Civilian traffic cops about ready to roll

Remember Mayor White's plan to put civilians on the street to help direct traffic? Well, City Council approved the budget for the proposal — to the tune of $10 million diverted from the street and bridge repair fund — and the average Joe traffic force has been in training for weeks and is getting ready to hit the streets.

The civilian force, which was trained by HPD, will be sent out from Houston TranStar to direct traffic at trouble spots and during special events. They'll also respond to minor accidents, and White said some of the civilians have been trained to understand how traffic signals work and how to fix them. It's a quick fix for a police force that's already stretched thin, but it's not a new idea: Similar civilian forces have been dispatched in Seattle (for parking) and New York (for neighborhood patrol), and San Diego may hire civilians to work at police headquarters.

In theory, the new force sounds like a good idea — it seems cheaper than training full-fledged officers, it lets the police tend to more pressing matters and, if the dispatch from TranStar works, the civilians should be able to make the scene faster than traditional police. But there's still the matter of the $10 million taken out of the road and bridge fund: It may be a drop in the overall bucket, but we drive on roads that are about as even as the surface of the moon on a daily basis. But hey, at least we won't end up gridlocked on those surfaces, right?