Tackling Parking Officer Abuse with Unified Evidence

Tackling Parking Officer Abuse with Unified Evidence

Parking agencies are gathering infraction evidence more easily

About two million people are affected by workplace violence every year in the United States. Some of these people are parking enforcement officers. While out on daily patrol, parking enforcement officers are regularly subject to verbal abuse and violent outbursts when issuing tickets. In more severe cases, they may even be physically attacked, have coffee thrown in their faces or side-swiped by disgruntled drivers who get caught breaking the rules. This is why many enforcement officers are given hours of training in violence prevention, learning how to de-escalate aggressive behavior and protect themselves.

However, sometimes that training is not enough. Surviving trauma, abuse and assault on the job can often lead to an increase in absenteeism and stress, which can hurt an organization. According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, nonfatal workplace assaults alone result in more than 876,000 lost workdays and $16 million in lost wages every year. Today, there’s an opportunity for university and city parking enforcement departments to keep their officers safer by equipping their team with body-wearable cameras.

Keeping Officers Safer

Once an aggressor knows they are on camera, it becomes easier for an officer to de-escalate the situation. With a push of the button, a parking enforcement officer can use body-wearable cameras to collect evidence and deter aggressive behavior. Should an altercation ensue, the parking enforcement department has the evidence they need to pursue a criminal case if required.

Because body-wearable cameras are more commonly associated with law enforcement, the system features and workflows are typically designed for police officers and their duties. With slight enhancements focused around parking enforcement tasks, body-wearable camera solutions can be just as useful to a parking officer to curb on-the-job threats.

For a long time, parking enforcement agencies have shied away from equipping officers with body-worn devices because they worried about the monumental task of managing a whole new source of evidence, often using an entirely new and separate system from their enforcement solution. It is an extremely time-consuming process to not only sort through video from body-wearable cameras and find the right evidence, but then also have to associate that video to the infraction data from a parking enforcement system.

Unification is helping to streamline this process. Today, it is possible to sync the body cameras with a system that is increasingly becoming commonplace in day-to-day parking enforcement tasks—automatic license plate recognition (ALPR). Within a unified platform, all recorded video from the body-wearable camera can be tied with the license plate reads from the mobile ALPR system.

Unifying Body-wearable Devices and ALPR Technology

Through this unified platform, handling parking enforcement tasks and staying safe become seamless to the operator. Essentially, an officer can drive around in their vehicle, searching for parking violations. As soon as the mobile ALPR system alerts them to an infraction, they can then press the record button on their body-worn device to begin documenting the issuance of the ticket and gathering more contextual evidence of the infraction itself. Should an individual cause a scene or become violent in any way, the enforcement officer could advise them of the video recording and diffuse the situation. Once their shift is over and the camera is docked at the department office, the system will automatically store all video evidence, associating each recording to the license plate read and other ALPR data.

Later, the parking enforcement manager can conduct searches using various metadata such as the license plate number, GPS coordinates, and timestamps, or by using a city or university campus map to quickly find video and information.

Capturing the Infraction Scene on Video

Investing in body-wearable technology in parking enforcement is not all about safety. Parking agencies can capture more evidence to support infractions.

For instance, if an officer is alerted to a vehicle parked in a disabled parking spot, the recording from the body-worn camera can provide an entire view of the scene. It would show the vehicle in an obvious infraction, the license plate, any signage and the missing disability parking permit. This can reduce the chances of tickets being contested, while simplifying the evidence collection and association.

The Future of Parking Enforcement

Assaults on parking enforcement officers are a growing concern for cities and universities everywhere. Body-wearable cameras are becoming a new tool to keep parking enforcement officers safer, which in turn helps to reduce stress, absenteeism and turnover.

By unifying these devices with an ALPR system during enforcement, parking agencies can further streamline the collection and association of evidence, so that if ticket disputes do come up, managers will be mouse clicks away from indisputable proof of infraction. Meanwhile, parking enforcement officers can go about their daily duties with greater confidence and ease.

This article originally appeared in the September 2018 issue of Security Today.

Featured

  • Allegion, Comfort Technologies Implement Mobile Credentials at the Artisan Apartment Homes in Florida

    Artisan Apartment Homes, a luxury apartment complex in Dunedin, Florida, recently transitioned from mechanical keys to electronic locks and centralized system software with support from Allegion US, a leading provider of security solutions, technology and services, and Florida-based Comfort Technologies, which specializes in deploying multifamily access control, IoT devices and software management solutions. Read Now

  • Mall of America Deploys AI-Powered Analytics to Enhance Parking Intelligence

    Mall of America®, the largest shopping and entertainment complex in North America, announced an expansion of its ongoing partnership with Axis Communications to deploy cutting-edge car-counting video analytics across more than a dozen locations. With this expansion, Mall of America (MOA) has boosted operational efficiency, improved safety and security, and enabled more informed decision-making around employee scheduling and streamlining transportation for large events. Read Now

  • Security Industry Association Launches New “askSIA” AI Tool

    The Security Industry Association (SIA) has unveiled a brand-new SIA member benefit – askSIA, a conversational AI agent designed to help users get the most out of their SIA membership, easily access SIA resources and find the latest information on SIA’s training and courses, reports and publications, events, certification offerings and more. SIA members can easily find askSIA by visiting the SIA homepage or looking for the askSIA icon in the top left of webpages. Read Now

    • Industry Events
  • Industry Embraces Mobile Access, Biometrics and AI

    A combination of evolving workplace dynamics, technology innovation and new user expectations is changing how people enter and interact with physical spaces. Access control is at the heart of these changes. Combined with biometrics and AI, mobile access control has become increasingly crucial for deploying entry solutions that are seamless, secure and adaptive to user needs. Read Now

  • Sustainable Video Solution Delivered for Landmark City of London Office Development

    An advanced, end-to-end video solution from IDIS, with a focus on reducing waste and costs, has helped a major office development in the City of London align its security with sustainability objectives. Read Now

New Products

  • Automatic Systems V07

    Automatic Systems V07

    Automatic Systems, an industry-leading manufacturer of pedestrian and vehicle secure entrance control access systems, is pleased to announce the release of its groundbreaking V07 software. The V07 software update is designed specifically to address cybersecurity concerns and will ensure the integrity and confidentiality of Automatic Systems applications. With the new V07 software, updates will be delivered by means of an encrypted file.

  • QCS7230 System-on-Chip (SoC)

    QCS7230 System-on-Chip (SoC)

    The latest Qualcomm® Vision Intelligence Platform offers next-generation smart camera IoT solutions to improve safety and security across enterprises, cities and spaces. The Vision Intelligence Platform was expanded in March 2022 with the introduction of the QCS7230 System-on-Chip (SoC), which delivers superior artificial intelligence (AI) inferencing at the edge.

  • ResponderLink

    ResponderLink

    Shooter Detection Systems (SDS), an Alarm.com company and a global leader in gunshot detection solutions, has introduced ResponderLink, a groundbreaking new 911 notification service for gunshot events. ResponderLink completes the circle from detection to 911 notification to first responder awareness, giving law enforcement enhanced situational intelligence they urgently need to save lives. Integrating SDS’s proven gunshot detection system with Noonlight’s SendPolice platform, ResponderLink is the first solution to automatically deliver real-time gunshot detection data to 911 call centers and first responders. When shots are detected, the 911 dispatching center, also known as the Public Safety Answering Point or PSAP, is contacted based on the gunfire location, enabling faster initiation of life-saving emergency protocols.