In an attempt to deal with its top ranking in California for pedestrian versus vehicle accidents, the Santa Monica Police Department has set up sting operations throughout Santa Monica to catch motorists who fail to stop at crosswalks.
Last week, during several operations, undercover police officers crossed intersections while officers watched from side streets. The sting operations yielded dozens of motorists who failed to stop for pedestrians. Citations were issued to the drivers who failed to stop.
On November 8th, a sting operation was conducted at Wilshire and 9th St. 16 citations were issued to drivers.
On November 15th, a sting operation was conducted at the intersection of Main St. and Hollister, in front of Urth Caffe. 19 citations were issued in just over an hour.
On November 16th, a sting operation was conducted at the intersection of Wilshire and 18th St. 26 citations were issued in 90 minutes.
The top 10 Santa Monica intersections for most traffic citations issued this year (excluding the targeted sting operations) are:
Montana/15th – 217 citations
Main/Pier – 45 citations
Main/Hollister – 43 citations
Post Office on 1200 block of 5th St. – 29 citations
Pico/22nd – 27 citations
Wilshire/9th – 25 citations
Main/Bay – 23 citations
Main/Kinney – 21 citations
San Vincente/4th – 17 citations
Wilshire/Franklin and Ocean/Idaho – tied with 15 citations