Reseda : School Cop-in-a-Cart Is L.A. District’s First
Beware, evildoers of Reseda High School. The law has wheels.
Since late last year, P.J. Webb has patrolled the sprawling campus in an electric cart styled after the Los Angeles Unified School District’s blue-and-white patrol cars--the first of its kind in the district.
According to Principal Robert Kladifko, the $2,000 used vehicle allows Webb, an LAUSD police officer, to travel the 24-acre campus and identify problems more quickly than on foot or in a car. The school was the site of a 1993 shooting that claimed the life of a 17-year-old student.
“We were trying to find a way we could get him around the campus a little quicker,” Kladifko said. He joked that around the school the cart is known as “the Webb-mobile.”
“It’s much more visible than someone walking,” Webb explained, noting that the sight of him zipping across the campus at 15 m.p.h. is often enough to scatter troublemakers. “It’s very advantageous.”
Soon the vehicle will be even more visible. Flashing lights will be installed atop the cart next week, Kladifko said.
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