To Ticket Or Not To Ticket? Oak Park Debates Whether Illegally Parked Chicago Cop Cars Should Be Ticketed
Sometimes Chicago police officers who work on the far west side of the city, drive into the Village of Oak Park to grab a bite to eat.
But recently, a reader of local news website Oak Park.com snapped a few photos of CPD vehicles parking illegally on downtown Oak Park streets and wrote a sarcastic letter about the fact that they don’t get ticketed. Of course, non-cops parking illegally in downtown Oak Park face a much different reality.
But after a flurry of heated debate on the subject on Oak Park.com, another reader posted a photo of a police cruiser with a bright orange parking ticket envelope on its windshield.
This triggered another eruption of comments and debate.
So, now we pose the question.
Should Chicago Police officers be able to park illegally in Oak Park or any other municipality bordering Chicago?
Here’s the original posting and photos on Oak Park.com entitled, “A solution for free parking in Oak Park – become a Chicago cop,” and the followup photo of the cop car with the parking ticket in a post entitled “Chicago cop car gets ticketed in Oak Park”.
People really need better things to do. Police cars from other cities park illegally in Chicago and who cares. Get a life!
illegally parked police cars should be exploded on the spot. parking tickets afterwards.
I find this Hilfrackinlarious…
I also think it should be required actually to be honest.
If the Cop isn’t on a Call, doesn’t have Lights going, they should be required to park legally.
Now..I don’t mean Feed the Meters…but not in a Tow Zone/Bus Stop or on a Hydrant.
You guys make me laugh. Cops try to keep their cars close to them for 2 reasons. 1) laziness 2) in case something happens, they can quickly return to their cars and leave. I realize option 2 doesn’t happen that much, but it’s a possibility. After their given lunch time, they’re available to take calls.
Oak Park should ticket them. When the city of Chicago doesn’t pay their fines, Oak Park should use the State of Illinois to collect the fines from the city of Chicago. The fines should come out of Rham’s tax refund.
Must be a slow news day.
Absolutely should police officers park legally if they are not on a call no matter what city they are in.
I just saw this last weekend, two cops parked in front of a hydrant, at a corner (which decreased visibility for cars turning that corner)and go into a sports bar. No surprise they were there considering it was Sunday, noon and the Bulls were playing…
I will say this, they only stayed an hour, but I’ve seen others in uniform that have spent the entire afternoon in that sports bar.
A Chicago Tax Payer
I say cut the police some slack. They risk and sacrifice the most. The only thing this will do is cause some sort of bad blood between departments.
I agree they risk a lot and sacrifice a lot…
BUT….Have you ever looked at the way some of them just park their M Plates?
I understand why Oak Park is doing it…and I understand why some PEA’s ticket M Plates.
As to ticketing police cruisers for illegal parking the question is, is government above the law? In the modern USA, the answer to that question is yes. But in doing so means that we live under lawless rule. We are seeing the results of that in many areas.
Sure a parking ticket or not for city police cruiser is a minor thing, but principle matters. Once government employees start getting special privileges that put them above the law what is attempted grows and grows until you have government employees bailing out AIG with taxpayer’s money so their friends at Goldman Sachs can get every last penny of what GS is owed and they personally get their bonuses. It’s difficult to draw a line anywhere once it is decided that government employees are more privileged and don’t have to obey the law. The only difference between the small things and the big things is size. The principle is what matters.
Wouldn’t an employee of a business which creates wealth get ticketed, even if he were on company time and task? Of course. So why should an employee of a wealth consuming entity like government not be? If it’s safe to park that way, if it doesn’t block traffic, and so forth, then why is it illegal? Just to collect revenue? To create parking for the politically privileged?
BTW, The guy who caught the fish in your dinner risks and sacrifices more than a cop. (look it up if you don’t believe it). But all he gets is what you are willing to pay for the fish he caught minus all the middle men. He’ll still get ticketed for parking illegally too.
State of Michigan Policy:
Police, Fire Department vehicles and All Other Municipal Plated vehicles must park Legally 100% of the time when not on an Emergency Call.
I’ve seen a County Cop car with a Ticket on it from a City Cop when I was growing up in Michigan.
You are not special just because you have an M Plate/Municipal Police Plate Vehicle.
Oh yeah…by the way.
It is City Policy that ALL Vehicles must be parked Legally regardless of License Plate Type.
Just ask Capt M Plate or DoR employee or LdyPEA or Ticketmaster.
Its also city policy that politicians aren’t supposed to take bribes, but you know how that goes.
Pete…if you can prove it…Contact the IG and the Federal District Attorney.
They should be allowed to park closest to the door of the restaurant. This allows for them to react quickly in case an emergency arises.