A viral video showing LAPD using pedestrian decoys on Ventura Boulevard has ignited a citywide debate over safety, strategy, and where enforcement crosses the line<\/p>\n
The viral video is only 20 seconds long, but in Los Angeles, that is enough time to start a full-blown civic argument.<\/p>\n
The clip was shot on Ventura Boulevard in Woodland Hills and went viral after showing what had appeared to be LAPD officers lurking in parking lots while pedestrians, whom commenters claimed were undercover cops or \u201chired\u201d decoys, stepped onto the street outside marked crosswalks. The goal was not to get jaywalkers, it was to catch drivers who did not stop for pedestrians as they were crossing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhoever passes them, they get pulled over. Look at the cops. Y\u2019all are f\u2014\u2013 up. That is crazy!\u201d the witness said.<\/p>\n
The video quickly went viral, and words like \u201centrapment\u201d were being thrown around. Others questioned whether any of this actually makes the city\u2019s streets safer. But LAPD insists the operation is less stingy and more public service announcements.<\/p>\n
According to the department, the \u201cenforcement operation\u201d was deployed in so-called high injury corridors \u2013 places statistically more likely to see fatal or severe traffic collisions. And by law, California does treat unmarked crosswalks the same as marked ones, drivers are required to yield to pedestrians either way. According to the department, there have been 39 pedestrians killed in the San Fernando Valley this year \u2013 more than the total number of homicides \u2013 and 150 other serious injuries and accidents, and officers say pedestrian safety is no longer negotiable.<\/p>\n
\u201cPedestrian safety remains a priority,\u201d said the LAPD in a press release. \u201cThe purpose of pedestrian enforcement details is to educate motorists, raise awareness, and ultimately enhance the safety of pedestrians throughout the San Fernando Valley,\u201d LAPD said in a press release.<\/p>\n
Still, not everyone is buying the strategy.<\/p>\n
Scroll to continue reading<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think LAPD should be setting up anybody,\u201d said Oz Ovsephyan from Burbank. \u201cI think it should be kind of a, you enforce something, but not settling regular people up,\u201d said Oz Ovsepyan from Burbank.<\/p>\n
Other community members are more conflicted. \u201cTo target people who are just trying to make it through their day or get to where they need to go, it\u2019s not very productive,\u201d said Anna Terebelo from Sherman Oaks. But at the same time, I don\u2019t want to get hit by cars, so I kind of do see both ways a little bit. But I think the LAPD has better things to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
For now, LAPD says similar enforcement details will continue in designated high-injury areas as the department tries to curb the region\u2019s growing toll of pedestrian deaths.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A viral video showing LAPD using pedestrian decoys on Ventura Boulevard has ignited a citywide debate over safety,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":93909,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[51626,48,52,51,5015,47,50,49,18775,7611,21424,51627],"class_list":{"0":"post-93908","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-jaywalking","9":"tag-la","10":"tag-la-headlines","11":"tag-la-news","12":"tag-lapd","13":"tag-los-angeles","14":"tag-los-angeles-headlines","15":"tag-los-angeles-news","16":"tag-pedestrians","17":"tag-san-fernando-valley","18":"tag-sting","19":"tag-ventura-boulevard"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93908"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93908\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}