About 2:30 a.m. last Friday, a car with six women aboard slammed into a tree at Florence and Halldale avenues in South LA, throwing five women from the vehicle and trapping a sixth, according to a City News Service report, which quoted Sgt. Norma Vargas as saying: “We don’t yet know what happened, but our officers found an open container in the vehicle so alcohol may be a contributing factor.” Three of women have died from their injuries.
What wasn’t reported was the driver, Tenina Calhoun, had been cited 30 days earlier by a CHP officer for driving without a license but her car was not impounded, presumably because under the “caretaker” doctrine a licensed driver was readily available. If it had been impounded, it would not have been released until last Friday, hours after the
accident occurred.
It happens all the time and raises questions about what authorities are doing about a problem that puts lives at risk every day.
A new state law makes it illegal to impound the cars of unlicensed drivers at DUI checkpoints if a licensed driver is available while the checkpoint is staffed - a policy that Police Chief Charlie Beck wants to extend to all unlicensed drivers at all traffic stops.
Deputy Chief Michel Moore presented the chief’s plan to a receptive Police Commission in December and Beck plans to come back to the Commission on Feb. 14 with a final draft of what he calls a procedural, not policy, change so it can’t be reviewed by the City Council, thereby letting them not take the heat since they can say it’s beyond their control.
The right answer that Beck, the mayor and everyone else backing this don’t have the courage to fight for is to provide licenses to everyone who can pass the tests and provide proof of insurance and car registration — even illegal immigrants. That is the only way to provide for the public safety and ought to be supported even by those who think all illegal immigrants should be rounded up and shipped home.
Stopping the impounding of cars of unlicensed drivers is a serious threat to public safety as Doug McIntyre, back at KABC in the morning radio slot, argued in his Daily News column today. Beck’s conditions for not impounding vehicles — a valid ID, proof of insurance, a clean driving
record with no previous convictions for driving without a license or
serious accidents — are “phony,” he wrote.
“What constitutes a “valid ID” in Charlie’s world? Matricula
Consular cards? Please! Neither the LAPD nor the issuing agency, the
Mexican Consulate, perform any background checks of any kind on
applicants for consular cards. Anybody can get one under any name and
address they please. I have one. Illegal immigrants frequently collect multiple consular cards making it virtually impossible to determine if the driver has ever been involved in a prior accident, drunk driving incident, or driving without a license arrest. In fact, the cop on the street has no way of knowing who the person even is. It’s a total crapshoot.”
So how can a cop check the driving record of someone he suspects has a phony ID? And since legitimate insurers won’t insure people without a valid license, is there any system to validate that insurance is active and real”
What’s really amazing is the total lack of study on every aspect of the issue from the number of unlicensed drivers whether suspended, revoked or not eligible to the driving their safety records.
What little there is goes back nearly 20 years to a “quasi-induced” statistical analysis of fatal crashes that guesstimated 13 percent of fatal crashes involved unlicensed drivers.
Three-quarters were due to suspended or revoked licenses, making them nearly four times more liked to be involved in fatal crashes than licensed drivers. One quarter never had licenses and were nearly five times more liked to be involved in fatal crashes.
What Beck is doing is making the cop on the street the arresting officer, judge and jury, putting them in the position that if they impound cars when the circumstances are not egregious, they will be the victims just as narcotics officers became the victims when the department decided gang peace at any price was more important than drug law enforcement.
The gridlock in Washington and Sacramento does not justify LA simply taking the law into its own hands, It undermines respect for the law and in this case puts the public at risk. But it’s going to happen because the commission is as docile these days as the chief to the will of the mayor and their political masters.
This policy has me seeing red,thats why when i was at the chinatown parade i yelled and screamed at jan perry ,zev, wendy and carmen. my daughter told me i embarrased her to her core and sounded like a crazy man, whats an enraged citizen to do ??? unfortunately, i was the only one yelling at them at the parade.
Ron, your argument to give licenses to illegals makes no sense and won’t help public safety. If somebody is illegal and doesn’t have any documentation to prove who they are, what basis would you think they should get a driver’s license? What name do you want on that license? Also how sure are you that they have valid insurance or registration ?
Again you live in a dream world and continue to ignore the reality. These people already broke a law or several, why would they comply with the CA vehicle code?
It is very simple to check the validity of insurance. When I was on patrol I would do this all the time. I would simply call the insurance company and ask if the policy was still valid. If they said no, I asked when it went invalid and then wrote the ticket. Plus, California insurers are required to report to DMV when a person’s policy is no longer valid (ie: cancelled it, failure to pay premium). LAPD computers will say in the DMV section of the registration (NO VALID INSURANCE ON FILE). That is a clue to call the insurance company when the driver gives you a card that says valid.
The problem is illegals have no paper trail at all and many of them use false identities, stolen social security cards etc. But they sure know to put the right adddress for EBT, WIC and other free services. The FBI has stated emphatically Matricula Cards are NOT a VALID form of identification. Someone posted on a blog to start a petition to have Beck resign. He is not enforcing the LAW and needs to go. Beck said this policy will help illegals fairly. How UNFAIR WAS IT that didn’t meet with any Neighborhood Councils, no CPAB’s, no other organizations except illegal immigration groups. Beck has been an embarrassement to the rank and file and they disrespect his leadership. Beck has put LA in harm’s way. Great post Ron
So Ronald, now it’s our responsibility to use out own personal phones while on patrol to make calls and check the validity of insurance? Since you used yours all the time , can I ask a favor, can I use yours? Or maybe you can buy me and my partner one and make the monthly payment every month….
Nobody every asks because then they would have to deal with the answer…it’s much easier and way more PC that way, and as of late PC is what it’s all about!
Who knows of a car insurance company who will insure an unlicensed driver? Cops citing illegals driving is a joke. The illegals throw away the ticket cause they can’t be found at a “real address.” And where the hell is the gangster Mayor on this issue? Notice he hasn’t been with Beck and its his cause. I agree to start a petition to demand Beck resign. No other police agency in LA County is dumb enough to do this but Beck. Ron good point on unlicensed prior driver. The media is hiding these facts and more of these have occurred. The troops are fuming and don’t like being put in the middle cause their Chief is a coward. If I stop paying my car insurance, registration I can save a couple thousand and not have my car impounded. Is this true?
Why do we have an open border?
Have you tried to go to Mexico without your ID and passport? Or anywhere else? You cannot.
If we pay someone to write our immigration laws, we need to fire them all, including any senators
and House members.
Go ahead and fire most of the CA congressional delegation and both senators. They all sure ignore the immigration laws. Also don’t forget the governor, he does not acknowledge these laws either.
How about recalling Villar ? He is the real driving force behind this impounding change.
many insurance companies sell insurance to unlicensed drivers…Unitrin, western general all person needs is a maticular card or any form of picture id ( not a licenese)this person receives proof of insurance card,they can now legally register vehicle at dmv and get tags…no licence needed. this is ridiculous as the only ones who are being regulated are the license drivers, where all accidents and tickets get surrcharged for 3 years..
Just give up people. You can puff and huff as much as you want but you are NOT going to change this. It’s the same as when Brown had signed the law giving illegals access to state college money. There were hundreds of angry posts on the times site but so what? Brown was not diswayed. Same here. Illegals will have one more right that you don’t. Live with it.
Tip: Call your own legitimate, non-storefront, insurance company and increase your uninsured motorist policy…today! Infinity, AGIC, Loyola…are all scamming insurance companies. When Hose A and Hose B go and get insurance without a licence, they collect the down payment, collect the monthly payment, and say “Bring your ‘license’ back to us when you can.” Once the illegal is in an accident and tries to make a claim, the insurance company says, “What, you don’t have a license….you said you had one!….Policy canceled!!!” And now you’re left paying for the damage from the “illegal” driver. Get smart people…we are all going to be paying for this because our “legitimate” policy is going to increase. HERE IS THE FIX FOR ALL OF THIS….Give them licenses, make them take the test, and collect their fingerprints. Then run those prints through the system…can you imagine how many unsolved crimes will now have a suspect!??? Those that don’t get a license…arrest and send home!
Scary that whussy Beck is telling his officers to allow all the illegal vendors in Westlake alone. Beck is taking orders from the illegal immigration radicals. He’s afraid of the gangster Mayor and the truth be told BECK was not selected honestly as Chief. WE all know it. He’s weak, no leadership, a lapdog to Mayor and further making LA a sanctuary city for illegals. How do we start the petition to demand that he RESIGN IMMEDIATELY?
What Beck is doing is kissing the Mayor’s butt..He WAS a good cop and, as a cop, he understands what is wrong but to be PC is the safe thing to do.
Two Los Angeles police officers were hospitalized last week after their patrol car was struck by an unlicensed driver in Jefferson Park.
The only way you will ever fix this is to change back the city charter to the way it was for Gates.. when he was chief, he could not be fired for any reason except CAUSE. The wayit is now, the Chief’s position is an “At Will” employee which means do as the Punk Mayor says or be terminated. We need to change that or this will never change.
Beck is one of those dumb liberals who supports the gangsters just like the Mayor. He honors them before anyone else and did a psa for Homeboy gangsters in 2008 for their fundraisers. He was in uniform and that is a big no no.
I love when you people complain that beck is a liberal.
Yours is a one-party city and state and all of you support your ruling liberal party without any reservations.
I feel badly for the rank and file. They are not in support of this policy.
Chief of Fullerton – axed
Chief of San Fernando- axed
Chief of Bell- axed
Chief of LA – when will he be axed?
Doesn’t it seem there are way too many hit and runs lately? How much you wanna bet they are running because of unlicense, uninsure, no registration.
1.Toddler Killed, Mother Critical in Anaheim Hit-and-Run
2. Victim Dragged 150 Feet in Fatal Fontana Hit-and-Run
3. Hawthorne police untangling grim hit-and-run
4. County Coroner’s officials released the identification of woman killed last Friday in a hit-and-run collision. Diandra K. Doane, 65, was identified as the woman who died of multiple traumatic injuries after she was hit by a car on Orchard Village Road in Valencia
5. Three Young Girls Hospitalized After Being Struck by Hit-and-Run Driver
6. Man Dies in Santa Ana Double Hit-and-Run
7. Elderly Man Fatally Struck By Hit-And-Run Driver In South LA
8. Police are searching for the driver responsible for this hit-and-run collision caught on tape, the incident happened last Sunday morning at around 11:30 a.m. The victims, a woman and her teen son, were walking on a crosswalk at the corner of Western Avenue and 80th Street
9. Bicyclist killed in hit-and-run on busy Pomona street
10. A car accident in Compton involving a hit-and-run driver resulted in life-threatening injuries for a pedestrian the evening of January 28, 2012
Well this increase in hit and runs is easy to explain. There is a very large group of people that can’t get drivers licenses because they have no permission to be in this country. And they see that they can reside here without any impunity, even more so the city and state bend over to make their life comfortable and w/o any consequences of not having this permission (valid visa, residency etc). So they don’t think twice of driving without permission (a drivers license).
Since they come from countries that lack this sense of societal obligation and they are used to do things in a sneaky way, so when confronted with something like an accident, their natural reaction is to run away. Plus they don’t know the CA vehicle laws or don’t care if these laws apply to them. After all they already broke quite a few laws by now.
The story continues. Is LAPD partially responsible for their deaths by not impounding the vehicle?
3 Sisters Killed In Car Crash Leaving Behind 5 Children
http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2012/02/08/3-sisters-killed-in-car-crash-leaving-behind-5-children/