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The City of Chicago is planning to drop the hammer on motorists that don't pay parking tickets, presenting them with more than just a ticket: evidence!
The Daley administration has purchased 140 hand-held devices from Duncan Parking Technologies -- at a cost of $2 million -- that don't just issue tickets. They take pictures.Parking enforcement aides will use the new technology initially to support tickets issued for parking illegally in a permit parking zone, missing, expired or improperly displayed plates, and invalid or missing city stickers.
Mayor Daley told the media that he was "excited" about the Department of Revenue's new $14,000 cameras, and that it took him a long time to find the right vendor for the job, but that a "buddy" from Bridgeport "knows a guy."
Photo by corydalus
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Only like 700 robo-parking tickets before the thing pays for itself. What a bargain!
I actually support this. If they have pictures of everything, that puts the burden of proof squarely on their shoulders. The photo should indicate the offense. And if the photo is missing, it should be instant dismissal.
This, instead of the defendant having to prove that he/she DIDN'T commit the crime by having photographic evidence themselves.
I know I have personally taken pictures of my parking job when I was CLOSE to a no parking sign, but in the safe zone, just in case.
so it costs $14,000 per camera? What a rip off, you can get a decent digi for under $200.
How does this expenditure make us safer or help us lead better lives... oh wait- how about spending $2M on teachers salarys- It think you could trade in 2 or 3 parking ticket cameras for a teacher.
I would prefer that the city spend the money on placing the ticket printers in all the police cars so the tickets written by the cops are not only readable, but by linking the machine to the master database it would prevent the cops from writing screwed up tickets.
Historically, they catch a cop writing tickets on cars that aren't even parked where the cops claim it was parked. They just make up a plate number & then put that ticket on a car illegally parked to make their bosses happy, but then some poor schmuck gets a ticket notice out of nowhere.
While the cameras can eliminate that, the city isn't going to force the cops to use this system.