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Question: As a resident of Calexico and Imperial County, we should be able to drive freely from one side of the city to the other. Multiple times in the afternoon the City of Calexico sends its traffic patrol to manage the influx of vehicles driving south to Mexico. The problem is that they block all accesses on Imperial Avenue except for two, forcing people to either go all the way to Cole Road to avoid the traffic they have caused by only having Birch Avenue/98 and maybe 5th Street to go east to west of the city. Even driving north on Imperial Avenue they block the left turn on 5th Street going west. Talk about misuse of city funds. Why have a traffic controller there if he is going to be useless?

Answer: The short of it is without the Traffic Control Officer being present, drivers ÐÔÊӽ紫ý“ "local" or not ÐÔÊӽ紫ý“ do not follow traffic rules if left to themselves, other drivers, and mere traffic lights. Now for the long of it:

Interim Calexico Chief of Police Jesus J. Serrano said it is "the mission of the Calexico Police Department to build trust in the community by respecting and protecting the constitutional rights of all persons, providing service with honor and respect, protecting life, and promoting solid partnerships with the community, thereby increasing the quality of life for all of Calexico."

Serrano said the Calexico Police Department is responsible for preserving the peace, responding to law enforcement service requests, and protecting life and property within the city limits. Personnel is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to prevent and investigate criminal activity, apprehend suspects and violators, investigate traffic collisions, and provide crowd control and death investigations. Officers conduct special investigations, crime analysis, and training. Civilian personnel in the Calexico Police Department provide support services to the Police Department records management and evidence management.

He said CPD also provides dispatch services to the Calexico Fire Department. Personnel operates the Dispatch Center in CPD around the clock, seven days a week. The Calexico Police Department operates a Public Safety Answering Point (9-1-1 PSAP), Fire Department Dispatching, monitor and dispatch Parking/ Traffic Control units, and Calexico Police Department Business lines.

Regarding the geographical location of border sister cities like Calexico and Mexicali, Serrano said since Calexico sits adjacent to Mexicali, the Calexico Port of Entry is the primary entrance point for thousands of visitors and many goods traveling between the two countries. Mexicali has a population of 1.033 million (as of 2018), and daily commuters to the City of Calexico are 10,158 (pedestrians), 24,673 (passengers in vehicles), and 13,656 (vehicles) per day.

"With these additional increases in our population (34,858 as of 2019)," Serrano said. "The police department is responsible for providing service and protection to a population of approximately 74,804 people, daily."

"Presently the Calexico Police Department is staffed at .53 officers per 1,000 people for a population of 39,946, and, ÐÔÊӽ紫ý“ due to staffing ÐÔÊӽ紫ý“ the department is struggling to become proactive (with an) Inter-Departmental Memorandum within our community," Serrano said.

"The national standard of personnel for our population should be 1.5 officers per 1,000 people as a minimum, but an ideal ratio would be 1.7 officers per 1,000 people," he said.

Serrano stated that Mexico-bound traffic uses two primary routes of travel. State Route 111 to Second Street and Cesar Chavez Boulevard are the two roadways. All southbound traffic funnels to the intersection of Second Street and Cesar Chavez Boulevard. Currently, the intersection is controlled by a signal light. However, during peak hours, motorists do not respect or follow the signal lights, and this causes significant traffic issues at the intersection and the area around the intersections.

Serrano said that traffic congestion, traffic delays, traffic collisions, failing to-yield violations and gridlocked intersections paralyze the flow of traffic, and criminal violations have been identified when the intersection is controlled only by the signal light or traffic control devices.

"Therefore, the Calexico Police Department deploys Traffic Control Officers to direct traffic along the southbound routes into Mexico," he said. "The Traffic Control Officers manage the flow of traffic. The officerÐÔÊӽ紫ý™s primary responsibility is to control the intersection and create a safe environment for them and the public traveling on the City of Calexico Streets. However, the traffic poses many challenges for motorists and Traffic Control Personnel."

Motorists block intersections along State Route 111 (Imperial Avenue), State Route 98 (Birch Street), and Cesar Chavez Boulevard, motorists not obeying traffic control officers, have tempers and attitudes of the motorist, the impatient motorist and do not wait in line to get to their destination, a large volume of vehicles funneling to a small number of lanes into Mexico are some significant challenges that have been identified, according to Serrano.

"Therefore, the Traffic Control Officers, in conjunction with the Calexico Police Department, have developed traffic management plans to mitigate the traffic and reduce the number of traffic controllers required to manage the large volume of traffic heading into Mexico over the years," Serrano said.

Assigning Traffic Control Officers at the major intersections, closing and rerouting intersections to limit vehicle access to Mexico-bound traffic, redirecting and detouring vehicles to reduce the access of Mexico-bound traffic, and closure of business driveways to vehicular traffic and denying access to the Mexico-bound traffic lanes, are traffic mitigation devices and strategies have been successful in mitigating the primary traffic issues, according to Serrano.

The Calexico Police Department and Traffic Control Officer have tried additional management plans and used traffic-controlled devices to control the traffic, "however, these plans have not positively impacted vehicular traffic control, so they are no longer being used," Serrano said.

CPD has seen an increase in incidents where Traffic Control Officers have become injured or assaulted by a vehicle attempting to get into the line to travel into Mexico, especially at the intersection of Cesar Chavez Boulevard and Second Street, the police chief said, stating that just recently on October 14 at approximately 6:00 p.m., officers from CPD responded to that regarding a report of an injury traffic collision.

Once officers arrived, they determined that a vehicle was traveling eastbound on Second Street, approaching the intersection of Cesar Chavez Boulevard and Second Street. A Traffic Controller Officer was located in the southwest area of the intersection, monitoring vehicles traveling in the number two lane of eastbound Second Street and waiting to turn southbound into Mexico.  The Traffic Control Officer observed the vehicle attempting to turn southbound from the number one lane of eastbound Second Street. 

The Traffic Control Officer saw the vehicle making the right turn into Mexico, and she attempted to move out of the vehicleÐÔÊӽ紫ý™s path.  She could not move quickly enough and was struck on the forearm by the passing vehicleÐÔÊӽ紫ý™s driver's side view mirror.  The vehicle fled the scene southbound into Mexico. 

Calexico Fire Department was dispatched to the scene to evaluate the Traffic Control OfficerÐÔÊӽ紫ý™s injuries. 

"There were no visible injuries to the Traffic Control Officer, and the Traffic Control Officer refused medical attention," Serrano said.

"Calexico Police Officer investigated a crime of 245 PC-Assault with a Deadly Weapon on the Traffic Control Officer. Calexico Police Officers continue investigating the traffic collision where a driver struck a Traffic Control Officer.  The driver was identified as a Customs and Border Protection Officer assigned to the San Luis Port of Entry," Serrano said.

In addition to Traffic Control Officers being assaulted by vehicles at the intersections, there have been several complaints when vehicles make illegal U-turns throughout the route going into Mexico, according to Serrano.

Vehicles merged unsafely into the southbound lanes on Imperial Avenue and Cesar Chavez Boulevard, and the eastbound and westbound traffic attempting to cross Imperial Avenue at non-major intersections causing gridlock are examples of violations that have been seen throughout the route to Mexico.

Serrano said that the intersections of the traffic heading into Mexico have become increasingly dangerous for Traffic Control Officers and motorists. Traffic Control Officers must monitor four travel directions and turning pockets at the intersections. 

"The Calexico Police Department has employed potentially the safest traffic management plans. It requires a minimum of traffic control personnel or police officer to be present and conduct directing traffic operations," Serrano said.

"The traffic management plans reduce the number of Traffic Control Officers at major intersections and allow the redeployment of Traffic Control Officers where needed," he said. "Additionally, the traffic management plan reduces the need for full-time Police Officers to mitigate traffic violations along the southbound Mexico route."

According to Serrano, Calexico PD does not have the funding or personnel to assign additional traffic control personnel or police officers to mitigate the traffic issues at each intersection along State Route 111 (Imperial Avenue), State Route 98 (Birch Street), and Cesar Chavez Boulevard.

The traffic management plan that has been implemented has increased the number of vehicles traveling southbound into Mexico and positively reduced the wait time for motorists waiting in line to go to Mexico, Serrano said.

"This traffic management plan maximizes the continuous southbound traffic flow from the two major traffic arteries into Mexico," he said. "The traffic management plan has positively impacted many issues along all the intersections. The plans have also shown the reduction of California Vehicle Code violations along the Mexico-bound corridor."

"Finally, the Calexico Police Department has continuously evaluated the traffic conditions and traffic patterns and adjusted the traffic mitigation plan as needed," the police chief said. "The traffic mitigation plan has been developed with public safety in mind, providing expeditious travel into Mexico, the commerce along the Mexico traffic corridor, and the City of Calexico's financial situation."

Interim Chief Serrano thanked those who posed this Probe question for bringing the traffic concern to the attention of the Calexico Police Department.

"The Calexico Police Department encourages citizens to contact the department regarding any complaints or suggestions," Serrano said.

"The public can expect efficient, fair, and impartial law enforcement," he said. "The Calexico Police Department looks forward to collaborating with the community and seeking ways to improve our service."