Aug 1, 2008 7:31 pm US/Pacific
Officers Fear Anger As New SF Parking Fines Begin
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5 / BCN) ―
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Getting a parking ticket in San Francisco is already painful, but now it'll be another ten bucks' worth of hurt.
CBS
A parking ticket may be the last thing drivers want to see when returning to their cars.
But police warned drivers not to take frustration out on parking control officers in the wake of a $10 increase to all parking fines under $100 in San Francisco that began on Friday.
"Do not confront an officer in a way that violates the law," Executive Director of San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency Nathaniel Ford said.
Transit officials are hoping to inform as many drivers as possible of the parking fine increase in an effort to avoid angry or violent responses.
Ford referenced a particularly brutal assault in 2006 that left a parking control officer with a broken arm, but he said the number of assaults on parking control officers has "seen a significant decline" this year, Ford said.
In 2006, there were 28 assaults on parking control officers, and in 2007 there were half as many. This year a total of three assaults on parking control officers have been reported, according to Ford.
Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, helped pass Assembly Bill 1686 in 2007, which doubled the fine for assaults on public safety officers from $1,000 to $2,000, Ford said.
"All of our public safety officers ... deserve to be treated with respect in the course of carrying out their duties," San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom said in a statement.
Drivers may protest parking citations in writing within the timeframe stated either on the back of the citation or in the mailed courtesy notice.
Permit violation fines are increasing Thursday as well, according to transit officials.
A complete list of parking citation fines may be found at
www.sfmta.com/parkingfines.
(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Bay City News contributed to this report.)
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