Looking back over the past year as motorcycle traffic officers,
Morgan Hill police officers Max Cervantes and Steve Pennington can
see they have made an impact on traffic in the city.
Morgan Hill – Looking back over the past year as motorcycle traffic officers, Morgan Hill police officers Max Cervantes and Steve Pennington can see they have made an impact on traffic in the city.
Residents have become accustomed to seeing the white traffic motorcycles roaming the city streets, and traffic throughout the city, particularly on Monterey Road, has slowed as a result.
The traffic unit began patrol last May, marking the first time in more than 14 years the city has had motorcycle officers patrolling.
Many people perceive a traffic stop as an automatic ticket, said Morgan Hill police Cmdr. David Swing, but that is not the case.
“People would be surprised to hear how many warnings, compared to citations, that they issue,” he said. “It’s pretty close to half.”
Cervantes and Pennington have made more than 4,000 traffic stops in the year since the traffic unit was resurrected, and they have issued 2,340 citations and 1,687 warnings.
Sometimes routine traffic stops lead to something more, Swing said. On April 24, for example, Pennington stopped a vehicle for speeding and discovered something more.
Pennington stopped Brayan Garcia, 21, of Gilroy and Eleazar Garcia, 28, of Gilroy, at approximately 9:40am and noticed some DVDs on the back seat. When he searched the vehicle, he found more DVDs in the trunk. There were a total of 676 DVDs in the vehicle. Swing said many of the DVDs were of movies currently in the theaters. They also had a counterfeit $100 bill.
Both men were booked into Santa Clara County Jail for unlawful possession of audio visual works.
Although stops such as this one are certainly not the norm, Pennington and Cervantes have to be prepared for anything.
“We never know what you’re going to come across,” Pennington said. “You also have to keep an eye on the traffic around you, as well as any passengers in the vehicle. With our experience in patrol, there are also things that are red flags to us, things that come up that lead to further investigation.”
Swing said the two traffic officers have had a variety of different cases this year as a result of their traffic stops, but also because they are often called on to assist the patrol officers. Many times, they can respond to a call before the patrol officer or the officer’s backup because the maneuverability of their motorcycles.
The traffic team has received mixed reviews from the community, some people praising them, while others, usually those who have been ticketed by them, say they are unnecessary or overly vigilant.
“I just notice the difference from before,” said Kari Morris of Gilroy who was shopping in Morgan Hill’s downtown. “I feel better about crossing the street than I used to. I think it feels calmer here because they are on patrol”
Since 1992, more than 14 years ago, the city had been without motorcycle traffic enforcement officers. In 2003, the department also moved officers from traffic enforcement to regular patrol because of staffing.
Now officers work the city in sectors, each taking one of 12 areas of the city for a month at a time as their focus.
Cervantes said he has noticed a pattern since the traffic team began working the city in sectors.
“The first week, we usually have a lot of people saying thank you,” Cervantes said. “I even had a resident bring me cookies and soda one day. We also issue a lot of warnings and citations during that first week, but then things slow down as people get used to seeing us in the area.”
