Berkeley Police to Crack Down on Disabled Parking Placard Abuse

 parking enforcement officers have announced plans to start enforcing laws related to disabled parking placards and license plates starting Sept. 4.

Prompted by the passage of AB 144, to reduce the abuse of disability placards, the department’s parking enforcement division will start cracking down on unlawful disabled parking signage use. Before the bill passed, only law enforcement—not parking enforcement—officers were allowed to enforce disability placard rules.

Parking enforcement officers now have the authority to ask placard users for identification and evidence showing legal issuance of disabled placards and plates. Illegal use of placards or plates can result in a $1,000 fine and confiscation, according to information released Thursday by the Berkeley Police Department.

“It’s an unfortunate truth, but the abuse of disability placards is not unusual in Berkeley. We hope people understand how much of an impact the fraudulent use of placards has on our community, and desire that people chose not to use them illegally,” said Berkeley Police Chief Michael K. Meehan, in a news release Thursday. “By providing our Parking Enforcement Officers with the ability to enforce these laws, we are taking action to protect and preserve parking spaces for legitimate placard holders.”

What do you think of this new effort? Tell us in the comments.

If there's something in this article you think should be corrected, or if something else is amiss, call editor Emilie Raguso at 510-459-8325 or email her at berkeley@patch.com.