Occupy Long Beach kicked off on Saturday, and by the following night, the protesters had already experienced several unpleasant interactions with Long Beach police, resulting in two arrests and other citations. more ›

Six allegedly drunk bicyclists were cited Tuesday night by the LAPD for riding under the influence, and at least one bicycle was impounded, reports L.A. Now. The rowdy cyclists appeared to be intoxicated and holding up traffic in Playa del Rey. more ›

The numbers are in, and boy are we distracted. Distracted drivers, that is. The California Highway Patrol, working with 280 police and sheriff's departments, issued at least 2,187 citations over a two-day period for three kinds of distracted driving violations in Los Angeles County. The figures from the concentrated April 4-5 campaign are preliminary, cautions the CHP, since not all the involved agencies have reported their data from the effort. more ›

Just one day ahead of the 20th anniversary of his infamous and incendiary videotaped beating by Los Angeles Police Department officers, Rodney King found himself being pulled over and cited. The story was first reported late yesterday by gossip site TMZ, who say police in Arcadia "received a complaint about a man driving recklessly in a green Mitsubishi Tuesday afternoon ... and when they located the vehicle, they saw King behind the wheel." more ›

An El Monte watering hole has been cited for offering "female companionship for men willing to pay more for their drinks," reports the Pasadena Star-News. The shady dealings were allegedly going down at the Halcon Bar & Cafe on Garvey Avenue, where workers "would add a surcharge to drinks in exchange for providing women to keep the men company," which happens to be illegal. more ›

Among the many bills Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger approved and vetoed was one that would have significantly lowered the fine for drivers caught on camera slowly blowing a red light to make a right-hand turn. If approved, the fine would have dropped from $450 to $219, which is the fine given to motorist caught running a stop sign, according to the Mercury News. more ›

Last month, DMV employees conducted a "sting" of sorts that nabbed 18 people in the Van Nuys civic center area abusing handicap placards in order to get free or closer parking. Now comes news, via AOL's Patch West Hollywood, that the city's parking division will be cracking down on scofflaws. more ›

The Beverly Hills Police Department conducted a crosswalk sting to nab motorists who failed to yield for the decoy pedestrian, reports the Beverly Hills Courier. more ›

After public outcry about safety concerns on the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has added a motorcycle deputy to patrol the area, reports the Santa Monica Daily Press. more ›

Nine intersection approaches and 1,586 citations. That's one month -- last May -- in Beverly Hills, finds the Beverly Hills Courier (.pdf). The city isn't planning to add any more cameras to their stock, but they do plan to continue keeping drivers on guard by moving them around. more ›

I'll cost you more than just the extra suntan lotion if you try to get away with nude sunbathing down at San Onofre State Beach, according to the OC Register. The former clothing-optional spot is being watched by local authorities, who have issued their first citations to beach-goers in the buff since state officials launched a crackdown (no pun intended) two years ago. Los Angeles resident Andres Garza got the first ticket, which is a misdemeanor that could cost him about $500, and another suit-less sunbather got one over the weekend. A side note: For gentlemen who prefer gentlemen, San Onofre was one of our picks for the 5 Gayest Beaches in SoCal. more ›

The Blue Line is notoriously known as most accident prone train in the city, if not the nation. Incidents involving cars and pedestrians make headlines quite often. In fact, the problem was enough to push Metro, L.A. County Sheriff's Deputies and LAPD to go on a public safety awareness campaign today, meaning they saturated an area of the light rail line and cited violator after violator. more ›

How many times have you placed something you don't need anymore on the sidewalk hoping it will disappear someday soon? A fridge? A bed? A mattress? A desk? If you didn't call 3-1-1 to request a free bukly item pickup, that's illegal dumping, which can be punishable with high fines or some jail time. The Department of Public Works reported today that in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year (that is, April - June of this year), 15 arrests were made, 172 administrative hearings conducted and 1,503 administrative citations were issued to Multi-Family Bulky Item illegal dumping violators. Most of the arrests were made in South LA, where the LA Times continued to investigate a massive illegal dumping problem. The department also has two online forms, one for reporting the location of illegal dumping and another to tip off investigators if you might know a suspect (there could be a $1000 reward). You can also call 3-1-1 to report illegal dumping. more ›

NPR's Ben Bergman did a ride along with one of the fifteen Department of Water and Power's Water Cops, who patrol and respond to complaints about water wasting. It's not like riding along with a police officer, he rode with a city employee in a Toyota Prius, whose job is about trying to educate before writing citations as high as $600. more ›

Violating school bus laws brings in a hefty fine of $500. And it seems the city of South Pasadena held a big fundraiser on Wednesday when police handed out 160 tickets totaling $80,000 to drivers on the six-lane Huntington Drive at Milan Ave. It was quite an elaborate sting, involving no schoolchildren but lots of lights and sirens described one driver who was cited to the LA Times. “It was a circus of lights and chaos,” she said of the sting that also involved from Alhambra, Monterey Park, San Gabriel, San Marino and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Temple City station. “No one was speeding, I mean people were literally just trying to figure out what was going on and what to do to to keep away from whatever the activity was. I thought I was being directed along with other motorists away from whatever it was that was happening.” One commenter at LA Times noted that the tickets are bogus noting that "VC Section 22454 states that the bus must be 'stopped for the purpose of loading or unloading any schoolchildren'." more ›

Every month LAPD Senior Lead Officer George Aguilar takes a look at his area's traffic patterns and behaviors and focuses enforcement on one issue. In the past, he's done pedestrian crosswalk stings along Ventura Blvd., catching drivers who ignore those walking across the street, and enforcement on the various no left turn signs on Van Nuys Blvd. This month, he's going after speeders in these general areas, including nearby side streets: Woodman/Ventura, Van Nuys/Ventura, streets surrounding Van Nuys/Sherman Oaks Park and Valley Vista between Sepulveda and Coldwater Canyon. He encourages people to spread the word (so tell your friends), but he won't say what days each area will be heavily patrolled. Basically, if you keep it cool, there's nothing to worry about. more ›

Here's what a citation from the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power looks like. Luckily, if its your first time, there's no monetary punishment, just a conversation with a conservation team member, which could be its own sort of punishment depending on who you are. If they visit you again, you're looking at $100 or more. more ›

Banned for a little over a month now, Pasadena police will be out making sure smokers don't light up along the parade route at next week's Tournament of the Roses. They plan to educate people rather than enforce, but if someone refuses to put out their cigarette, the first ticket is $100 and further violations go up to $500. more ›

Signed into law in 2004, the Silly String law is meant to curb the amount of silly string that used to trash Hollywood streets during Halloween. The city reasoned that the cans were a safety hazard, causing people, horses (for police) and motorcycles to potentially slip and fall in additional to being used as a drunkenly weapon projectile. The string itself, they say, would clog storm drains, ultimately causing an environmental hazard traveling to the ocean. more ›

For over a year, Critical Mass and the Santa Monica Police Department have been at odds and last month at their monthly ride, an unusual amount of officers monitored the ride of approximately 150 cyclists. A total of 16 officers were assigned to the ride costing the city $3,067.88, according to documents obtained by LAist in a public records request. Nine citations were written for various violations such as not having a headlight. more ›

Last Friday night in Santa Monica, bicyclists-turned-temporary-pedestrians gathered and protested what they believe is harassment from the city towards monthly Critical Mass bicycles rides. At their latest ride on August 1st, 14 police officers were deployed to monitor the ride resulting in at least nine citations (unofficial counts totaled up to 14). more ›

It's a rather dubious honor: The first taco truck to be cited for violating the County's new mobile food vendors' parking laws. more ›

Thirteen hospitals statewide were fined on Wednesday by the California Department of Public Health. In total, five from the Los Angeles area were cited: Pomona Valley Medical Center, Los Angeles County Harbor-UCLA Medical Center near Torrance and Los Angeles County Olive View- UCLA Medical Center in LA County and Garden Grove Hospital and Medical Center and St. Joseph Hospital in Orange County, according to wire reports. Reasons varied from dumb mistakes to deadly ones: more ›

"In support of Bike to Work Day, Thursday, May 17th, cyclists ride free on Metro and on other participating transit agencies listed below." said Metro's website. "Board with your bike or helmet and enjoy the ride… it’s on us!" According to many cyclists including this LAist writer, it was sometimes a fight to get that free ride. Many cyclists at the Rally told stories of them informing the bus driver that they get to... more ›