The DUI checkpoints. The anecdotal evidence of more traffic tickets. We've given the LAPD the benefit of the doubt when it comes to its claims that it's business as usual despite the city's dire budget outlook.

But the department's stance is getting harder and harder to believe when news drops that it's going to be writing $190 jaywalking tickets in one of the most pedestrian-cramped parts of L.A. — the Historic Core and the Jewelry and Fashion Districts — according to the Downtown News.

This holiday crackdown, just in time for shopping season, sounds like a fundraiser to us.

Cops cite three car-versus-pedestrian accidents downtown during last year's holiday shopping season as the reason for the crackdown.

“It's a double-edged sword because a lot of people want a high police presence and enforcement, but they don't want a jaywalking ticket,” Capt. Todd Chamberlain told the News. “But we feel it's imperative.”

We still think it's fishy. The area is L.A.'s most Manhattan-like zone. People crisscross every which way there as traffic sometimes slows to a crawl. It will be like shooting fish in a barrel for the budget-strapped department.

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