MS-13 has met its match: HPD's Operation Jaywalking
Yesterday the Chronicle had a story on the first day of HPD's jaywalking crackdown:
Bicycle messenger Ken Fairbanks sat down in the shade outside Chase Tower shortly after 3 p.m. Monday, unfolded the ticket he'd been issued minutes earlier on Main Street, and said it came as a surprise.
"I hardly ever get tickets," he said. "There was a person kind of lollygagging along and so I passed him."
Fairbanks said he and other bicycle messengers who work downtown were aware of the Houston Police Department crackdown on all traffic violations � pedestrians, bicycle riders, drivers � but he said he hadn't realized he was breaking any law by passing a car in the same lane.
He was ticketed on the first day of the latest phase of HPD's Downtown Mobility Initiative, a plan city leaders say is intended to deal with the dangers of congested streets and bad walking, biking or driving habits. The first phase focused on educating the public to obey traffic laws.
HPD spokesman John Cannon said the eight police officers assigned to intersections during morning rush hour on Monday stopped 190 people and issued 23 citations, 14 to pedestrians and nine to drivers.
Three people got citations for crossing the street in the middle of the block and 11 for crossing against the light, Cannon said. Four drivers were ticketed for running red lights and five for "other" violations.
That's weird -- I thought HPD required cameras to handle the problem of red light running.
For the proper perspective on Operation Jaywalking you had to listen to Chris Baker (KTRH-740) yesterday. Ken Charles was on air with him and this was their take: MS-13 has finally met its match, as gang members will be so blinded by shiny new police badges and distracted by new police shirts that they will walk right into HPD's jaywalking trap.
It's brilliant.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 06/15/05 05:42 PM | Houston Politics | Print | Comments (1)
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