Jul 12, 2007 8:30 am US/Mountain
Volunteers Ticket For Handicap Parking Violations
Denver Program Creates Special Police To Patrol Parking Lots
by Rick Sallinger
DENVER (CBS4) ―
Volunteers who give out tickets to cars parked illegally in handicap spaces in the city of Denver are being accused of impersonating police officers. The group gives out city of Denver tickets and even operates on private property.
The group is called the Handicap Parking Enforcement Program. They can be seen on streets and in parking lots around Denver wearing black tee shirts with a Denver Police badge printed on it.
They are officially called special police. The members of the program do their job for free, but the tickets they hand out cost $100 or more.
CBS4 News accompanied the patrol as it ticketed violators. The validity date on one car's handicap placard had been changed, but it didn't fool those on this force of volunteers who issued a ticket.
When asked by CBS4 News, the driver said she was having back surgery and hadn't had a chance to get a legitimate handicap parking permit. She admitted borrowing the placard from a friend then altering it.
Not everyone responds so well to the tickets from volunteers.
One woman was furious for being given a ticket for parking between two handicap spaces. The volunteer who issued the ticket was L.D. Gray.
"They asked for me to be arrested for impersonating a police officer," she said.
Gray said she displayed her Denver Special Police badge and she was wearing their uniform t-shirt with a Denver Police insignia.
"She started going off on me saying we couldn't ticket her", Gray said.
Dale Coski oversees the program for the Denver Human Rights Commission and says the volunteers can legally give out tickets.
"It's considered special police officers and Colorado state laws allow people who have been trained and essentially deputized to give out handicap parking violations," Coski said.
The woman who wanted the enforcement volunteer arrested was so mad about being ticketed she challenged it in court. Her name is Diane Trimmer.
"Did you feel they were impersonating police officers?" CBS4 asked.
"I really didn't know," Trimmer said. "I do know she said she was with Denver Police."
In the end Trimmer lost. A magistrate found that she was indeed handicapped and did have a valid placard, but was parked between two spaces. She was ordered to pay a reduced fine plus court costs.
Afterwards trimmer said, "to be honest with you, because I'm handicapped myself I would never do anything to hurt another handicapped person so I feel very badly."
The city of Denver places great value on the volunteers in the Handicap Parking Enforcement Program. Last year, more than 6,000 tickets were handed out for handicap parking violations at $100 a ticket or more.
The members of the program undergo special training from the city before they are assigned to hand out tickets.
(© MMVII CBS Television Stations, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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