The city of Los Angeles is trying a new approach to addressing quality of life problems such as noisy parties or dogs that continuously bark through a new pilot program known as Administration Citation Enforcement (ACE).

Councilman Paul Koretz hopes to ensure that minor infractions are enforced while not clogging up the court system. (photo by Aaron Blevins)

The pilot program was spearheaded by Los Angeles City Councilman Paul Koretz, 5th District, in conjunction with the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office, and is based on similar programs already in place in Sacramento and San Diego. Under the pilot program, Los Angeles Police Department and Los Angeles Animal Services Department officers will be given the option of writing offenders a citation for numerous infractions and misdemeanors that would  be  handled administratively through the ACE program, instead of the criminal courts. Mayor Eric Garcetti signed the ordinance creating the ACE program last Friday, and the city is in the process of contracting with a vendor that will process the citations.

Offenders who are cited under the ACE program and do not contest the ticket will pay a fine but will not have a conviction placed on their permanent criminal record. If they dispute a citation, they can request a  hearing before an administrative officer. If eventually found guilty, a fine will be imposed, but the offense will still not be entered into their criminal record.

“It provides another tool in the city’s tool box,” Koretz said. “Thousands of things do not get enforced or are not enforced well, and now we will be able to enforce them appropriately.”

Residents will report offenses to the LAPD and animal services, and officers will have the discretion to issue ACE program citations for dozens of different misdemeanors and infractions such as drinking in public, generating excessive noise, holding a noisy party, walking a dog off a leash, failing to clean up after a dog, obstructing a sidewalk, operating a gas-powered leaf blower, or repairing a vehicle in a restricted public area, such as a city street. Other offenses include smoking in a restricted area, skateboarding or bicycling on a sidewalk, illegal vending and urinating in public.

Because the ACE program is discretionary, officers can still choose to cite or arrest an offender and have the violation be handled through the criminal courts. The city attorney’s office would also have the discretion to exclude an offender from the program if it is determined that an administrative remedy would not adequately address a particular offense.

City attorney’s office spokesman Frank Mateljan said the program could help alleviate some of the burden that is currently placed on the criminal court system. He added that Los Angeles Attorney Mike Feuer “is fully on board” with the ACE program.

“It’s a way of streamlining the process,” Mateljan said. “It will free up resources and make things more effective.”

The ACE program is anticipated to cost the city approximately 577,000 to develop and implement, but it would nearly recoup the cost in one year through fines collected. The vendor that processes the citation would take a percentage of the fees as payment, alleviating the use of city money to run the program.

“We expect it to be at least cost-neutral, and it could generate some revenue that could be put back into the enforcement,” Koretz said.

The councilman added that the overall goal is to “put some teeth” in prosecuting municipal code violations and low-level crimes that may otherwise not result in prosecution because of the large volume of incidents that occur. He added that it should be a positive step for residents, who often may feel like nothing happens when they report violations in their neighborhoods.

“It’s one more option to handle these things,” Koretz added.