New motorcycle cop hits the streets in L.A. County

Dep. Tom McGee

By John Loesing

Acorn Staff Writer

Pay extra attention to local traffic laws or pay the consequences.

Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station will add another motorcycle patrol in the coming month.

That means two bike cops will be on duty from now on, watching motorists and pedestrians from Calabasas to Westlake Village.

"Cities are finding it harder to do traffic enforcement with cars because of congestion," said Sgt. Tim Curtis, head of Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department motorcycle unit. "We’ve found the motorcycle is the more valuable tool, more accessible, easier to maneuver and commonly the first responder on calls, because when traffic is bad, the radio car can’t get through but the motorcycle can."

Already on duty at the station is Dep. Tom McGee, a 16-year veteran of the department. McGee spent nine years at the station before moving to Santa Clarita in 1997. Now he’s back.

In May, Dep. Richard Curry, a five-year Lost Hills veteran, will complete his motorcycle training and join McGee on the streets.

"Certainly it will be help having the extra bike," McGee said. "There’s no shortage of work out there."

You see them elsewhere, but motorcycle cops are deemed especially important in this area because of the volume of traffic that flows here from elsewhere. Motorcycles give deputies a way to discreetly monitor busy intersections.

"We can position ourselves where we can see something clearly, whereas a car wouldn’t be able to," McGee said.

A motorcycle can hide easier, in other words.

Two motorcycle units will cost the local cities $240,000 a year. Malibu, Hidden Hills, Calabasas, Agoura Hills and Westlake Village will split the cost, using public safety grant money from the state.

"Clearly we’ll try to address the individual needs of the cities," said Sgt. Kevin Mauch, head of the Lost Hills traffic unit. "For example, Calabasas has had continuing concerns about the noisy motorcycles on Mulholland Highway on the weekends. Both Calabasas and Agoura Hills have had issues with the high schools. All the cities have had issues with traffic at the grade schools."

According to the Federal Highway Administration, 41,600 people died in motor vehicle-related crashes in 1999. About 13 percent of the fatalities were pedestrians.

Studies show Los Angeles has the most congested roadways and worst rush hour traffic of any major metropolitan area in the United States.

"We have commuters that go through Malibu Canyon plus the commuters who go through Topanga Canyon," Mauch said. "And there’s all the other side trips, including traffic coming down Oak Park and North Ranch. We have far more traffic than our population generates so we’re not like the typical residential community whose traffic is its own."

Motorcycle cops can help keep streets safe, Mauch said.

Curry, who’s worked traffic beats throughout the Lost Hills area, is currently honing his riding skills at the sheriff’s department’s West Hollywood training center.

McGee, who lives in the Conejo Valley, has owned dirt bikes throughout his life, but never a street bike. The Kawasaki Police 1000 he rides every day at work has become his pride and joy. Each of the county’s 82 motorcycle cops is assigned one of the Kawasaki bikes, now in their 18th year of service with the department.

McGee said only once did a car fail to pull over after he turned on his flashing lights. He said the female driver he was following on the 101 Freeway was drunk and perhaps ignored his motorcycle or couldn’t see it.

The job can be risky, McGee said.

"I’m as invisible as the next guy on a motorcycle," he said. "[Drivers] don’t have the ability to judge our speed and distances as well as they do a car."

Still, McGee remains enthusiastic about his work.

"It probably came from watching too many episodes of CHIPS growing up," he said.