JUST THE TICKET : The CHP has found the perfect spot for nabbing drinking drivers.

When the Dodgers are in town, the California Highway Patrol plays a game of its own.

About an hour before the first pitch, CHP motorcycle officers begin lining up on the Figueroa Street on-ramp above the Pasadena Freeway, where they can look down into the creeping traffic below to spot fans drinking on their way to the stadium.

“It’s like fishing on a pier,” said Officer Chuck Davenport, a regular on the ramp and one of five officers who took turns ticketing motorists there Wednesday evening.

In an hour at the ramp, an officer can write more citations--virtually all of them for carrying open alcoholic beverage containers--than in the rest of his eight-hour shift.

“People on their way to the stadium drink more than the average driver,” Davenport said. “Especially Dodger fans.”

The location is perfect for spotting drinking drivers because the elevation allows officers to look into a driver’s lap.

“There’s a Budweiser,” said Davenport as he leisurely climbed onto his motorcycle and slowly rolled down the ramp to pull over a yellow Trans Am. Out came the driver and a Bud.

Figueroa Is Tops

The officers use other ramps in the city, like the closed Flower Street ramp on the Harbor Freeway, but none can compete with Figueroa. “It’s the only ramp I use,” said Officer Steve Webb, looking up and down the ramp on a recent evening.

To the CHP, the “container duty” at Figueroa is more than just an easy way to write a lot of tickets. It’s a high priority as the first line of defense in combating drunk drivers.

“If we can get to them before they get to that point, that’s great,” said CHP Sgt. Mark Lunn. “They might continue drinking if something dramatic doesn’t happen.” Something like the embarrassment of being pulled over in full view of the passing traffic and the $86 fine that the infraction carries.

Container duty on the Figueroa ramp is a time-honored tradition among officers of the Central Division in Los Angeles.

“I remember doing that back in 1979 (when he was a motorcycle officer),” said Lunn.

“I’ve been doing it ever since I can remember,” said Officer Dave Groeger, who has been assigned to motorcycle traffic duty for the last 2 1/2 years.

“We also do the Sports Arena, especially the concerts, and all Raiders games. Baseball games are no worse, but some (events) are better,” Groeger said. “There was a Jehovah’s Witnesses convention once. There was a lot of traffic but no action.”

In roll-call briefings, sergeants generally announce the game time, and motor officers turn out about an hour before the first pitch, or 6:30 for the usual night game.

“It takes about three minutes to get the first one,” Davenport said. Close to his prediction, the first suspect on Wednesday night was pulled over five minutes after Davenport’s arrival. It turned out to be a false alarm: The driver was using a bottle to collect the juice from his chewing tobacco. Six minutes later, Webb pulled over a second car, issuing the driver a ticket for having an open beer.

Each officer appears to have his own technique, but they all followed a basic pattern: “We spot ‘em, come on down, bag ‘em and head for the next bridge,” Groeger said. “Maybe I’ll go back for two or three and then take off and do something else. There’s always speeders, tailgaters and guys with guns out there,” he said.

Seven minutes later, Officer Cecil Doss pulled in. “Hey, it’s getting like an assembly line here,” said Webb, as he spotted a third suspect and took off down the ramp. By 7:20, there were five CHP motorcycle officers and one patrol car lined up on the Figueroa ramp and seven citations had been handed out.

Some officers said the activity was light. Often, they said, one officer alone can ticket seven to 10 motorists. Lunn said an average of one ticket per hour of normal duty is high for a CHP traffic officer.

One possible reason for the reduced haul on recent evenings may be that drivers are getting used to seeing the officers at that ramp. Some drivers wave as they creep by.

A 7-Pup Label

Another reason might be drinking motorists’ efforts to confound the CHP.

Beyond the popular brown bag wrapper, more sophisticated and determined drinkers have taken to using phony beverage labels, sold at some area liquor stores.

“They have wrappers that make a Bud look like a Pepsi,” Doss said. “For the most part, you can’t tell the difference from here. But they are not exact. Like it will say 7-Pup instead of 7-Up.”

Even these disguises are not foolproof in the wrong hands. “One guy I spotted had a 12-ounce wrapper on a 16-ounce beer,” Davenport said. “What a hammerhead.”