Officers Write Tickets So They Can Park Themselves

The Atlanta Police Department has launched an internal investigation after a video surfaced allegedly showing two officers force drivers to move their illegally parked cars, and then parking their city cars in those spaces before eating lunch. A man only identified as ‘Oscar’ shot the video and can be heard asking one of the cops, “You parked on the street to go get your lunch you was going to write us a ticket?” Oscar claims he later saw the same officer writing tickets to drivers who parked in the same place.

Motorists Outraged at Paying ‘Voluntary’ Red-Light Camera Tickets

As Los Angeles’ City Council prepares to vote on dropping the city’s red-light camera program on Wednesday morning, it has been revealed that the fines issued from the cameras were OPTIONAL AND NOT MANDATORY! According to Richard Tefnak, executive director of the city’s Board of Police Commissioners, the fines are simply part of a “voluntary payment program.” As Councilman Bill Rosendahl said, “The consequence is somebody calling you from one of these collection agencies saying ‘pay up.’ And that’s it. There’s no real penalty in terms of your driver’s license or any other consequence if you don’t pay.” The news is obviously devastating to those who have already paid such fines, such as Bob Brickman, a 61 year old alcohol and drug recovery counselor who finally coughed up $476 for a ticket after fighting the citation in court for months. “Now that makes me nuts. That makes me want to go get a refund, but I’ve been around long enough to know that’s not going to happen. It’s very frustrating to know that I was victimized by something that they think is not useful or a good idea…I could truly use that $476.”

SJC Sanctions Fees to Appeal Parking Tickets

Vincent Gillespie and Edward Hamel were both issued parking citations in Northamption, MS, back in 2005. Upon losing their initial appeals, they were shocked to find out that it would cost them $275 each to file an additional appeal. Together, they filed a lawsuit opposing the fee, claiming it to be “so costly that it effectively denied access to the courts.” They also argued that local parking clerks could not be objective since parking fines raise revenue for their municipalities. However, the law was upheld in an unanimous decision from the Supreme Judicial Court. According to Justice Robert Cording ruling, “the law does not violate access to the courts, give that a waiver is available for the indigent, and that the fees help reduce frivolous appeals in an already overburdened judicial system.”

Few Parking Tickets, More Revenue

After installing more than 50 new, solar powered pay stations throughout the beach and business districts, the city of Bethany Beach, Delaware, has seen an increase in revenue despite a decrease in parking citations. Yes, you read that correctly. It seems as though, the simple to use pay stations, which accept multiple forms of payment are encouraging patrons to park and pay properly. “They’re catching on pretty well. Pay stations are all over the world. I think the out-of-towners have more experience with them,” said Parking Supervisor Bill Dowdell. In all, officials say that revenue is up around 20%, while ticketing is down as much as 30%. Go figure.

Parking Ticket Pitfalls in Detroit

Editorial criticizes the city of Detroit’s new parking policy which will extend parking enforcement to 10pm, Tuesday through Friday, and 2pm to 10pm on Saturday. The city hopes to generate $10 million in revenue from the new enforcement schedule, however, as the writer points out, this could very well hurt downtown businesses – especially bars and restaurants. Any negative drawbacks will render the plan counterproductive as Detroit struggles to rebound from a failing economy.