Despite Tragedy And Chaos, LA Pushes Forward: City Officials Still Eye Removing Police From Traffic Enforcement

This progressive initiative, born in the wake of nationwide protests against police brutality and racial inequality following the death of George Floyd in 2020, has been advancing in a slow and inconsistent manner.

The proposal suggests that traffic enforcement could be handled by unarmed civilian workers rather than the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). This idea was supported by a study commissioned by the city in 2023. However, the study concluded that this approach would only be viable with significant infrastructure enhancements to improve safety on the city's notoriously dangerous streets.

According to the Los Angeles Times, these improvements would necessitate the implementation of "self-enforcing infrastructure," such as additional speed bumps, roundabouts, and other street modifications designed to curb speeding and reckless driving.

In 2024, the number of deaths resulting from traffic collisions fell to 302 from 345 the previous year. However, this figure still significantly exceeded the city's 268 homicides, as reported by LAPD statistics. The city also witnessed 170 pedestrian deaths caused by vehicles, a grim statistic in a city where few crosswalks are equipped with traffic signals and motorists are expected to halt based on street markings or small curbside signs.

The city of Los Angeles is also grappling with issues of street racing and "flash mobs" where cars perform high-speed "burnouts" in close proximity to onlookers. These typically early morning gatherings are often followed by looting of local businesses.

Residents of Los Angeles have voiced concerns about the scarcity of traffic enforcement in many parts of the city, particularly in areas lacking signal-controlled left-turn lanes, which frequently leads to red-light running. Complaints have also been raised in affluent neighborhoods like Brentwood and Malibu about groups of high-performance motorcycles and luxury sports cars speeding along iconic routes like Sunset Boulevard and Pacific Coast Highway.

Last summer, the City Council requested reports from various city departments to determine how to implement the no-police enforcement strategy, setting a three-month deadline for the task. However, more than a year later, these feasibility studies have yet to be produced.

Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson, an early supporter of the proposal, expressed his frustration with the delay. "Generally speaking, when you try to do a big reform like this, at least some portion of the people who want to do the work are very motivated to change the status quo and I don't think we have that here," he stated.

As reported by the Los Angeles Times, the LAPD's response to the proposal has been mixed. While some high-ranking officials have indicated a willingness to relinquish certain traffic duties, others within the department have dismissed similar proposals as unrealistic, arguing for a tougher stance on reckless driving at a time when traffic fatalities have surpassed homicides citywide.

Behind closed doors, some police supervisors and officers have voiced their concerns about what they perceive as left-leaning politicians and activists depriving them of an effective tool for removing guns and drugs from the streets. They argue that traffic stops, when conducted properly and constitutionally, also serve as a deterrent for erratic driving.

As city officials await the completion of department reports, Council President Harris-Dawson maintains that there is still a role for armed police in traffic enforcement. "I dont even think we need to be pulling people over at all for vehicle violations, especially for those that dont pose any public safety risks," he said, before adding, "If somebodys going 90 miles an hour down Crenshaw Boulevard, that person does need to be stopped immediately and they do need to be stopped by somebody with a gun."