Milwaukee TV Station Exposes City’s Parking Ticket Quotas
Every city denies it.
The parking ticket quota does not exist says city leaders across the country.
But at least in one major American city, someone was able to prove ticket quotas exist.
Former Fox Chicago News reporter Steve Chamraz is now working his investigative magic up in Milwaukee on WTMJ 4 TV.
Chamraz interviewed a former Parking Checker, the title for city employees who write parking tickets in Brew City and he said ticket writers were expected to issue a certain number of tickets per day, week, month or there could be repercussions.
The idea to make writing parking tickets more about generating revenue than as a tool to control parking started in 1995 when the responsibility for parking enforcement was switched from the police department to public works.
Since then, parking ticket revenue has risen from about $10 million in 1995 to $25 million in 2010. Milwaukee generated nearly a quarter billion dollars in the past decade or so. The error rate for parking tickets has increased as well since the change. Milwaukee had to void about $1 million in tickets in 2011.
Read Chamraz’s great report, “Parking quota drives ticket writing frenzy, error rate” or view the video above.
Dept of Revenue official quota:
1 ticket every 30 minutes Or a phone call to the shift supervisor explaining that you can’t find anything.
One wonders if Capt. M-Plate ever had the problem of not being able to find a ticket to write in 30 minutes?
Only time Capt. M can’t find a ticket in 30 minutes is when their on lunch.
lol….
I doubt anyone has a hard time finding a ticket to write every half hour. If they do, they can just write some bullshit ticket like “more than 12″ from curb”. Not like anyone has a chance of appealing that one.
I can’t tell you how much I enjoy when Ticketmaster makes an appearance on this website. As always, thank you for your input Ticketmaster!
Pete…you are absolutely correct….finding 1 ticket in 30 minutes or less isn’t difficult at all in most areas of the city….just drive by a dry cleaner or Starbucks or a Bank and glance at the Tow Zones or Bus Stops or Fire Hydrants or the Crosswalks and you will most likely see a vehicle parked illegally. Or drive by a School during Drop off or Pick up and you will most likely see dozens of Double Parked vehicles And a Cop protecting them from being Ticketed by Us or the Ser Co.
The problem that the Department of Finance (Revenue Street Operations) has is that the majority of PEA’s in the job allow themselves to cherry pick what they want to enforce. And they make comments like “Oh it’s a rough economy out there” or “it’s not fun to ticket too many vehicles.” Or “I write 1 ticket every 25 minutes and you can’t Make me do more than that per the Contract.”
The other problem is that PEA’s are issuing tickets for Parking violations that the CPD for years have Ignored despite them being on the books.
We catch Hell for doing our Jobs from the Citizens. And we catch Hell for not writing Enough Tickets from Management and Supervisors.
PEA’s like the ones I associate with (the Top 15%, the best of the best as it were) never have issues with management for not doing their job to the best of their ability every day.
The “oh I’m just going through the motions, doing as little as I can get away with, here for a paycheck” crowd is a waste of payroll. And If I was Management, I’d be putting them in the Worst areas of the City every week and do everything I could legally per the Contract to get rid of them and replace them with individuals that will give 100% every shift.
And Ticketmaster….I once had a bad shift…
Think I barely got 60 tickets for that day.