Meter-Made
Toronto, ON
Female, 30
I currently work as a Parking Enforcement Officer in the wonderful city of Toronto. I am feared, and loathed by all. I may not work in your particular city, but I'm positive that I can help give you a better understanding of what Meter Maids do. I am knowledgeable in all parking matters so ask me anything.
We all have things to do and places to be, and I understand how difficult it can be to find a parking spot sometimes. I also have a job to do, and if someone is late, or has parked illegally to run in to a store for "a minute" I have to ticket them. I feel bad for issuing tickets to people on a regular basis. This is especially true when I have ticketed an elderly person or a young mother who is trying to juggle three kids while running back to her car. I have also had instances where disabled people have parked in a rush hour route and I have towed, or almost towed their car away. I still have a job to do whether or not I feel bad for people. I have to try to stay objective, and not let my conscience get in the way.
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Parking officers don't carry any weapons in the city of Toronto. To the best of my knowledge they never have.
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I would be pretty difficult to spot a forgery on a pay and display receipt, simply because we don't actually get to see them up close. I have seen people try to use receipts from previous years, months etc. but fake slips have never seemed to be an issue in Toronto. I feel that it would be easy to spot a fake, simply because they might miss a vital piece of information that is on a slip, like the day of the year or the street that it was purchased from. Whoever has the patience to sit and make a slip for every area they will be visiting in a day would have a lot of spare time on their hands. It would take more effort to make a forgery than it would to spend a couple of dollars to park on a city street.
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I don't think anyone wishes to be a meter maid when they grow up. Neither do I. I simply see this job as a stepping stone for a future in law enforcement. In Toronto, the Parking Enforcement Unit is part of the Toronto Police Service, and therefore a great way to gain an internal role within the service. I don't know if any of my coworkers find this job emotionally fulfilling, as I find it quite draining. This job is simply a job. Parking Officers are required in order to ensure that traffic flows safely and to answer the parking complaints of the public. It can be fulfilling at times, when you help someone remove an unwanted vehicle from their property, or clear obstructions to their driveway, but we're not exactly saving the world either.
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There are numerous parking bylaws in existence. There are a handful that we actually enforce on a regular basis. There are two really ridiculous parking bylaws that technically can be enforced, but we choose not to. The first is displaying a `for sale` sign in your parked vehicle on city streets. The second is washing your car on city streets as well. I`m sure there was a reason for these byalws long ago, but like I said, we choose not to enforce them. I`m sure there are other ridiculous bylaws, but I can`t seem to think of anymore at the moment.
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If you are parked at an actual parking meter (not a pay and display machine) and it it out of order, you will more than likely get a ticket. In Toronto, the bylaw clearly states that no one should park next to a broken meter. If you are parked near a pay and display machine, and it is not in working order, the same rule applies, but you may use any machine on that given street to purchase a receipt. If you are on a street that only has one pay and display machine, it might be best to find parking elsewhere. There really is no such thing as free parking in larger cities like Toronto, so when in doubt, don't park there at all. We are not responsible for maintaining the machines, therefore it is hard for us to notice that a meter or a pay and display machine is broken. If you have received a ticket because of a broken meter or pay and display machine there is now an online dispute process (http://www.toronto.ca/pay-toronto-tickets/disputes.htm). Unfortunately this process is not yet available for any other infractions.
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I don't know why that rule is in place, you would have to take that up with your city councilors. The main issue is that people assume that if a pay machine is broken they get free parking. In reality, they can walk a few paces down the street and use the next available machine. Of course, this can only happen with pay and display machines and on a street that has more than one machine. I'm sure that a lot of people feel the same way you do, hence the creation of the online dispute process.
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