle and
driver of oncoming
vehicle. Crime.
Anderson: Auto vs.
Pedestrian.
. Drunken pedestrian
walked out of
restaurant into
traffic. Accidental.
TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT IN SEAL BEACH
During 2008 officers answered 29,242 calls for service throughout the
community. This did not include the 14,767 events they initiated themselves
throughout the year.
Between calls-for-service and other activities, Seal Beach officers work traffic
enforcement on our most important arterial roadways: Lampson Avenue, Seal
Beach Boulevard, Westminster Avenue, and Pacific Coast Highway. The police
department lacks sufficient staffing to post officers simultaneously in each of the
City's political districts and cannot devote a singular effort to any one area or
roadway for other than short periods of time.
The City has equipped each marked police car and motorcycle with the most
modern moving radar available. It measures violator speeds in front of and
approaching from the rear of the police vehicles, and while the police vehicles
are moving. Additionally, the motorcycles are equipped with Lidar, a laser based
speed enforcement tool. This technology is used as a `force multiplier.' What
this means is that instead of having the cost of additional officers, the department
uses technology to broaden the capabilities of the officers it is allowed to have.
The officers work a variety of locations, including, stop-signs and traffic signals at
intersections, where anecdotal as well as hard data indicate primary collision
factors contributing to a high number of accidents. They also work other areas,
such as Westminster Avenue through the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Center
where excessive speed is prevalent. It is not uncommon to see officers aiming
their radar/Lidar guns at oncoming motorists, or traveling the roadways with their
moving radar working in the background to alert them to speeders approaching
them. When they are parked, they do so to create a visual presence within an
enforcement strategy.
Certain constituents complain that the permanent radar traffic signs with flashing
yellow lights and speed read-outs on Lampson Avenue and Seal Beach
Boulevard fail to `calm' traffic as they were designed to do and are instead
laughable. However, traffic accident data for those roadways would argue that
perception. Total traffic accidents are low near each location.
The department's mobile radar trailer is stationed as a driver awareness tool
where safe to do so and on a regular schedule (schedule attached). It is not an
enforcement tool, per se. Some of our arterial roadway designs do not lend
themselves to safe deployment of the trailer -the trailer becomes more of a
hazard than the motorists. Sections of Lampson Avenue and Seal Beach
Boulevard fall into this category. Safe deployment on it and other roadways
means closing the curb lane to traffic, exacerbating existing conditions.
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The City has employed additional traffic calming efforts in the community
beginning in 2005. They include the construction of center medians on Seal
Beach Boulevard from Beverly Manor Road to Bolsa Avenue, and traffic `bulb-
TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT IN SEAL BEACH
outs' on Ocean Avenue. Speeding and traffic collisions are down in both of these
areas. So too are radar citations, because the same calming medians also make
it difficult to turn around and pursue violators without causing undue risk to other
motorists.
A decade ago the police department had a total allocation of forty-eight (48)
police officers with six-officers dedicated entirely to traffic enforcement. The
traffic unit had four motorcycle officers and two officers in police cars. Their sole
responsibility was to target traffic enforcement, issue citations, and document
traffic accident scenes.
Today, the police department has a total allocation of thirty (30) police officers
after a 37.5% budget induced reduction in force. Twenty-three (23) officers are
now assigned to patrol the community, divided into four (4) officers per shift.
They must cover all areas of the city, all commercial and residential areas, all
roadways, and all beaches. They must also answer all calls for service,
document the services rendered, and generate their own activity. The
department no longer has adequate staffing for a dedicated traffic enforcement
unit. However, part of their duties includes traffic enforcement -when other
duties allow the time to do so.
Additionally, for each of the past four (4) years, the police department's Patro{
Bureau has run 19-36% short due to on-duty injuries, long-term disability related
injuries, and retirements. For a variety of legal and budgetary reasons, the
department was delayed in recruiting, hiring, and training officers pending the
final disposition of the injured employees. Healthy officers have been and
continue to be pressed into service to backfill the injury openings.
The two motorcycle officers we still maintain (and alluded to earlier in this report)
primarily work patrol and secondarily traffic enforcement. Their motorcycles are
a holdover from the prior era and now provide an alternative to the gridlock the
city experiences on its major arterials, allowing us to help maintain today's less
than 3'h minute response time on `hot' calls for faster `first-officer-on-the-scene'
responses.
TRA FFIC CITATIONS ISSUED
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Sto si ns, si nals N/A 503 529 862 434 314
Unsafe s eed N/A 2434 1187 1459 982 1323
All other hazards N/A 44 35 53 53 36
All violations N/A 3662 2354 3966 2525 3362
ARTERIAL ROADWAY CITATIONS ISSUED
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Lam son Ave. NA 229 169 151 131 135
Seal Beach Blvd. NA 909 725 884 659 879
Westminster Ave. NA 577 353 681 475 646
PCH NA 1520 916 1729 1130 1596
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TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT IN SEAL BEACH
The previous police administration did not retain citation records prior to 2004.
The department's Records Bureau and the WestComm Dispatch Center share a
common automated records system. It is dependent upon the use of uniform
data entry coding. However, due to the number of individuals involved in the
data inputting, discrepancies occasionally occur. The following statistics are as
accurate as the system allows.
2004 ARTERIAL ROADWAY SP EED & STO P/SIGNA L CITATIONS ISSUED
Collisions
Citations Stop
Sign
Seed Other
Hazardous All
Others
Lam son Ave. 20 144 16 101 0 27
Seal Beach Blvd. 87 563 135 145 12 271
Westminster Ave. 2 245 0 226 1 18
PCH 41 658 156 318 5 179
2005 ARTERIAL ROADWAY SP EED & STO P/SIGNA L CITATIONS ISSUED
Collisions
Citations Stop
Sign
Seed Other
Hazardous All
Others
Lam son Ave. 26 76 31 51 1 23
Seal Beach Blvd. 106 506 83 116 13 294
Westminster Ave. 2 136 1 126 0 9
PCH 36 473 237 132 3 294
2006 ARTERIAL ROADWAY SP EED & STO P/SIGNA L CITATIONS ISSUED
Collisions
Citations Stop
Sign
Seed Other
Hazardous All
Others
Lam son Ave. 24 130 59 35 2 34
Seal Beach Blvd. 84 706 131 162 17 396
Westminster Ave. 3 301 2 262 1 36
PCH 37 1041 435 201 7 398
2007 ARTERIAL ROADWAY SP EED & STO P/SIGNA L CITATIONS ISSUED
Collisions
Citations Stop
Sin
Seed Other
Hazardous All
Others
Lam son Ave. 16 39 9 29 1 0
Seal Beach Blvd. 81 165 66 70 30 0
Westminster Ave. 3 254 0 254 0 0
PCH 48 230 142 83 5 0
2008 ARTERIAL ROADWAY SP EED & STOP/SIGNAL CITAT IONS ISSUED
Collisions
Citations Stop
Sign
Seed Other
Hazardous All
Others
Lam son Ave. 26 66 17 46 1 2
Seal Beach Blvd. 101 236 55 87 16 78
Westminster Ave. 3 189 1 181 1 6
PCH 39 947 129 726 7 85
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TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT IN SEAL BEACH
Law enforcement is as much art as science and the two frequently merge. The
police department's mission is to protect our community, and more often than not
- people from themselves. However, despite our best efforts to the contrary, we
will never be everywhere at once.
The 2008 Lampson Avenue fatality of a bicyclist occurred at the hands of a drunk
driver who has been arrested and awaits trial, charged with murder. The 2008
Seal Beach Boulevard fatality in front of Leisure World occurred at the hands of a
driver distracted by other equipment within his vehicle. This case is still under
investigation. The results of both these driver's actions is horribly tragic and our
deepest condolences go to the families of all involved.
Despite the issues presented in this report, the police department has
experienced increased broad-spectrum productivity, including a stabilized, low
rate of fatalities, a steady decline in roadway collisions, and a steady decline in
traffic related injuries.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
None.
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends the City Council receive and file this report, or within its
discretion provide Staff with further direction.
SUBMITTED BY: NOTED AND APPROVED:
~~
J Kir patrick, Chief of Poli David Carma ,City Manager
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