Sacramento Police Officer TJ Price walked through crosswalks at various intersections Tuesday. You might think he had an easy day, but he said was nearly hit at the intersection of Marysville Boulevard and Roanoake Avenue in North Sacramento.

As part of a police operation, Price wore plainclothes and walked through crosswalks like any other pedestrian. Police officers were on the lookout for the drivers that cut off Price and other pedestrians at crosswalks. More than 50 citations were distributed as part of the operation, said Konrad Von Schoech, a spokesman for the department. In addition, four vehicles were towed.

The department wants “to educate the drivers and pedestrians on what their rights are,” Sgt. David Hargadon said.

The drivers who received tickets violated a vehicle code that fines drivers for not yielding to pedestrians at crosswalks. The total amount of the ticket for these violations is $214, according to Ginger Sylvester, public information officer for the Sacramento Superior Court.

The intersections of Broadway and 33rd Street, and Marysville Boulevard and Roanoake Avenue were among those patrolled by officers during the operation. Intersections were selected based on complaints from citizens, Hargadon said.

Hargadon noted that he read a comment on the Sacramento Bee’s website about downtown intersections, but the department completed its last crosswalk operation at several locations downtown earlier this year. The department is trying to spread out its enforcement of crosswalk violations throughout the city, he noted.

While the operation was mainly focused on vehicles cutting off pedestrians at crosswalks, officers also enforced jaywalking rules. With his headphones on Tuesday morning, Robert Arnstad of Oak Park jaywalked at the Broadway and 33rd Street intersection. He was slapped with a ticket — jaywalking violations come with a $178 fine, according to Sylvester.

“I don’t like being set up for,” Arnstad said, adding that he would fight the ticket in court.

Price thought the jaywalking ticket was fair. If a jaywalker cuts across a street and a vehicle hits him or her, the driver has to live with that experience. “You have to take into account: It’s not [the driver’s] fault and they hit a pedestrian. That’s a lifelong effect on somebody.”

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter at The Sacramento Press.