Baldwin Park : Motorcycle Officers Return

After an absence of 22 years, motorcycle-riding officers will return to city streets under a plan approved by the City Council last week.

The council agreed with Police Chief Carmine Lanza’s recommendation, which he said would help enforce traffic laws and reduce traffic accidents in the city.

The last motorcycle officer to work in Baldwin Park retired in 1970, Lanza said, and the program was phased out.

The program, approved at Wednesday’s meeting, will involve two officers watching intersections with high collision rates and investigating special traffic problems, the chief said. The $40,300 for the motorcycles, equipment and training will come from the department’s asset seizure fund of money taken from narcotics offenders and returned to local police departments.