Grant-funded operations focus on traffic safety

Two grant-funded traffic safety operations conducted in Glendale last weekend yielded 86 citations, targeting speeding motorcyclists, jaywalkers and bicyclists, police said.

Last Saturday, six officers issued 60 citations and gave 18 warnings during a six-hour operation.

Police cited 43 pedestrians for jaywalking or not obeying traffic walking signals, while 17 drivers were cited for not yielding to pedestrians who had the right-of-way.

During a motorcycle-safety operation early the following morning, traffic officers cited 20 motorcyclists and six drivers on the Foothill (210) and Glendale (2) freeways for violations ranging from speeding and modifying their exhaust system to not having a license plate, said Glendale Police Sgt. Harout Bouzikian.

Police chose to send the extra traffic patrol on a Sunday morning along the route to Angeles Crest Highway because motorcyclists travel through Glendale to congregate there weekly to race through the windy roads, Bouzikian said.

“We don’t usually do enforcement on the freeway. The only time we actually do is when we have motor enforcement,” he said.

One motorcyclist was seen traveling 140 mph on the 210 Freeway, where officers tried to stop him, but backed off because of safety concerns.

The operations were funded by a $440,000 state grant the agency received last year to conduct 44 traffic and pedestrian-safety enforcement operations, along with training and outreach programs.