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Coronado-Based Police Operation Results in 231 Citations & 5 Towed Vehicles

Did you notice a build-up of law enforcement in Coronado yesterday? Were you one of the 231 citations? If you are a member of eCoronado.com, you probably read the warning we published last Sunday. If you didn't get the warning, be sure to join our newsletter. It was also shared in the City Manager's report, the City of Coronado Twitter feed and sent out via email to Coronado Unified School District families via Edline.

Traffic officers from Coronado PD, Chula Vista PD, Carlsbad PD, La Mesa PD, National City PD, San Diego County Sheriff’s Dept., San Diego PD, and San Diego State PD conducted an operation in Coronado from 7:15am to 11:45am. They wrote 231 citations and towed 5 vehicles.

Citations were issued for many different safety violations such as not stopping at stop signs or lights non-working equipment, speed or no left turn violations. The vehicles towed were due to unlicensed drivers or driving with a suspended license. Any income generated by citation penalties are returned to the issuing officer's respective agency, not the City of Coronado. If a Chula Vista officer issued a violation in Coronado, the money would go to the City of Chula Vista.

We spoke to Lea Corbin (Community Relations/Training) of the Coronado Police Department and asked her a few questions about the operation.

eC: How would the Coronado Police Department rate the effectiveness of the operation?

LC: The operation was successful because the officers cited several severe violations.

eC: Overall during the 4 hours, did it run smoothly between the multiple agencies involved and coverage of the city?

LC: They do this once a month in different cities with different traffic unit officers. They have a briefing in the location and that agency (Coronado Police Department) will brief the non-CPD officers on where they receive complaints. We have residents that call or complain regarding areas where they see speeding, illegal turns, double-parking at the schools, collisions, etc. So when the officers came in yesterday, we briefed them on those areas.

eC: Some people were not pleased because they were involved in some of the citations or didn't like the "build-up". Can you comment on those experiences?

LC: Traffic is a major complain here in the City of Coronado. Sometimes we have to take different paths in addressing these issues. By participating in the operation, it allowed us to address several areas that we receive complaints about at one time.

eC: Do you plan on doing more operations like this in Coronado? Do they happen monthly in Coronado or monthly all over San Diego?

LC: This operation takes place in a different city every month to increase awareness and cut down on violations. It rotates through different agencies and that notification does take place through the City of Coronado and schools. People were cited for violations that were observed. We are here to do a job and to protect and serve.

We spoke to two residents that received tickets yesterday in Coronado and both were not happy about the tickets, but agreed they were in violation of the law.

Posts a few days before the operation via Twitter:

What did you think of this operation? Let us know in the comments.

Tags: city of coronado, community, crime, schools

0 members like this

Comment by Laurie McCray on October 25, 2012 at 8:23pm: Such a waste of time!!! Go fight crimes....

Staff Comment by Kellee Hearther on October 26, 2012 at 12:16am: I must not have ventured far enough away from home because I didn't notice an increase in officers at all. My daughter and I rode our bikes to school as usual and it actually seemed a little quieter than it normally is. Maybe we were early??

Comment by Elizabeth Peterson on October 26, 2012 at 1:40am: Nowhere is there worse driving than Australia. These people don't know the meaning of courtesy, or pedestrians having to cross the street. These drivers, without exception are the most aggressive, rage filled people ever. I will never drive over here. The driving in Coronado was a breeze, even with the traffic glut. When I return I will never complain about Coronado traffic....

Comment by Jerry Toci on October 26, 2012 at 10:11am: This is great, and our community needs for it to occur more often. Prosecuting small crimes reduces the occurrence of more serious crimes. It's like graffiti - when it isn't removed promptly, a structure is suddenly covered with it.

Coronado Police: Please enforce parking regulations!

Comment by Ashley Jenkins on October 26, 2012 at 1:42pm: Traffic is definitely a major complaint for many in Coronado. All five candidates I interviewed for Coronado's City Council mentioned traffic/enforcement as one of the biggest issues facing Coronado.

231 citations in 4 hours shows me it IS a problem that increased enforcement CAN work towards fixing.

Comment by Pamela McCollum on October 26, 2012 at 2:08pm: I love it. I want the rules enforced. Drivers, cyclists, skateboarders, and pedestrians ALL need to follow the rules. It is a nightmare here when trying to get across town if they don't. I see drivers and cyclists run stop signs, cyclists on the wrong side of the street, and dodge skateboarders and cyclists on sidewalks. Jaywalkers cross against lights and cause drivers to miss their green light, and you can die of old age sitting at most of these lights. It's just crazy, and it needs to stop.

Comment by Laurie McCray on October 26, 2012 at 4:11pm: Wow, I've lived here since 1989 and have never noticed a problem! Guess its all the way we see things..glass half full or half empty? I suggest all of these people complaining about our "traffic problems" get a life, or try to find something important to bitch about:)

Comment by Patti Peterson on October 26, 2012 at 8:30pm: Talking about traffic safety is an important topic to discuss, especially if it's concerning our children's safety. If anyone has ever been near the middle school when school is let out you would understand. Once that bell rings kids are coming from every direction on foot, on bikes, and skateboards. I worry everyday that someone's child is going to seriously get hurt. These kids dart onto the roadways assuming every driver has them in their sights. It's very scary to watch. Laurie, I have a life...that's why I am compelled to leave this response. I'm a concerned parent. I hope this issue can be discussed further and actions taken to alleviate the chaos afterschool - before someone gets hurt. Thank you.

Comment by Peter Corp on October 29, 2012 at 10:57am: I want to take a minute and reflect on portions of this topic that concern me (and many others as well). When I drive through Coronado to take my kids to school in the morning I notice quite a few things going on that were most likely not addressed at all in this police action. Try and sit anywhere parked on a curb near a Coronado school and count the number of children riding their bikes without a helmet (or even better, the one's who carry it in their bike basket.) I'm curious how many citations are handed out for that. The amount of Coronado kids who dart across intersections on their bicycles at any given time of the day is quite alarming, many of them are ages mature enough to know better (maybe they learn from adults who do the same thing when they slam into the side of a moving car on the strand bike path because these cyclists don't yield at an intersection at all.) As a background I live on the strand so I drive through half of the city to get my kids to school, we always run into amphibious base traffic on the way, and i'm usually taking a car full of other children with me because there is no bus for high schoolers. Off topic, but related to concerned parents... Try teaching your kids for their own safety. Not every situation out there is going to create "nut free zones". Meaning that parents need to put some degree of ownness on themselves and their children for the hazards created when you put a small child in a potentially hazardous situation. Teaching a child not to talk to strangers is commonplace, but it seems that teaching children that they will die if they dart into traffic on a bicycle (especially without a helmet) is not. The point I'm trying to make is that Coronado is no longer the small town it once was, it is situated around one of the busiest Non-freeway highways in Southern California, anyone could easily split the city in fourths using the intersections of 3-4th and orange as the zero point. Knowing this, and knowing that short of kicking out the Navy and dismantling the bridge, it won't get any better through legislation, you would think that parents would arm their children with the kind of "street smarts" it would take to prevent themselves from entering into a situation where they become a victim of someone breaking the law, or as is the case with the affore mentioned Strand cyclists, someone following the letter of the law.