Local News in Brief : Plan for Traffic Officers OKd

A plan that calls for city traffic control officers to help supervise automobile import operations at the Port of Los Angeles may result in more officers in Wilmington being available to cite parking violators and order the removal of abandoned cars.

The proposal, approved Wednesday by the Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners, calls for the port to provide the traffic officers with 1,259 square feet of office space in Wilmington and to pay the city Department of Transportation $22 an hour per traffic officer. The port will be reimbursed for the hourly fees by its auto importing tenants.

Until now, off-duty port police have handled traffic control, with the auto importers footing the bill. But when the demand for traffic control grew, port officials negotiated with the city instead of hiring additional port police.

The traffic control officers, unlike port police, have jurisdiction on city property. Thus, port officials told the commissioners Wednesday, they expect the officers to work in Wilmington if they are stationed at their new office and not needed at the port.