No Easter Bunny for second pedestrian sting

SOUTH GLENDALE — Glendale police officers went forward with another pedestrian enforcement operation Thursday, a day after Councilman John Drayman took them to task for an earlier sting in which an officer dressed in a rabbit costume.

Glendale Police Officer Tom Broadway dressed in a pair of shorts and T-shirt, a far cry from the furry Easter costume that he sported a day earlier. On Thursday, he walked back and forth at two crosswalks, one lighted and marked, the other not. All the while officers cited drivers who failed to yield, while giving them a rundown of pedestrian safety rules.

The operation was less of a spectacle than the full-sized bunny outfit deployed Wednesday, which turned heads and invited the wrath of Drayman, who called the decoy “breathtakingly dangerous” and a poor use of city resources.

“I am happy to hear that they modified the sting and agreed that the idea of a giant rabbit — a total anomaly out in the roadway — is not exactly training our drivers to learn really anything,” he said Thursday.

The city was reevaluating the use of costumes as decoys, although they have not been uncommon at previous pedestrian enforcement campaigns, city spokesman Ritch Wells said.

“[The campaigns] were very effective in getting the word out,” Wells said. “People need to be careful when they are driving, and people need to be careful when they are walking as well. Both drivers and pedestrians need to watch out for the other one.”

Police officials have repeatedly pointed to Glendale’s abysmal pedestrian safety record as reason for the full-court press on enforcement and public education campaigns.

However eye-catching the bunny suit was, the goal of the operation was just as much about education as it was enforcement, said Lt. Gary Montecuollo, who would not comment on statements made by public officials regarding the use of costumes.

“We want to create an environment where people are safe,” he said.

Thursday’s sting was at two intersections — Glendale Avenue and Raleigh Street, which has a marked and lighted crosswalk, and Pacific Avenue and Hawthorne Street, which has an unmarked crosswalk.

The two intersections were selected based on the number of accidents at the locations in the past and resident complaints, Montecuollo said.