Even as the Austin Police Department was shooting itself in the foot over the weekend down at Occupy Austin (see “Halloween Crackdown on Occupy Austin“), it was stepping in deep PR doo-doo with the other foot as well after launching the Pedestrian Enforcement Safety Team initiative from APD’s Highway Enforce­ment Command. Doubtless the original intentions were good: With vehicle-pedestrian fatalities way up this year, PEST seeks “to educate the community on pedestrian laws and to conduct enhanced enforcement operations,” according to an APD press release. But as implemented, PEST seems tone-deaf and ill-conceived at best and downright hostile at worst, and is being roundly blasted on several neighborhood listservs.

Take the acronym for starters. In a town where sidewalks and other such infrastructure are spotty at best, pedestrians (the “other” 99% of us) often feel like second-class citizens already; the implication that our police department considers us pests is disconcerting. Adding to the irony, a similar program treats aggressive drivers with TACT – Ticketing Aggressive Cars and Trucks. Symbolism aside, though, complaints – including one from a county judge – have focused on the theme that APD is essentially punishing the victim here, or at best addressing only one side of the problem: focusing entirely on pedestrian violations instead of, for instance, ways to improve pedestrian visibility and driver awareness. In at least two cases, ticketed jaywalkers ($190!) complain that their extra-legal street crossings were actually common ped routes used because of logistical problems with the nearby legal alternatives. APD Lt. Ely Reyes replied to one inquiry that “officers assigned to the pedestrian initiative issued 20 violations for vehicles failing to yield to pedestrians last week. I understand the frustration of some members of the community about this initiative, however, due to the large number … of Pedestrian Fatality Crashes we decided to conduct this initiative.”

Read the APD press release explaining the initiative here.

So, pedestrians (and drivers) beware: PEST runs through Saturday, Nov. 5.

This article appears in November 4 • 2011.

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