By RAHUL KANAKIA

EnlargeEnlarge
A Pedestrian Zone warden carries a sign that warns against biking in the Quad while a student bikes in a different part of the Quad, violating the law. Police deny an increase in ticketing, despite rumors of heightened bike law enforcement. #gallery http://daily.stanford.edu/image/full/6906
Masaru Oka

A Pedestrian Zone warden carries a sign that warns against biking in the Quad while a student bikes in a different part of the Quad, violating the law. Police deny an increase in ticketing, despite rumors of heightened bike law enforcement.

EnlargeEnlarge
A Pedestrian Zone warden carries a sign that warns against biking in the Quad while a student bikes in a different part of the Quad, violating the law. Police deny an increase in ticketing, despite rumors of heightened bike law enforcement. #gallery http://daily.stanford.edu/image/full/6907
Masaru Oka

A Pedestrian Zone warden carries a sign that warns against biking in the Quad while a student bikes in a different part of the Quad, violating the law. Police deny an increase in ticketing, despite rumors of heightened bike law enforcement.

SENIOR STAFF WRITER

While some students say they have noticed increased numbers of police officers looking to ticket bicycle-related violations at busy intersections, the Department of Public Safety (DPS) claims that variations in its enforcement are somewhat random and are not due to any new departmental policy.

“I see more officers patrolling,” said Bradley Heinz ‘08. “More people assigned to do bike things.”

Kilty McGowan ‘08 said that he recently received a ticket for biking without a bike light.

“I’ve seen them out twice now since about two weeks ago at the corner of Santa Teresa,” he said. “They were giving out fix-it tickets — they’re only $10. You basically just have to buy a bike light and prove that you bought the bike light. I know they’ve done this in previous years, so it’s not entirely new, but I think they just tend to do a bunch at a time. It’s not something they’re doing constantly. They just do it every once in a while.”

Deputy Christopher Cohendet said that enforcement has not increased. He added, however, that the police presence at intersections varies “depending on how many patrol officers we have on a shift and on how many calls there are. If calls come up for service, they have to go.”

The strictness of enforcement also varies depending on the supervising officer of each watch, according to Cohendet.

“I know that one supervisor has been going out there and enforcing certain locations,” he said.

DPS has an ongoing responsibility to reduce bike violations, Cohendet said. At the beginning of the school year, the department institutes a two-month grace period during September and October during which officers educate students on the nature of bike violations and release offenders without citations.

“A lot of students come from out-of-state or international areas.” Cohendet said. “So we say, ‘Look, here are the rules in the state of California.’”

After the grace period ends, the department moves into its enforcement phase, patrolling heavy traffic intersections throughout the year.

“We actually had civilian employees go out and monitor the major intersections and look at which ones are the busiest and which have the most potential for accidents,” he said. “And based on that data we went out and enforced the law. We basically picked eight major corridors and chose a rotating sequence, and we tried to enforce at the same time at night. And you would see reductions; after eight weeks, the community would get the idea.”