According to CBS 2′s Pam Zekman, one over zealous Chicago police officer is wrongfully issuing tickets to drivers who are using their disability placards to park in designated handicapped parking spots legally.

The story spotlights the plight of an elderly gentleman who dropped off his wife at the entrance to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, for treatment of her brain cancer, and then proceeded to park the car in the spots reserved for the handicapped.

But a Chicago police officer issued him a ticket, confiscated his driver’s license and the disability placard, because his wife was not in the car at the time.

Zekman checked with the State of Illinois and they say the cop is not following the law.

But it turns out this couple wasn’t the only people who’ve fallen victim to this overly aggressive officer.

It turns out, at a recent court hearing, 19 other people were ticketed for the same offense by the same officer.

Of the 19, only two were found guilty. The 17 other tickets, including the couple CBS 2 focused on, were dismissed.

Here’s CBS 2′s full story, “2 Investigators: Crackdown On Disabled-Parking Fraud Backfires.”

According to CBS 2 and the Sun-Times, alderman overwhelmingly supported Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s proposal to limit the number of parking spaces per block for drivers with handicapped license plates or disability placards.

There are some residential streets in the city where a disproportionate number of these reserved spaces exist, reducing the number of potential parking spots for other residents.

This change to the municipal code will limit this type of parking to no more than 20% of the total number of available parking spots per block.

If a disabled driver is denied a reserved spot due to this new rule, they do have the opportunity to appeal to Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities which can review and possible overturn the denial.

The city is trying to crackdown on abuse of this privilege for disabled drivers as the Sun-Times found in 2007 over 10% of these reserved spots were  “at addresses where no nearby resident holds a state-issued disabled license plate or parking credential, as required by law,” and a city review found 260 of these spaces were registered to dead people.

Read the full story, “Aldermen Vote To Limit Reserved Parking Spaces, Curb Disabled-Parking Abuse.”

Just imagine it. The weather is beautiful, even balmy. Friends and family are tailgating, the grill is going, beer is flowing and everyone is excited about the Bears’ Monday night game at home against the Lions.

But then, Illinois Secretary of State law enforcement walk up and nail you for parking in a handicap parking spot.

That’s what happened to a handful of people tailgating at the Waldron Parking Deck outside Soldier Field Monday night according to the CBS Chicago website.

At least two of the drivers had legitimate disabled parking placards, but did not have the handicapped person with them at the time as required by law. This citation will cost a driver $500 and the loss of driving privileges for a month.

The story says the handicap spots are in the most demand because they have the most space for hardcore tailgaters.

Here’s CBS Chicago’s full story, “Disabled Parking Crackdown At Soldier Field.”

GEEK TIP: Never, we repeat NEVER park in a handicap parking space unless you are legally allowed to do so. Duh!

They’re trying.

But despite their best efforts, enforcement efforts by the Chicago Police Department don’t seem to be discouraging some drivers from misusing disabled parking placards according to the Sun-Times.

The newspaper reports since August 24th, the city has conducted enforcement investigations on 17 separate days. Police have stopped 234 drivers using disability parking placards and issued 47 violations when the driver was using another person’s placard to park for free at downtown parking meters.

The city has a lot of incentive to discourage this practice as it must compensate Chicago Parking Meters, LLC, the private firm which operates Chicago’s metered parking system, whenever disabled drivers park in metered spaces for free. So far, that bill for the past two years is over $35 million.

The Illinois General Assembly recently passed, and Governor Quinn signed a law that would essentially take away the ability of drivers with handicapped license plates or disability placards to park for free in metered parking spaces. But unfortunately for Chicago it doesn’t go into effect until 2014.

But Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is proposing a crackdown of another sort on residential handicap parking.

Last Wednesday, the Sun-Times reports the Mayor introduced an ordinance which would place stricter limitations on reserved parking spots on residential streets for drivers with handicap plates or disability placards.

Currently, handicapped vehicle owners can request a reserved parking space in front of, or near their residence.

But this program has also been abused. In some cases able bodied car owners, who do regularly drive disabled family members, but don’t live with the handicapped individual, have been awarded this type of reserved street parking. The Mayor wants to stop this practice.

The other major change is to limit the number of reserved handicap spaces to just 20% of the block. Drivers who are denied a reserved spot will be able to appeal to the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities but the law will make it more difficult to get a personal handicap parking space if it gets passed.

Here’s the Sun-Times story, “City Hall to extend crackdown on disability-parking abuse.”

And here’s their story regarding changes to residential handicap parking spots, “Mayor moves to crack down on residential disabled parking abuses.”

HAT TIP: Chicagoist

Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White

While shoppers were invading malls all over the state last weekend, Secretary of State Police were making their rounds of malls as well.

But the police weren’t looking for bargains. Instead, they were patrolling mall parking lots looking for scofflaws who abuse handicap parking privileges by illegally parking in spots designated for the handicapped or misusing a disabled parking placard.

Secretary of State Jesse White’s enforcement teams wrote 31 citations from shopping destinations all over the state including Rockford, Springfield, Marion, Bolingbrook, Lombard, Orland Park, Skokie, Carbondale, Peoria, Champaign and even Schaumburg’s Woodfield Mall in this neck of the woods.

Nine people were issued tickets for improper use of a disability parking space or for parking in a handicap space without a placard or license plate. While 22 individuals got cited for misusing a disability parking placard, or using the placard of someone else. Police confiscated 18 placards after checking a total of 367 placards.

“I’m pleased with the results of the disability parking enforcement efforts,” said Secretary White. “As I’ve said before, our mission is not to give tickets, but to ensure the disability parking spaces are available to those who need them,” White said. “This weekend shows that people are getting the message –if you don’t belong there — don’t park there.”

Since 2005, when this enforcement program began, over 200 people have been cited.

The fine for illegally using a disabled parking placard or handicap license plates without the person authorized to use those plates or placards present is as much as $500. The cited driver could also face a 30 day suspension of their drivers license.

In addition, the maximum fine for parking in a designated handicap parking space without a placard or handicap plate is $350.

One in every 13 vehicles in Cook County utilize a handicap parking placard according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

This is just one of the many eye brow raising statistics the second part of the Sun-Times’ series on the abuse of placards used by disabled drivers.

A team of investigators led by reporter Chris Fusco surveyed the area in the South Loop bounded by Roosevelt, Van Buren, Desplaines and Canal and found as many as 60 cars using disabled placards parking for free at metered spots.

The article also reveals that nearly 600,000 handicap placards have been issued statewide with 204,787 or 34% of the state total, being utilized just in Cook County.

In addition, another 82,050 vehicles in Illinois were issued handicap license plates, again with 38,981 or over 47%(!) of all handicap plates being issued to Cook County drivers.

The majority of the story focuses on drivers, seemingly looking to save money by using fraudulent, stolen, or “borrowed” disabled parking placards to parking at high cost parking meters for free.

Read the Sun-Times full story, “Thousands of handicap-parking placards, dozens of scams.”

Since Chicago signed the parking meter lease deal in late 2008, and parking meter rates have skyrocketed in the subsequent years, the number of drivers illegally using handicapped placards to park for free has risen substantially according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

Sun-Times investigative reporter Chris Fusco seems to have spent a long time, working with a retired police officer to stake out potential handicapped placard scofflaws as the story and video document 82 cases of abuse and catch several motorists red handed.

The city only issued an average of 12 citations for fake, expired, stolen or altered handicapped placards between 2003 and 2010. But enforcement must be up as the city has issued 155 citations this year through the end of August.

Abuse of all handicapped parking violations, including parking in handicapped parking spots, placard abuse, etc. seem to be up as only 68 cases were prosecuted in court in 2009, but nearly doubled to 119 in 2010 and 149 so far in 2011.

Perhaps one way to cure disabled placard abuse would be to eliminate free metered parking for people with handicapped plates or placards. If the city and Chicago Parking Meters, LLC could embrace some sort of pay by phone technology which would allow even the most handicapped of drivers to feed the meter remotely, it would seem the issue would go away.

Read Fusco’s great Sun-Times piece, “Disabled-parking cheating on the rise in city, but enforcement tough.”

Tamley, the commissioner for the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities suggested this idea to the city council during budget hearings as a way to crack down on drivers who abuse disabled parking placards to get free metered parking, park in handicapped spaces or park in designated residential handicapped spots according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

Tamley proposed fines for drivers caught abusing handicapped parking privileges to exceed $1000 when all fines, towing fees, etc. get totaled.

In addition, she says she working to tighten handicapped parking rules at all levels, which were positively received by aldermen says the Sun-Times.

Here’s the full story from the Sun-Times, “Bogus disabled parking placard? You could get towed.”

East Bank Club Patrons Nabbed for Using Disabled Placards to Park for Free: MyFoxCHICAGO.com

Local celebrities, politicians, wealthy people all work out at the East Bank Club.

President Obama is a member there and so is Oprah.

The East Bank Club is perhaps Chicago’s most prestigious athletic club.

Its a pretty expensive membership, so it’s pretty surprising that some drivers were caught illegally hanging handicapped placards from their rearview mirror before entering the East Bank Club just to avoid feeding the meter.

Illinois Secretary of State Police along with Fox Chicago News cameras were on hand catch the placard abusers red handed.

Two of the drivers came clean on camera and one said she did it because she was angry about Chicago’s higher parking meter rates.

Here’s Fox Chicago News full story, “East Bank Club Patrons Nabbed for Using Disabled Placards to Park for Free.”

Oops!

Bono and his entourage of several dozen tour buses, semi-trailer trucks and a crane have been sitting in handicapped parking spots in a parking lot outside the Field Museum before last night’s U2 concert at Solider Field according to ABC 7 News.

Where are city Parking Enforcement Aides when you need them?!?

Here’s the full story and video from ABC 7, “U2 crews take up handicapped parking.”