Los Alamitos covers roughly two square miles in Orange County. It has one full time traffic officer. And over the last decade, it has generated $6.9 million in traffic ticket revenue — accounting for 3.9% of the city's total income.
A CBS News investigation examined traffic enforcement data across Southern California and found that smaller cities often depend more heavily on ticket revenue than larger ones.
The Numbers
Officer Christian Cruz, the city's sole full time traffic officer, told CBS News that he makes 15 to 20 traffic stops per shift and issues approximately 10 to 15 citations during each 12 hour shift. Combined with red light camera and parking citations, those numbers add up quickly.
In contrast, the Los Angeles Police Department has 200 traffic officers. Despite the much larger force, tickets account for only 0.79% of LA's total city revenue — one of the lowest percentages in Southern California. The total monetary value of tickets in Los Angeles has exceeded $1.38 billion over the same period, but relative to the city's overall budget, it represents a tiny fraction.
Is It About Safety or Revenue?
Both Los Alamitos Police Chief Michael Claborn and LAPD officers maintain that tickets are about safety, not revenue. Claborn denied any quota system. LAPD Sgt. Stephen Soinsky, who has written roughly 30,000 tickets over 28 years, echoed the sentiment.
However, former Los Angeles Controller Ron Galperin examined ticket revenue across Southern California and found that tickets represent a much larger share of revenue in smaller cities like Los Alamitos and Manhattan Beach. In larger cities like Los Angeles, the cost of officers, parking aides, and processing has made traffic enforcement roughly break even.
Claborn acknowledged a similar dynamic in Los Alamitos, noting that once you factor in officer salaries, benefits, and the leasing costs for red light camera systems from third party vendors, the net revenue is significantly lower than the $6.9 million headline figure suggests.
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Check my ticketThe Context
Los Alamitos also has one of the busiest intersections in Orange County, with a nearby military base and race course driving approximately 170,000 vehicles through the area each day. That volume naturally creates more enforcement opportunities.
Why This Matters
The relationship between traffic enforcement and city revenue is a topic that generates strong opinions. California law prohibits automated enforcement contracts that pay vendors based on the number of citations generated. Both AB 645 (speed cameras) and SB 720 (red light cameras) explicitly state that revenue generation beyond recovering actual program costs cannot be a factor in deciding whether to install cameras.
For drivers, the data is a reminder that enforcement intensity varies significantly depending on where you are. A stretch of road in a small city may see far more enforcement activity per mile than a comparable road in a larger jurisdiction.
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