L.A. City Council OKs efforts to curb hit-and-run incidents
Heeding the police department’s call for help in reducing hit-and-run traffic incidents, the Los Angeles City Council approved a series of recommendations on Tuesday.
The council agreed to support state legislation to increase penalties for those caught after leaving the scene of an accident and expand the use of the police department’s crime tracking network to evaluate hit-and-run incidents.
The council also asked the department and its oversight board to include hit-and-run incidents in department crime tallies and require police reports on all such incidents, even if they are limited to property damage.
Councilman Tom LaBonge asked for several years of data that would show whether hit-and-run incidents have increased.
LAPD Commander Mike Williams told the council that more than 14,000 hit-and-run incidents have occurred in the city so far this year, a 3% rise over last year. “It is truly a crisis,” Williams said.
Just last Friday night, a 16-year-old was killed in a marked crosswalk on Normandie Avenue as he walked home from church.
The driver of the white four-door sedan that struck the youth sped away northbound without stopping, police said.
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Twitter: @jeanmerl
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