From the Daily News:An Inspector General probe found widespread misuse of police parking placards by lawmakers and other state officials, the Daily News has learned.
Inspector General Ellen Biben, who launched the probe at Gov. Cuomo's request, will call for major changes in the way the parking passes are distributed, a source close to the probe told The News.
Thousands of placards stating a vehicle is on "official police business" have been issued by the state Department of Homeland Security - but distributed throughout the government.
Some go to the state police - others to the Office of Court Administration.
But many wind up in the hands of lawmakers and state officials who are not in law enforcement - and have no reason to be on official police business.
According to sources, the parking cheats include:
- Sen. Jose Peralta (D-Queens), who told The News on Tuesday the placards were traditionally handed out as a courtesy to senators.
- Waterfront Commissioner Ronald Goldstock - caught by The News using the official police placard while teaching a class on corruption at New York University Law School.
- Two Division of Parole officials who were on long-term leave.
- The Department of Environmental Conservation for giving a placard to an unpaid rabbi - former state police rabbi Bernard Freilich.
Biben also found that some people gave the placards to friends.
From the NY Times:
Cuomo administration officials announced on Thursday that they would sharply reduce the number of police parking placards handed out each year in an effort to crack down on abuses by state officials.
The new policy would strip state lawmakers, commissioners and other nonpolice personnel of state parking placards bearing the words “Police Vehicle Identification,” hundreds of which had been handed out annually with little oversight, according to the state inspector general, and in some cases abused by the bearer.
The total number of police placards handed out would be cut from 1,730 last year to 261 this year. In the future, the officials said, the State Police would handle distribution of police placards, which will be assigned only to members of that agency and other state employees with statutory police powers, like investigators with the office of the attorney general or police officers working under the department of environmental conservation.
11 comments:
Yeah right, a new administration, a new proclamation and more signs than ever appear on windshields. It's a farce.
Why is this a surprise to anyone? The bottom line is too many f-kin people (and traffic), in this city.
WHAT ABOUT THE FIREMANS UNION PLACARDS THAT ILLEGALY ALLOW THEM TO PARK ON SIDEWALKS AND ANYWHERE THEY WANT?
what about the police who park their cars by the crosswalks and fire hydrants -- all because they are just toooooo damm lazy to go and look for a legal parking stop -- but yet the meter people will not give them a ticket but will give everyone else a ticket -- something is just not right
what about the police who park their cars by the crosswalks and fire hydrants -- all because they are just toooooo damm lazy to go and look for a legal parking stop -- but yet the meter people will not give them a ticket but will give everyone else a ticket -- something is just not right
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Where have you been? For at least the last two years, Bloomberg has had Kelly send in a newly formed Internal Affairs sub-unit that focuses solely on parking plaque abuse by cops. Their cars are ticketed and towed, and the cop gets a command discipline. If you have a particular complaint about a cop abusing their plaque, notify Internal Affairs.
If you have a particular complaint about a cop abusing their plaque, notify Internal Affairs.
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I got one... ALL OF THE 104th!
The corners and all the hydrants on all sides of that block are chocked with PRIVATE VEHICLES from the NYPD. Every. Day.
Check out the municipal parking lot near the Jamaica Central library. Cops park on sidewalk with impunity!
I give them a "citizen's ticket" in the form of a loogie on the windshield.
The corners and all the hydrants on all sides of that block are chocked with PRIVATE VEHICLES from the NYPD. Every. Day.
----------------------------------- OK, now instead of just bitching here, call IAB and make a complaint.
OMG, it is the same thing with the fire department. They park all over the sidewalks near their firehouses! They are a disgrace!
is it legal to parallel park in front of your own driveway ?
many home owners on my block use their garages for storage.
one uses his driveway as a corral for his geese.
some park their extra long church buses for weeks, on the street.
some park at the hydrants.
this is in Bayside and their is no enforcement. i guess the n.y.p.d. is busy circling the area to park their private cars.
i support the n.y.p.d. and n.y.f.d.,most are heroes.
one can not find a curb cut,free of a parked car, to turn around on our dead end streets.
It is not legal to block a driveway, BUT "everyone" knows that most people block their own driveways. If you block a driveway and someone calls 311, you will get a summons. If you block your own driveway, you're safe. It is NOT legal to trespass someone's driveway to make an illegal U-turn. Go around the damned block!
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