The cops wave over the sleek black Trans Am outside Grauman's Chinese Theatre, and the young man behind the wheel looks startled.
No wonder. He's been nabbed for tinted windows and no front license plate -- small stuff for a bustling Saturday night in Hollywood -- and a Los Angeles Police Department patrol officer is writing him a ticket. A second uniformed officer watches his partner's back, and a third stands guard nearby on the star-studded sidewalk. Two more officers cruise by in souped-up black-and-white scooters bearing the famous LAPD seal.
This looks and feels like a big-deal police dragnet, and the Trans Am driver doesn't know the half of it.
The five men in blue are among 44 LAPD reserve officers sweeping the Hollywood streets Saturday night, a rare all-civilian squad so large that some neighborhood streets are virtually teeming with uniformed officers -- a rare event for a department with fewer staff officers per capita than most cities in America.
The special squad includes an attorney, a pilot, a retired school principal and a movie industry executive, all trained at the police academy, sworn, uniformed and armed. The mission: to use high-profile street patrols and citations, such as the one given the Trans Am driver, to ensure a low-crime evening.
"We're sending a message to people coming into this area, who aren't necessarily here to enjoy Hollywood. We're saying, we're out there with a presence," said reserve officer J.T. Alpaugh, 38, vice president of a Van Nuys-based helicopter company.
The one-night effort marks the first time in 15 years that the LAPD has deployed a special crime-fighting effort comprised entirely of civilians. Other efforts may follow, officials said last week.
"We're going to have to see how this works and build on it," said Capt. William Scott, special assistant to the director of the LAPD Office of Operations, which oversees patrol forces. "I'd love to do it every day. If you as a captain have additional resources in your area, you want to take advantage of it."
More than 650 LAPD reserve officers received the same policy academy training as full-time staff officers. They receive only $50 a month and commit to working 16 hours monthly, but some work virtually full-time, officers said.
"There's not a different standard," said reserve officer Eric W. Rose, a public affairs consultant. "There's only one way you get an LAPD badge, and that's if you go through the academy."
