Pico Rivera Hiring ‘Maintenance’ Aides to Curb Cruising by Youths

City officials are interviewing candidates to become bargain-rate soldiers in the war on the city’s legendary cruising problem.

The city plans to hire 15 to 20 “maintenance aides” to set up or move traffic-control barricades at the direction of officers from the Sheriff’s Department and California Highway Patrol. The aides will work from about 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. on Wednesdays and weekends and save the city up to $200,000 in salary costs.

Local law-enforcement agencies typically set up barriers to prevent cruisers from entering residential neighborhoods and to keep the traffic flowing. On a busy cruising night, up to 100,000 youths will descend on Whittier and Rosemead boulevards to show off their cars and socialize, slowing traffic to a crawl.

Pico Rivera spent about $400,000 last year to control cruising. The city had been paying public-works employees overtime to set up barriers. That cost the city about $18 an hour per worker.