The Department of Public Safety issued a revised memo to its deputies Thursday, clarifying the Sheriff Division’s procedures after a previous memo told deputies to stop traffic enforcement action.
The primary function of deputies, such as protecting courtrooms, will take precedence over traffic enforcement activities, the new memo states.
Public Safety spokeswoman Toni Schwartz reiterated that the original memo sent out Tuesday was prompted by the director’s desire for deputy sheriffs to focus on their primary duties, rather than monitoring for jaywalkers.
State Sen. Will Espero said he heard from several deputies that the department wanted to change its traffic enforcement policy because high-ranking officials had received jaywalking tickets and complained.
Schwartz said the department did not receive any complaints from state officials about being ticketed for jaywalking.
"We had no clue about that, and we don’t know where that (story) came from," she said.
Espero criticized the department for sending out the first memo on such an "important" issue.
"Regardless of what happened, I do think that Public Safety’s response was wrong," Espero said. "Just looking at the (original) memo, you can tell that this is very strange and unusual.
"The letter never should have been sent out; it was a wrong reaction to the problem."
Schwartz said the issue is being addressed.
"Director (Ted) Sakai just started June 1," she said. "He is working on many issues, including making the Public Safety Department more efficient."
