12/19/2007
from the Kennebec Journal
Many students absent, but most not due to H1N1
Massacre could have been much worse
Nation's jobless rate reaches 10 percent
Attack 'outrageous,' says Augusta soldier stationed at Fort Hood
Old Man Winter: He's still got it
AUGUSTA Up the rails
Mace seeks repeat
Bobcats see similar team in title game
All of today's:
News | Sports
from the Kennebec Journal
from the Morning Sentinel
'The luckiest man in the world just left us'
Officials: Swine flu a small part of school absences
Veteran: Military 'gives you strength'
AFTER THE VOTE How to dispense pot to patients?
SUSPECT FOUND IN CLOSET
NEWPORT Police recover two firearms
State cross country titles up for grabs
H.S. GIRLS SOCCER Raiders try to crack West's title reign
All of today's:
News | Sports
from the Morning Sentinel
And the fines aren't cheap.
"Fifty dollars is the minimum," police Chief Joseph Massey said Tuesday. "It could be more; it could be up to $200."
Police are cracking down on violators since receiving angry phone calls from people who are handicapped and say they cannot find parking spaces because people are using them illegally, according to Massey.
He said one man who is handicapped told him he went to a store in Waterville to shop and drove around the lot, unable to find a handicapped spot. The man said he counted 11 vehicles parked illegally in those spaces. He reported the situation to the store manager.
"It's just not fair that they're not able to come out and shop," Massey said.
He said someone also called him from a politician's office saying that office had received a call from someone wanting a national law regarding handicapped parking.
Massey said that it may be a bad time for police to become aggressive on fines and he hates to issue people tickets of $50 or more but on the other hand, handicapped spaces are marked and people should heed the signs. He said he wants to let people know police started checking parking lots Monday night and issued three or four tickets to motorists who did not have proper placards or plates displayed.
"If they don't have that and it's not being displayed, they're going to get a ticket," he said.
Massey said tickets for more than $50 may be issued if violators have received prior fines for parking illegally.
Amy Calder -- 861-9247
acalder@centralmaine.com
Reader comments
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There are more important issues for the Police to do, than to go running around and be worried about parked cars"
"0-Tolerance of Central Maine,That policy sounds somewhat good, but then we'd be driving around the parking lots vs. trying to locate OUI's and other violations..."
---Exactly. Often times the illegal parked drivers are the ones that are drunk,the drug runner,you-name it.
Take the town of Brookline,Massachusetts, surrounded 3/4 by extremely high crime areas,yet Brookline is a safe community to live in. Why? The drunks,the drug dealers,the criminals know the reputation of Brookline,Ma.'s police officers. Brookline officers spent their whole day stopping vehicles one after another for everything and anything. The criminals and general traffic violators know to STAY OUT of Brookline.report abuse
--Most PDs that give their officers a day off after writing so many tickets...DONT tell the public about the policy. Quota's? Every business has quotas from factory worker to insurance salesman.report abuse
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