The Crescenta Valley Station has joined other Los Angeles Sheriff Department stations and other police agencies in being proactive regarding dangerous driving.

Crescenta Valley Station has implemented STTOP (Sheriff’s Teen Traffic Offender Program). The STTOP program is an innovative intervention program developed by the Lost Hills/Malibu Station to educate young drivers and their parents. It is reckless behavior and other bad driving practices that STTOP hopes to correct.

The program is designed to intervene when a young driver displays poor judgment or dangerous driving behavior. STTOP encourages citizens to call in and report dangerous teen drivers.

Many times patrol officers are not present to see the dangerous driving reportedly done by young drivers. Often the driver screeches his tires, races another car or does other dangerous maneuvers  then vanishes before patrol units arrive.

People are encouraged to report dangerous drivers when they witness an incident. The STTOP program does not dispatch an immediate police response and if an immediate police response is needed, then the reporting party should call 9-1-1 as with any other emergency.

STTOP will take the information about the driver, his vehicle, and the dangerous driving behavior and a representative from the Crescenta Valley station will contact the offender. It is important for witnesses to get as much information as possible concerning the incident.

After locating the driver, intervention is conducted with the driver and his parents in order to correct the dangerous behavior. The intervention can include anything from a brief discussion to the parents revoking the teen’s driving privileges. The program’s purpose is not to prosecute, but to correct and educate the offender and his parents. The goal of the STTOP program is to make teens better, safer drivers, which in turn benefits all drivers on the roadway.

The STTOP phone number for the Crescenta Valley communities are (818) 957-6132 and the website is www.sttop.net. The station coordinators are Sgt. Gary Ogurek and Dep. Bill Fillpot. Anyone with questions are encouraged to contact STTOP.