Sheriff’s Lesson About the Law
By THE NEW YORK TIMES
Published: April 12, 2007

OSHKOSH, Wis., April 11 — Dennis Kocken, the sheriff of Brown County, Wis., said Wednesday that he truly believed that no one was above the law — not even the sheriff. He wrote himself a ticket last month after he was involved in an accident in the Village of Howard, outside Green Bay.
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Dennis Kocken

Sheriff Kocken said the accident occurred after he started following a driver who had sped past him. As he moved into the lane behind her car, his attention was briefly drawn to a snowblower near the edge of the road.

“I was picking up speed,” he said, “and wouldn’t you know it, she slowed down to turn left, and I hit her.” There were no injuries.

Sheriff Kocken, 52, said he talked to other police chiefs, who said he did not deserve a ticket.

“I still didn’t feel good about it,” he said. “I couldn’t sleep that night; it was bothering me.”

He cited himself for making an unsafe lane change, and the fine was $160.80. He paid it on Wednesday, he said.

And what about the driver of the other car? She got a ticket for not wearing a seat belt.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/12/us/12ticket.html

Focusing on 9/11 for the comment is kinda off topic. But I'll clarify since I opened the door. If the car was impounded in any case regarding an official matter, the ticket would be thrown out. My father was on vacation when the "all hands" was called, and drove straight to the point in which they are supposed to: their firehouse. In this particular case, the car was abandoned in the Bronx on side streets because people were driving north in the southbound lane.

Courtesy is not privilege. There is a false notion that cops and firefighters do not get tickets. They do get tickets, they do get towed when rules are broken. When rules are bent, they are given some room. In every firehouse that he's been stationed in they have stressed not using the job as an excuse. There is a bulletin in the kitchen and on my father's office door stating this. If I'm permitted to make another example, last summer there was a car illegally parked in Queens that had my father's badge number on it. He was notified, he stated that his car wasn't in queens and it must be a fake and the car was impounded. The ability to make fake placards shouldn't be a reason not to have them. Officials should be able to identify their transport.

And if you are wondering, several Firefighters bike to work in his house including my father. Those that live near each other, carpool. This is not uncommon.

Also, thanks for contradicting the claim that first responders need to drive private vehicles so that they can get to the scene in the event of an emergency. A private car didn't help your father get to the scene, and probably made it worse for other responders.

And in response to David (9:51pm): Cops and firefighters dress like cops and firefighters once they arrive at their house/precinct, and not at home.

Come to think of it, I ride the bus often, and I cannot ever recall seeing a police officer as a fellow passenger.

Contractual or not, the parking perk is established in the minds of those who enjoy it. As JK describes, it's not going to just get taken away without pissing a lot of people off.

as nina asked, who asked this person to be a cop anyway? folks become cops generally cuz daddy was one, not becaue they actually believe in helping people or something so "liberal."

to be honest, i would rather not give knuckleheads like this a gun and a badge. gun + badge + hatred of your constituents = sean bell

tps12,
The contract doesn't guarantee parking--a long tradition of allowing that perk has created inertia that feels like contractual obligation. Looking at the contract, the city is only supposed to supply reasonable parking as is possible, not guarantee a space for everyone that wants to drive to work (and many LE don't drive to work).

Finally, T.A. is reaching out to every union whose members routinely use union-issued plaques to park illegally. There is real interest in pursuing the positive solutions to the issue directly with the unions. Similar outreach to every Commanding Officer at every precinct. Already have some very positive examples of C.O.'s cracking down--but more to come on that in a few weeks at http://www.uncivilservants.org

It's hard to see any placard system that would work --- which the later part of your comments suggest. The placard concept is fundamentally flawed. The issue is not fraud, but a sense of entitlement and privilege that is at the core of police and municipal worker car culture. The cops know that restricted, "self-enforcement" zone permits aren't valid for parking anywhere, but they use them that way.

The two fundamental political problems with reforming placards are: one the cost of the placards is not monetized or internalized within the city budget. So, it's an easy subsidy from a budget perspective to provide.

Two, from the mayor's perspective, it's not worth the political cost to crack down on them and antagonize rank and file cops. There is simply no way within the NYC political system that placards will be ever be enforced. Who would do it? So, scrap them completely and jettison the idea of a placard class and everyone else.

Plus it would give the city every financial incentive to reduce this cost in the future.

There's already been pretty extensive discussion on all that here, and I have not followed it too closely, so I may be repeating others' opinions, but I think they might do better to keep posting picutres, but blurr out all placard numbers and plates. Like, maybe from now on, after already having made thier big splash.

A nice sentiment, what would this be?

My two cents is that all placards for the private cars of civil servants should be abolished and replaced with some kind of parking cash-out: instead of a placard, workers get a travel allowance. This would be paid for by higher meter rates, which would also help achieve the goal of 15% curb vacancy. Admittedly, I haven't done the math, but suspect new meter money would cover it.

No amount of shaming (which is good anyway because it calls attention to the problem) is going to stop the cops and other govt workers from abusing placards. The abuse it worth too much money and viewed by a very powerful PBA as a fundamental entitlement. Look at the massive pressure it took in Chinatown to remedy a few blocks affecting a few dozen permits. Multiply that by ten thousand.

Scrap the placards.