Q. I know the California Highway Patrol is responsible for traffic enforcement and handing out tickets on freeways, city police take care of this in their cities, and sheriff’s deputies handle unincorporated areas and the cities that contract with them. Can these agencies give out tickets in places outside of their responsibility?
– Bert Steinberg, Seal Beach
A. Largely yes.
“Most peace officers that we think of … have the authority to exercise peace-officer powers throughout the state of California,” said Meagan Poulos, a spokeswoman for the state’s Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, which sets training standards for police officers and can decertify them.
There are a some officers whose authority only pertains to their jurisdictions – at least when it comes to typical tickets.
“These officers, however, are not the officers we typically think of, they are investigators for state agencies, community college police, school district police, railroad officers, just to name a few,” she said. “In other words, they cannot simply write a traffic ticket when out of their jurisdiction.”
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HONKIN’ UPDATE No. 1: The Department of Motor Vehicles has forecast that the sequence for standard-issue license plates, which it started using in 1980, will get to 9ZZZ999 in late 2025. The agency recently made a decision on what to do next. “We’re just flipping it,” said Chris Orrock, a DMV spokesman. “Three numbers, three letters and a number. … We’re just doing it backward.”
HONKIN’ UPDATE No. 2: Tustin’s Joanne Caldara, you might recall Honk telling you a couple of weeks ago, had her transponder account with The Toll Roads of Orange County canceled for no activity for three years. That agency runs the 73, 241, 133 and 261. So when she took the 91 Express Lanes, run by a different public agency, the Orange County Transportation Authority, she was dinged for roughly 100 bucks in penalties in addition to the tolls. Good news. After Honk reached out, her account was reinstated, erasing the penalties, said Michele Miller, a spokeswoman for The Toll Roads of Orange County.
HONKIN’ FACT: So your 2012 Toyota Highlander has maybe 270 horsepower, and your 2024 Prius offers 196? Your sister’s 2024 Lamborghini Revuelto offers up 1,001 ponies, right? Well, that is all swell stuff, but the space shuttle spaceships had a little more power under the hood back in its day – more than 37 million horses. Oh, and it drank its liquid fuel at a rate that would empty the typical family pool in less than 25 seconds. (Sources: NASA, U.S. News & World Report and Car and Driver).
To ask Honk questions, reach him at honk@ocregister.com. He only answers those that are published. To see Honk online: ocregister.com/tag/honk. Twitter: @OCRegisterHonk
