Detroit's Parking Enforcement [[Meter Personal) on a lunch break.

[FlyByDon]

Just feet away from where they see fit to issue violations while loading and unloading students in and out of Wayne State.
This just burns my butt when I see this.



Yes, I did witness the person return twenty five minutes later from lunch and drive away.

[Jimaz]

Was it really necessary to straddle two handicapped spaces?

[East Detroit]

Got a picture from the license plate side of the vehicle?

[CLAUDE G]

You should have gotten the license number, and they would have punished the person who parked there.

Just makes me sick, with the amount of B.S Tickets they like to write downtown the second your not watching the your meter expires.

[joesmithrocks]

Two handicap spots! Really, this isn't offensive because enforcement officers write you tickets quickly when your meter expires. You have to pay to park in the city.

It's appalling because of the parking spaces that were taken away from those who truly need them. How many times have you circled a lot, or a building trying to get a spot just a few yards closer to your destination? Especially when it's raining. Well if you can't walk, those handicap spots are pretty damn valueable.

This says everything about our fare city's government. This officer should be fired.

[9mile&seneca]

Most people I see getting out of cars parked in hanicapped spaces walk very well. They should come up with another logo. The man in the wheelchair is not really accurate. Maybe a Crown...

[jt1]

Two handicap spots! Really, this isn't offensive because enforcement officers write you tickets quickly when your meter expires. You have to pay to park in the city.

It's appalling because of the parking spaces that were taken away from those who truly need them. How many times have you circled a lot, or a building trying to get a spot just a few yards closer to your destination? Especially when it's raining. Well if you can't walk, those handicap spots are pretty damn valueable.

This says everything about our fare city's government. This officer should be fired.

I believe parking enforcement is contracted so it speaks to the contractors working for the city, not necessarily city government. Raise the issue to the city and if enough issues are raised they may look to other companies when the contract with this one comes up.

[msawyer91]

You should have gotten the license number, and they would have punished the person who parked there.

Just makes me sick, with the amount of B.S Tickets they like to write downtown the second your not watching the your meter expires.

I earned two degrees from WSU, and in 2005 I was nearing the end of my studies there. I met with an advisor that went 5, maybe 10 minutes, over the meter's time. Sure enough, when I got back to my car, there was a citation.

I remember the meter officer sitting in the WSU Starbucks with what appeared to be very high end binoculars [[paid for at taxpayer expense), and she would use these binoculars to see expired meters at pretty great distances [[several hundred yards). From her table she could see meters down by Alex Manoogian Hall. And if she saw one expire, she'd bull her way out the door and dash down to that car to issue a ticket. Seemed her policy was "no mercy." If you went over by a even a few seconds, she'd nail you.

The upshot was that the ticket said that if it was paid within 10 days you only had to pay half. My fine was $20, so I mailed it in the next day and only had to pay $10.

[Roq]

It's symptomatic of many people now who have absolutely no consideration for anyone but themselves.

[DetroitPole]

I went to DMC and found out I had to have surgery. The meter maid was writing my ticket as I walked out from this devastating news. I was in a full cast and explained to him that I had to have emergency surgery, could he cut me a break, since I was just walking up as he was writing it? Gave me a line that he couldn't rescind the ticket since he was already writing it.

I later found out that that was, in fact, not true. He could have cancelled it right there. I mean I know I was in violation, but have a heart.

Oh, and is morbid obesity a requirement for that position? Those poor little cars.

[1KielsonDrive]

This is a good example of why the City of Detroit is so reviled. Whether or not they are directly employed by the City doesn't matter. They represent the city. In my expereince doing business with Detroit, this is typical, but nowhere near the most egregious example. It's also why I say they need to blow up the bureaucracy in Detroit and start all over again.

[kraig]

I believe parking enforcement is contracted so it speaks to the contractors working for the city, not necessarily city government. Raise the issue to the city and if enough issues are raised they may look to other companies when the contract with this one comes up.

The Parking Enforcement Officers issuing tickets are city employees. The contracts are with the hearing officers and the company [[I can't think of its name right now) that collects the money for the tickets.

If recent headlines have taught us nothing else, it's that the Bing Administration will respond once an issue hits the press, they won't do anything before then, no matter how aware of the situation they are, but they will react to bad press. Better to go to the media first and let the Mayor's office react in their normal fashion.

[msawyer91]

later found out that that was, in fact, not true. He could have cancelled it right there. I mean I know I was in violation, but have a heart.

Oh, and is morbid obesity a requirement for that position? Those poor little cars.

As I said in my earlier post, they have a "no mercy" policy. I'm convinced of it.

Morbid obesity is definitely a job requirement. Anytime I'd see those dinky white cars, they were always listing to the left, even when nobody was sitting in them! I think the suspension was permanently broken.

Interestingly though, the voluminous meter maid who would sit in the WSU Starbucks could move pretty fast whenever she detected an expired meter. It was disheartening when they got the electronic printers because they could crank out those citations in a matter of seconds, rather than minutes. It seemed that their "no mercy" policy was changed to "cite with extreme prejudice."

[NorthofNormal]

Everybody complains about the parking enforcement, but can you imagine if every city department was run as efficiently and as by-the-book as these guys usually operate? Can we hire these guys to do code enforcement and blight abatement?

[DocTerry]

9Mile - just because you don't see the disability doesn't make it non-existent. Your comment is out of line. Heart problems, breathing problems and more make mobility a problem. Those who are temporarily able-bodied should be glad not to qualify for that handful of spots.

[gazhekwe]

Right on, Doc Terry! I had to deal with the issue when I had hip surgery. I progressed to the point where I looked halfway normal walking but still had balance and stamina issues for several months after. With my temp handicap permit, I was able to drive to places and take care of shopping and business if there were handicap spots available. In many cases, there either were none, or they were all full. What this meter person did is completely unforgiveable, taking two spots for the better part of an hour. How could they? That should be dealt with from the highest level possible. The picture should be forwarded with the particulars to the head of Parking Enforcement with a copy to the Ombudsman and the Mayor's office.

[crosswordgirl]

As I said in my earlier post, they have a "no mercy" policy. I'm convinced of it.

Morbid obesity is definitely a job requirement. Anytime I'd see those dinky white cars, they were always listing to the left, even when nobody was sitting in them! I think the suspension was permanently broken.

Interestingly though, the voluminous meter maid who would sit in the WSU Starbucks could move pretty fast whenever she detected an expired meter. It was disheartening when they got the electronic printers because they could crank out those citations in a matter of seconds, rather than minutes. It seemed that their "no mercy" policy was changed to "cite with extreme prejudice."

how does weight have anything to do with this? fat = mean? sounds like you could teach a class on prejudice.

[MSUguy]

Where do these mythical nice meter maids exisit? I sure hell never met one. If you think Detroit is tough visit East Lansing/MSU on campus or off you better not be more than few minutes late for a meter and in EL they enforce in the neighborhoods. It seemed like no graduated without one run in with the parking nazis.

[downtownguy]

You should have gotten the license number, and they would have punished the person who parked there.

Just makes me sick, with the amount of B.S Tickets they like to write downtown the second your not watching the your meter expires.

I say, report it anyway, and give particulars such as the address and time of day, and, since you saw the person, a description of what they looked like. There probably aren't too many meter maids within the nearby area, and at least they could put all of them on notice.

As for 9mile&seneca's remark... you win the ignorance award for today.

[gazhekwe]

May you continue to be blessed with good health and the physical strength to walk your mile doing whatever you choose, though I must say, I think you would find it easier to walk if your weren't, er, f---ing. Personally, I never used the handicap parking space to do that.

[softailrider]

I've said it before, it's one of the reasons people don't want to come into the city. They're tired of getting terrorized by metermaids.

Those people must get a percentage of what they writem- no other city employees work that hard.

[Maof]

send the picture to one of the local news stations.

[milesdriven]

Parking may be in short supply near WSU and downtown, but I've seen parking enforcement giving tickets on Chester near Harper and in SW Detroit by Michigan and Junction, both areas where there is ample parking. When I was a resident of SW Detroit, they had come around and given tickets to people for parking in the same spots they'd parked in for 30 years. The next day when they tried to come down the alley again, my neighbors and I stood there with our arms crossed and wouldn't let them through. I never saw them in our neighborhood again after that. They should not be allowed past Grand Blvd.

[Meddle]

They should not be allowed past Grand Blvd.

Like I've said on other threads about them, I can understand them doing business districts throughout the city, but they should never be allowed in residential neighborhoods.


As to the picture above, send it to all the media outlets you can find, but it won't do a lot of good without the license plate visible.

[East Detroit]

Terrorism from meter maids?

Are they firebombing your cars? Resetting your meter so that it is expired and then writing you a hefty fine?

Other than the original post of the meter person who should be reprimanded, all I see here are people complaining that the "meter maid" gave them a ticket for their meter being expired. They probably hear every excuse in the book 500 times a day. "My class ran over... my grandma died and I had to ID her body in the WSU mortuary sciences building... I have a hangnail and couldnt walk back to my car fast enough...."

The meter tells you how much time you have left. You come back under the time and you have no ticket. If you're avoiding Detroit because that set of rules is too complex for you, then I'm kinda glad you aren't around.