Why Bother Issuing A Ticket?

This morning, I watched as the driver of a flat bed tow truck parked his vehicle on the sidewalk along N. 3rd Street at Columbia.  The driver and the passenger of the truck did not park there because a disabled vehicle was waiting for them.  No, rather, the two men decided that parking on the sidewalk was their only option if they wanted to get food and drink at the nearby bodega.  And that is exactly where they went after they parked their truck on the sidewalk, turned off the ignition and walked diagonally across the intersection.

I have no doubt that if an HPD officer in a cruiser had seen the tow truck parked on the sidewalk, they would not have stopped to do anything about it.  That is the bigger issue --  the lack of enforcement that only encourages the bad driving and disrespectful, dangerous parking.

A few years ago, I called HPD about an illegally parked car in my neighborhood.  Two HPD patrol vehicles arrived, and one of them soon left.  I asked the remaining officer why no one was issuing a ticket to the car.  He said that they couldn't issue a parking ticket right away because no patrol vehicles have a ticket machine, so the "other officer is going to get a machine at the station and he will be back to issue the ticket."  A few minutes later, the owner of the illegally parked car got in the car and drove it away.  I didn't stick around to see if the other officer returned to the scene with a parking ticket machine.

If HPD officers on patrol see an illegally parked car but know they can't issue a ticket right away, and know what it will take to issue a ticket, why wouldn't they just drive on by and do nothing?  I would, too.

And so, the bad behavior is encouraged and becomes the norm.