Police launch year-long effort to enhance safety on Palm Springs streets, urge public awareness

Chris Ruetz doesn’t remember many details about what happened at the intersection of North Farrell Drive and East Alejo Road on the afternoon of June 3. But he does remember seeing the engine of the vehicle he was driving sitting in his passenger seat.

“It all happened in a split second,” he said Tuesday morning when asked to describe the collision he was involved in with what was most likely a speeding pickup truck. “The light turned green. I glanced to my sides to see if it was safe. And then all I know is that I couldn’t open any of my doors and the police and fire department had to pull me out the back.”

Ruetz credits the engineers at BMW for designing a vehicle that could keep him safe during not one, but two impacts that day. He said the truck not only hit his car on the driver’s side, but hit it on the other side after it came to a rest after being spun around.

While it was a traumatic event to live through, Ruetz said he did not suffer any major, long-term injuries. Still, while speaking about the dangers of city streets during a recent meeting of the Organized Neighborhoods of Palm Springs (ONE-PS), which he chairs, Ruetz said, “It doesn’t have to be like this.”

To that point, many city residents would agree. An increasing number of locals have registered their concerns with police, Palm Springs Police Chief Andy Mills said Tuesday from the steps of City Hall, as Ruetz and others looked on. Now, police are stepping up, with Mills proclaiming Tuesday that “enough is enough.”

Through the aptly-named “Operation Rearview Mirror,” Mills said it will be “all hands on deck” for the next year, with officers and PSPD leadership all fanning out to 10 known “hotspots” in the city that see the highest number of speeders, reckless drivers, and drunk drivers. The hotposts stretch from Racquet Club Road to Gene Autry Drive.

“We’re ticketing everybody,” said Mills, noting that there will be fewer motorists receiving warnings in hopes that more tickets mean more word of mouth in the community. That’s especially crucial, he said, because statistics show 73% of traffic collisions that result in injuries in the city involve people who live locally.

The effort will also include “Buzz Stops” — locations that bar patrons can walk to in order to be picked up by alternate transportation — educational materials placed at area bars, and a unique outreach effort that will see motorists given a sticker of a police car light bar they can affix to their rearview mirrors. “Watch your speed!” states language on the card that contains the sticker. “PSPD is watching!”

Police and city officials will also be working across multiple departments to determine how they might re-engineer some of the hotspots in hopes of slowing vehicle speeds. Ruetz said he would like to see technology installed to assist police in their efforts, including speed cameras that can trigger tickets automatically.

In April 2022, members of the City Council voted 4-1 to seek participation in a state-sponsored pilot program that would have seen speed cameras set up along city streets, as allowed under a new bill. The city wasn’t chosen for the program, but Mills said he’d like to continue pursuing the technology.

Anybody questioning why the city might need to deploy as many resources as possible to stop unsafe drivers need only look at the statistics. Between 2018 and 2023, Mills said during a Tuesday news conference announcing the new program, 78 people died in traffic collisions on roads inside the city limits.

“A civil society cannot allow this to take place,” Mills said. “How is that acceptable in a city our size?”

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