Are these employees? When I saw "civilian traffic enforcement", I assumed it was a volunteer army, maybe accompanied by a small stipend or something, the way volunteer fire departments work in rural communities.
I'd feel differently if these were paid employees who got training and were dependent on their job, depending of course on how it was organized and managed.
In the cities they are referencing as having similar programs these are city employees. No different from code enforcement or inspectors in other departments. In Baltimore they are DOT employees. Paid about 34k entry back when they created the positions in...uhh..2000something. They mostly direct traffic through downtown and write parking tickets.
Gotcha. Yeah, then that's fine. I really thought based on the framing and the comments that this was a volunteer corp.
Obviously the devil is in the details in terms of how these people are trained and held accountable, but the basic structure is not one I find inherently problematic. If you can make absolutely certain they stick to their lane and impose consequences for policing that exceeds their parking enforcement activities, then it seems like it has the potential to be better for the community than filing the streets with more police.
Post by aliciabella on May 22, 2019 9:08:00 GMT -5
I guess I just don't see the point. We have PPA which is pretty much up everyone's ass anyway and then there are police who already direct traffic and file citations.
Also, I have a hard time believing that Philadelphians will start ticketing other Philadelphians who probably violate the same laws everyday. We are a unique breed in this city but I can assure you pretty much everyone hates the parking situation here, hates the PPA and doesn't give a fuck as long as we can park close to our homes
I also miss Garfield. I wonder where he is? That guy was hilarious.
Post by goldengirlz on May 22, 2019 13:52:21 GMT -5
I was on the Denver airport line yesterday and the guy collecting tickets had a gun. I assumed he was a cop, but that seems a little much, no? I’ve never seen the ticket collectors on, say, the Long Island Rail Road carry guns. I do sometimes see police officers on BART do a sweep for fare evaders but that’s essentially a sting operation with larger crime deterrent goals.
I’d very much like to see data on the de-coupling of traffic and law enforcement that someone mentioned above.
I think that article does a good job of making it clear what we're talking about here. city employees who can issue traffic and parking citations, but who are not cops...not a volunteer army of permit patties. It also lays out the potential pitfalls and need for checks and training.
I think that article does a good job of making it clear what we're talking about here. city employees who can issue traffic and parking citations, but who are not cops...not a volunteer army of permit patties. It also lays out the potential pitfalls and need for checks and training.
The FOP plans to fight it, claiming it violates the police contract.
I think that article does a good job of making it clear what we're talking about here. city employees who can issue traffic and parking citations, but who are not cops...not a volunteer army of permit patties. It also lays out the potential pitfalls and need for checks and training.
All ballot initiatives pass in Philly. This was was 68%-32%, which was rather close!
I think that article does a good job of making it clear what we're talking about here. city employees who can issue traffic and parking citations, but who are not cops...not a volunteer army of permit patties. It also lays out the potential pitfalls and need for checks and training.
The FOP plans to fight it, claiming it violates the police contract.
I feel like this argument makes it sound like police will no longer be permitted to issue traffic violations. Which is untrue obviously.
also while I'm not a lawyer, so I have no idea if it actually does violate their contract, it sounds ABSURD from a non-legal perspective to say that this is taking work away from police. it's not as if there's a shortage of other crime to deal with. Plenty of work for cops to do still. And are there cops who ENJOY being on traffic duty??? Is that really the job you want?
But...it'll be interesting to see how it plays out, because I'd expect the legal side of it really depends on the police contract wording. And probably also depends on how they decide to set up the safety officer program since none of the details exist yet.