Vancouver Off-Topic / Current Events The off-topic forum for Vancouver, funnies, non-auto centered discussions, WORK SAFE. While the rules are more relaxed here, there are still rules. Please refer to sticky thread in this forum. | | |
03-24-2013, 01:46 PM
|
#1 | MOD
Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: VANCOUVER
Posts: 26,849
Thanked 7,553 Times in 1,957 Posts
| Giving out parking tickets In Vancouver brings on ‘abuse, threats, assaults’
Vancouver parking-ticket officers have been punched, spat on, verbally abused, threatened with death and involved in violent brawls with irate citizens in hundreds of confrontations over the past three years, an investigation by The Province reveals.
Documents released to The Province under freedom-of-information legislation include about 300 parking enforcement officer “incident reports” filed from January 2010 to December 2012.
Under headings including “excessive verbal abuse,” “threats” and “assault,” officers report allegations in detailed narratives.
The reports reviewed by The Province give a rare glimpse into the general hatred and violence that parking enforcement officers face while making their rounds.
In a majority of incidents, verbal aggression including swearing, racial and sexual slurs are reported, and often death threats are involved. COFFEE, EGGS, GARBAGE THROWN
Officers reported being threatened with baseball bats and tire irons, and having hot coffee, eggs, bags of garbage, lit cigarettes and even an office printer thrown at them.
Some officers described fearing for their lives when they were followed and blocked in by angry motorists.
In more than one case, attackers punched officers’ closed car windows while the officers frantically radioed for police assistance.
Several reports alleged that drivers attempted to hit officers while they were out of their vehicles.
In a surprising number of cases, it’s not ticketed motorists but pedestrians or bystanders who verbally and physically attack unsuspecting parking officers.
In about 10 per cent of cases, various types of assault or attempted assault are reported.
In one especially violent case June 30, 2011, an officer reported that he was talking to several parking-meter technicians on East Broadway when a man walking by said, “Why don’t you get back to work, you f---ing squids.”
“I said, ‘You get back to work, you squid,’” the officer writes.
“We were face to face, words were exchanged. He threw a right punch fist that hit my left eye. I defended myself with punches. I grabbed his hair, and he used his thumb to gouge my left eye. . . . A passing cop stopped and broke us up.”
It appears the bylaw officer involved in the brawl also filed about four additional physical conflicts reports.
An Oct. 30, 2011, incident report suggests that officer was advised by a supervisor “when it would be beneficial to disengage and cautioned when to issue another violation that may escalate a situation.” ‘ABUSIVE’ DRIVERS IN DATABASE
Within incident reports, officers can recommend flagging “abusive” drivers in a parking enforcement database.
An “abusive” driver warning can be accessed by officers when they punch in licence plates on the hand-held computer devices they carry. There have been 147 individual drivers flagged “abusive” in the computer system since 2009, according to city records.
In some cases, bylaw officers file Workers Compensation Board injury claims following incidents.
Incident reports don’t indicate whether compensation claims are successful, or whether bylaw officers are disciplined for their actions or judgment.
Those records could not be released, according to the City of Vancouver. A union representative did not respond to a request for comment on this story.
Many of the parking-ticket incident reports show police responding to protect bylaw officers, and often police files are opened and some citizen arrests were reported. POLICE GET NASTY
However, in two cases, according to incident reports, it was police officers engaged in conflicts with bylaw officers.
In an October 2011 case, a parking bylaw officer alleges a “criminal assault by threat,” made by an undercover officer. The alleged incident happened on Ash Street, about a block from the Vancouver Police Department’s Cambie Street headquarters.
After ticketing an unmarked police car parked in a “no stopping” sign area, the bylaw officer alleges a sergeant approached him, flashed his badge, said, “We work for the same boss,” and asked him to cancel the ticket.
“I said I could not take back the ticket,” the bylaw officer claimed. “He said, ‘You have just signed your death certificate.’”
In a January 2012 case, an off-duty police officer who was ticketed allegedly said: “Thanks for the professional courtesy. Just remember, next time you guys need us, we won’t be there for you.”
Vancouver police did not respond to a request for more information on the alleged incidents.
Although the majority of incident reports indicate serious and harrowing ordeals for enforcement officers, one case stands out for sheer bizarreness.
In that case, an officer reported that she perceived an office printer had been thrown near her while she issued a ticket, before it was driven over by a passing car.
But when the stunned officer looked toward the side of the street from which the printer seemed to have come, she “only observed an elderly lady with a walker.” PARKING REVENUE GROWING
Money collected from parking meters and parking tickets is a major and rising source of revenue for the City of Vancouver.
In 2012, $39.5 million was raised from street parking meters, with the take projected to increase to $40.7 million in 2013.
In 2012, 301,478 parking tickets were issued, for a total value of $24.8 million in parking tickets.
Money actually collected from fined motorists started trending above $17 million per year in 2011, apparently due to the city’s new fine adjudication system, while the number of tickets issued has dropped.
In 2009, 443,199 tickets were issued and about $16 million was collected. In 2010, 418,038 were issued and about $17 million was collected, a freedom-of-information request by The Province showed.
Read more: Giving out parking tickets In Vancouver brings on |
| |
03-24-2013, 01:49 PM
|
#2 | The Lone Wanderator
Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Burnaby
Posts: 12,090
Thanked 4,367 Times in 1,137 Posts
|
Looks like a great time to be a bylaw officer!
|
| |
03-24-2013, 02:02 PM
|
#3 | Fathered more RS members than anybody else. Who's your daddy?
Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 24,719
Thanked 11,497 Times in 4,892 Posts
|
Shifting the blame to everyone except yourself.......... that's the kind of sad society we live in.
When I get a ticket, I'm mad at myself for not spending the time to pay the meter.
__________________ Quote:
"there but for the grace of god go I"
| Quote:
Youth is, indeed, wasted on the young.
| YODO = You Only Die Once.
Dirty look from MG1 can melt steel beams.
"There must be dissonance before resolution - MG1" a musical reference.
|
| | This post thanked by: | AzNightmare, c3m, DEADBEA7, dlo, Eatman, fT-z33wor, Gesus, Good_KarMa, GrapeDrink, Gumby, hotjoint, jbsali, luibei, Matlock, nabs, Nightwalker, Noir, parm104, pawdregry4g, PiuYi, Presto, red_2, seakrait, tgill, Verdasco, zonda_s |
03-24-2013, 02:03 PM
|
#4 | Need to Seek Professional Help
Join Date: May 2010 Location: Vancouver
Posts: 1,056
Thanked 1,100 Times in 259 Posts
|
Doesn't at all surprise me Posted via RS Mobile |
| |
03-24-2013, 02:04 PM
|
#5 | MOD
Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: VANCOUVER
Posts: 26,849
Thanked 7,553 Times in 1,957 Posts
|
people always refuse to take the blame and take out their anger on someone else.
|
| |
03-24-2013, 02:08 PM
|
#6 | 14 dolla balla aint got nothing on me!
Join Date: May 2011 Location: 1966 Mustang
Posts: 617
Thanked 1,979 Times in 262 Posts
|
I just consider it a $30 parking spot and move on.
|
| |
03-24-2013, 02:08 PM
|
#7 | ninja edits your posts without your knowledge
Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Vancouver
Posts: 14,955
Thanked 6,307 Times in 1,775 Posts
|
time for Parking Wars... Vancouver edition!
And we can even get buster's on it too!
|
| |
03-24-2013, 02:12 PM
|
#8 | Need to Seek Professional Help
Join Date: May 2010 Location: Vancouver
Posts: 1,056
Thanked 1,100 Times in 259 Posts
|
I just swap plates haha Posted via RS Mobile |
| | This post FAILED by: | AVS_Racing, AW607, AzNightmare, bcedhk, GrapeDrink, ilvtofu, Inaii, lilaznviper, Limitless, LUUUUUUUU, Nlkko, Not really racist!, TRD3000GT, wingies, yray |
03-24-2013, 02:23 PM
|
#9 | MOD
Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: VANCOUVER
Posts: 26,849
Thanked 7,553 Times in 1,957 Posts
| Quote:
Originally Posted by firebird79_00 I just swap plates haha Posted via RS Mobile | Doesn't work with city bylaws Posted via RS Mobile |
| |
03-24-2013, 03:23 PM
|
#10 | The Lone Wanderator
Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Burnaby
Posts: 12,090
Thanked 4,367 Times in 1,137 Posts
|
I find it amusing and odd that it's the bystanders who are apparently the instigators. Dude, it's not your car, shrug it off and walk away. Besides, they're not all evil. Was at the downtown Wind location the other day and some dude had parked right in front and was getting his phone repaired. He was just about to get a ticket when he ran outside and explained to the officer that he was getting his phone fixed and he couldn't call in to add money to the meter. Quoth the officer "Alright, but if you're here when I'm back, you're getting a hefty fine". But he was done and gone in ten minutes. Problem solved.
|
| |
03-24-2013, 03:52 PM
|
#11 | I contribute to threads in the offtopic forum
Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: not vancouver
Posts: 2,642
Thanked 1,941 Times in 765 Posts
|
Wow, we've uncovered that Vancouver is full of irate hicks, including police... What a surprise! (I'm being sarcastic)
|
| |
03-24-2013, 03:53 PM
|
#12 | I contribute to threads in the offtopic forum
Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Surrey
Posts: 2,808
Thanked 2,621 Times in 684 Posts
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Gh0stRider people always refuse to take the blame and take out their anger on someone else. | Reminds me of a CTV article I read a few days ago of a man who travelled to Mexico and let his son play games and watch YouTube videos on the internet. After he got his rather expensive cell phone bill, he blamed everything and everyone but himself for not being a responsible cell phone owner.
I very rarely get parking tickets and if I do, I know why I got them. I may think the pricing for parking is outrageous or that the area shouldn't be a paid parking area but I would never deny that I deserved a ticket.
That's like getting mad at a police officer for pulling you over for speeding...Were you speeding? Yes. Did you know speeding was against the law? Yes....so why are you so shocked and offended when you get the speeding ticket lol. #logic
|
| | This post thanked by: | AzNightmare, c3m, dinosaur, Gesus, jbsali, luibei, Nightwalker, Noir, red_2, shawnly1000, VRYALT3R3D |
03-24-2013, 04:02 PM
|
#13 | F**K YOUR HEAD
Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: vancouver
Posts: 8,718
Thanked 8,153 Times in 1,251 Posts
|
Lol you don't get a job like that not expecting abuse, it's not news to anyone. But at least they get compensated fairly IMO if not excessively. These officers always have a shitty attitude when on the job and in uniform, I would be too if you walked into a restaurant or coffee shop and everyone was giving you the stink eye, seen this happen many times.
I have tremendous respect for these officers and understand that someone has to do it but even then, when I see a officer heading down the sidewalk and I see a car with flashing 00:00 I will throw a dime or a quarter in there just so it won't get ticketed this pass around.
|
| |
03-24-2013, 04:25 PM
|
#14 | MOD
Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: VANCOUVER
Posts: 26,849
Thanked 7,553 Times in 1,957 Posts
|
its your car! you are responsible for it. you decided to park in that spot...how can it be someone else fault?
its the officers fault for patrolling that area? com'on
and non-payment will lead to collections which will fuck with your credit rating. This aint impark or diamond parking
|
| |
03-24-2013, 04:49 PM
|
#15 | Fathered more RS members than anybody else. Who's your daddy?
Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 24,719
Thanked 11,497 Times in 4,892 Posts
|
So, where are the pics of the hot meter maids?
Edit: nvm........... just googled "hot meter maids" and LOLOLOLOL
__________________ Quote:
"there but for the grace of god go I"
| Quote:
Youth is, indeed, wasted on the young.
| YODO = You Only Die Once.
Dirty look from MG1 can melt steel beams.
"There must be dissonance before resolution - MG1" a musical reference.
|
| |
03-24-2013, 04:59 PM
|
#16 | Ready to be Man handled by RS!
Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Burnaby
Posts: 1,798
Thanked 1,502 Times in 506 Posts
|
Time to repost the story of a lady who came in with four slashed tires. Put in an ICBC claim and we installed four new tires. She's back two weeks later and her new tires were also slashed. I always thought she must have pissed off someone to get targeted twice. A few months later I was going home after work and I saw her coming out of a house (I'm guessing it's where she lived).
She then proceeds to walk down the street and gets about three cars before she writes up a ticket. Smart move handing out tickets to people on the same block where you live.
|
| |
03-24-2013, 05:08 PM
|
#17 | Prince of the Apes
Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Abbotsford
Posts: 2,469
Thanked 3,046 Times in 672 Posts
|
i've lost count of how many parking tickets I have. Haven't paid a single one and never plan to.
__________________
There's times in life where I want a relationship, but then I cum. Quote:
[23-08, 13:17] nabs i've gripped ice boy's shaft before
| Quote:
[26-08, 13:50] Jesusjuice is this a sports car forum? why are there so many hondas?
| |
| |
03-24-2013, 05:17 PM
|
#18 | Ready to be Man handled by RS!
Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Burnaby
Posts: 1,798
Thanked 1,502 Times in 506 Posts
| Quote:
Originally Posted by parm104 I very rarely get parking tickets and if I do, I know why I got them. I may think the pricing for parking is outrageous or that the area shouldn't be a paid parking area but I would never deny that I deserved a ticket. | I don't think all people think they don't deserve a ticket. Some could have literally returned from shopping and missed the meter running out by two minutes. I think what pisses people off is when an attendant is anal about the time to the very second. If a ticket is entered into the system they can't take it back, but if you get to your car just before they enter it, then why do they feel the need to finish it off? That's just ignorant behavior. Anyone can run over time by a minute or two if they get stuck in a line-up at the store.
I think meters should have a reverse timer. Once time runs out, it starts counting down. That way if an attendant hits a meter and it's at -2 minutes when the owner shows up they know you actually did pay and just missed the deadline so they could cut you some slack. If the time goes past -10 minutes then too bad - you're getting the ticket regardless.
This would also immediately show the attendant the people who try and park for 2 minutes on an empty meter. You couldn't claim you paid for parking and were only two minutes late.
Would probably go a long way to reducing arguments and abuse.
|
| |
03-24-2013, 05:53 PM
|
#19 | Willing to sell body for a few minutes on RS
Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Cloverdale
Posts: 11,533
Thanked 3,731 Times in 1,322 Posts
| Quote:
Originally Posted by finbar I just consider it a $30 parking spot and move on. | Exactly, I usually pay it over the phone before I even leave the spot I got the ticket then my anger ends, it's done, over.
__________________
“The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place... and I don´t care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently, if you let it. You, me or nobody, is gonna hit as hard as life. But ain't about how hard you hit... It's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward... how much you can take, and keep moving forward. That´s how winning is done. Now, if you know what you worth, go out and get what you worth.” - Rocky Balboa |
| |
03-24-2013, 06:05 PM
|
#20 | RS.net, where our google ads make absolutely no sense!
Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Rmd
Posts: 924
Thanked 435 Times in 194 Posts
|
$30?!? I already made my $50 contribution this year!
|
| |
03-24-2013, 06:08 PM
|
#21 | I contribute to threads in the offtopic forum
Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Surrey
Posts: 2,808
Thanked 2,621 Times in 684 Posts
| Quote:
Originally Posted by dangonay I don't think all people think they don't deserve a ticket. Some could have literally returned from shopping and missed the meter running out by two minutes. I think what pisses people off is when an attendant is anal about the time to the very second. If a ticket is entered into the system they can't take it back, but if you get to your car just before they enter it, then why do they feel the need to finish it off? That's just ignorant behavior. Anyone can run over time by a minute or two if they get stuck in a line-up at the store.
I think meters should have a reverse timer. Once time runs out, it starts counting down. That way if an attendant hits a meter and it's at -2 minutes when the owner shows up they know you actually did pay and just missed the deadline so they could cut you some slack. If the time goes past -10 minutes then too bad - you're getting the ticket regardless.
This would also immediately show the attendant the people who try and park for 2 minutes on an empty meter. You couldn't claim you paid for parking and were only two minutes late.
Would probably go a long way to reducing arguments and abuse. | Good point but I honestly think that this scenario is rarer than you think it is.
Besides, cutting some slack means that we're acknowledging and asking for extra time. Why can't you just leave 2 minutes earlier to go add time to your meter? Also, keep in mind, just because your meter is expired doesn't mean you automatically have a ticket coming to you. Generally speaking, unless the parking officer is right there in front of your meter, you have the leeway period of time it takes for the parking officer to reach your meter...
Most modern meters are also accessible over the phone...we really don't need any reform for parking meters imo lol but to each their own. It's a pretty simple responsibility.
|
| |
03-24-2013, 06:13 PM
|
#22 | Rs has made me the woman i am today!
Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: PENIS
Posts: 4,182
Thanked 4,062 Times in 1,249 Posts
|
^ I got to my car three minutes late at Broadway and Trafalgar(730pm ish). No cars around me except mine and I got a ticket. No parking guy seen, but he dialed my license plate wrong
One time I got a collection letter for my beetle from city of Burnaby, they didn't include make/time so I called them up. They said the car on record was a jeep Cherokee... I was like don't you check with icbc records.
__________________ There's a phallic symbol infront of my car Quote:
MG1: in fact, a new term needs to make its way into the American dictionary. Trump............ he's such a "Trump" = ultimate insult. Like, "yray, you're such a trump."
| bcrdukes yray fucked bcrdukes up the nose
dapperfied yraisis
dapperfied yray so waisis
FastAnna you literally talk out your ass
FastAnna i really cant
FastAnna yray i cant stand you
Last edited by yray; 03-24-2013 at 06:40 PM.
|
| |
03-24-2013, 07:03 PM
|
#23 | I Will not Admit my Addiction to RS
Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Vancouver
Posts: 576
Thanked 402 Times in 77 Posts
|
I consider meter maids to be failures in life cause they cant get a better job, like a real police officer, or a border guard.
__________________
2002 Pontiac Trans Am
1999 Camaro Z28
1995 Camaro SOLD
1995 Nissan 240sx SOLD
2009 Saturn Astra
|
| | This post FAILED by: | AzNightmare, bananana, bballguy, bing, BinsentoW, butter_sashimi, Eff-1, gars, hotjoint, littledog, Lomac, pawdregry4g, PiuYi, RCubed, Sushi604, Tim Budong |
03-24-2013, 07:05 PM
|
#24 | RS has made me the bitter person i am today!
Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: YVR/TPE
Posts: 4,581
Thanked 2,732 Times in 1,168 Posts
|
I don't get why US and Canada don't adapt the system I saw in Taipei. It would help to reduce the aggression toward officers so much.
The system works like this... You don't pre-paid for parking, someone would come around with a printed tab that's marked with 30min slots. The officers simply come by to stamp additional slots as time passes. When you are done parking, you take the tab, leave and pay it at any 7-11. If you don't pay for certain days, then the parking fee becomes more and more expensive. So, people are motivated to pay it ASAP.
And for places where parking is prohibited, they have actual police issuing tickets/towing.
__________________
Nothing for now
|
| |
03-24-2013, 08:07 PM
|
#25 | Fathered more RS members than anybody else. Who's your daddy?
Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 24,719
Thanked 11,497 Times in 4,892 Posts
| Quote:
Originally Posted by some_punk I consider meter maids to be failures in life cause they cant get a better job, like a real police officer, or a border guard. | ...............and you are what again?
nvm.......... username
sorry, could not resist.
__________________ Quote:
"there but for the grace of god go I"
| Quote:
Youth is, indeed, wasted on the young.
| YODO = You Only Die Once.
Dirty look from MG1 can melt steel beams.
"There must be dissonance before resolution - MG1" a musical reference.
|
| | | |
Posting Rules
| You may not post new threads You may not post replies You may not post attachments You may not edit your posts HTML code is Off | | | All times are GMT -8. The time now is 06:51 AM. |