West Covina Municipal Code § 22-31 Established

There is hereby established, in the police department of the city, a traffic division to be under the control of an officer of police appointed by and directly responsible to the chief of police.

(Code 1960, § 3101)

It shall be the duty of the traffic division, with such aid as may be rendered by other members of the police department, to enforce the street traffic regulations of the city and all of the state vehicle laws applicable to street traffic in the city, to make arrests for traffic violations, to investigate traffic accidents and to cooperate with the traffic committee and other officers of the city in the administration of the traffic laws and in developing ways and means to improve traffic conditions, and to carry out those duties specifically imposed upon such division by this chapter and the traffic ordinances of this city.

(Code 1960, § 3102)

(a) Pursuant to such rules and procedures as are prescribed by the chief of police, the traffic division may, as a part of its traffic safety program, issue a notice of vehicle code violation to drivers operating vehicles with defective equipment, or defective registration.

(b) A notice of vehicle code violation shall only be issued in those cases in which the officer has reasonable cause to believe that the driver:

(1) Is not aware of the violation, or

(2) Has had inadequate opportunity to correct such violation.

(c) The notice of vehicle code violation shall require the repair or replacement of defective equipment or the correction of registration defects within ten (10) days. If the necessary corrections are not made within the ten (10) day period, a complaint may be issued on the basis of the violation.

(Code 1960, § 3102.5)

Whenever the accidents at any particular location become numerous, the traffic division may cooperate with the city traffic engineer in conducting studies of such accidents and determining remedial measures.

(Code 1960, § 3103)

The traffic division shall maintain a suitable system of filing traffic accident reports. Accident reports or cards referring to them shall be filed alphabetically by location. Such reports shall be made available for the use and information of the city traffic engineer.

(Code 1960, § 3104)

The traffic division shall annually prepare a traffic report which shall be filed with the city council. Such report shall contain information on traffic matters in the city as follows:

(a) The number of traffic accidents, the number of persons killed, the number of persons injured, and other pertinent traffic accident data;

(b) The number of traffic accidents investigated and other pertinent data on the safety activities of the police.

(Code 1960, § 3105)