CHP, contracted by the City of Malibu, backs Sheriff’s Department’s play
By Barbara Burke
Special to The Malibu Times
The Malibu City Council approved an 18-month contract creating the Malibu Task Force on Jan. 22. Beginning in January, the city approved a long-term contract with California Highway Patrol to add three full-time CHP officers to help the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department enforce traffic regulations on Malibu’s segment of the Pacific Coast Highway. Prior to inking that contract, CHP had not had a role in PCH traffic enforcement since 1991, near the time the city was created. The California Office of Transportation Services (Caltrans) provided $555,000 in additional funding to LASD, the Los Angeles Police Department and the Santa Monica Police Department for increased enforcement on PCH.
When one compares the number of traffic citations issued by authorities for driver’s violations of laws that govern motoring on PCH from January through April 2023, with data analytics compiling the number of citations issued for traffic violations in the same time period this year, one can discern some small improvement in the number of traffic offenses, according to data provided both by the City of Malibu, which oversees the CHP’s enforcement efforts, and LASD.
During the first four months of this year, CHP issued 1,057 speeding citations, one of which involved a motorist speeding in excess of 100 miles per hour, another of which involved reckless driving. During that time frame, CHP issued citations to 11 motorists for unsafe turns or lane changes, four drivers were cited for following too close and 23 were cited for distracted driving. The rest of the tickets were issued by CHP for seatbelt violations, equipment violations and for violations of other traffic regulations.
“CHP’s role in traffic enforcement on the segment of PCH that runs through Malibu is to assist LASD with traffic control efforts — LASD officers are a lot more effective in battling traffic violations with the added three CHP officers and a CHP sergeant who oversees them,” said Chris Soderlund, LASD’s liaison with the City of Malibu. “CHP officers are out seven days a week, with one officer working the morning shift and two officers covering other shifts.”
Soderlund explained that when there is a traffic collision, CHP’s sole purpose is to continue enforcing traffic laws, which frees up LASD officers to respond to emergencies. He also noted that CHP provides weekly reports to Susan Duenas, Public Safety Manager for the City of Malibu.
“LASD helps with traffic offense monitoring as much as possible of course,” Soderlund said, “However, if there is a 911 call, such as a burglary incident, CHP doesn’t take those calls. Rather, they continue traffic enforcement.”
Soderland also explained that LASD’s crime cars are deployed to stop crime or to respond to 911 calls, the agency’s traffic cars and motor deputies deal with traffic enforcement and special assignment deputies conduct targeted enforcement, such as ensuring food trucks do not improperly operate in unapproved or unsafe areas. Finally, volunteer officers assist in patrolling and traffic enforcement, he added.
“From Jan. 1 through April 30 of this year, LASD dealt with 100 total collisions, none of which were fatal collisions and 24 of which involved significant injuries,” Soderlund stated.
Clarifying definitions used by LASD to report violations, he noted that for purposes of collecting the relevant data, accidents involving suicides are not considered as fatal collisions because they were not a function of fatalities attributable to unsafe traffic collisions.
“When we compare the 2024 data with the data for the same period in 2023, we see that in the prior year there were 110 traffic collisions, one of which was a fatality and 45 of which involved significant injuries,” Soderlund stated. “Further, during the relevant time period in 2023, we issued 1,771 traffic citations, as compared with 1,119 citations that were issued during the relevant time period in 2024.”
Soderlund concluded, “Therefore, the data establishes that when there is a higher presence of officers monitoring traffic, people are obeying speed and other laws more.”
When asked how citizens could help fight an unsafe PCH, Soderlund noted that more volunteers are needed to help enforce traffic in busy summer months.