I have been hearing from several folks that the SFPD street patrol division was out in full force Saturday at the Gay Pride Festival, ticketing cars parking around Terrace Park, mostly for parking to close to the intersection. One person told me he even questioned the ticket of the officer (who claimed he was parked less then 20 feet from the intersection), after the officer left a neighbor came out and measured, their car was parked 25 feet from the intersection.
So why the flurry of tickets at a festival that got a lot of publicity before the event on Saturday? Dare I say there was some veiled discrimination going on by the officers? How convenient to show up to a very popular event (The Mayor even spoke at it) and hand out parking tickets knowing many people will be in violation because there really isn’t any place to park around Terrace Park except on the street.
I often scratch my head when city officials say they need more officers, but all they have better to do on a Saturday afternoon is hand out parking tickets. Nice way to show the police force’s diversity tolerance by handing out tickets at a Pride Festival. Everything has a cost it seems in Sioux Falls anymore.
Come on….. This is a really big Stretch your attempting to make here. Parking tickets don’t equal discrimination.
I noticed a couple of police officers out of their cars writing parking tickets around the event center neighborhood after I dropped my kid and a friend off for the Ed Sheeran concert.
Nice plan Huether. Save on the costs by not building enough parking, then send out the police to write trumped up tickets to not only add a little revenue, but also do this after you’ve publicly claimed there isn’t a parking issue at the EC.
The one I stopped and observed (no, I’m not a cop) but I couldn’t figure out why the car was getting a ticket.(Not too close to the corner, not blocking a driveway, not in a no parking zone, not too far away from the curb, etc.)
I really believe this Mayor just enjoys being a d!ck to the little guy and really believes he’s better than everyone else.
The bigger problem may be pressure on police to collect more revenue. There’s been obvious police saturation. Rarely, do I see a cop with someone pulled over but this week I’ve seen 3 or so each day. Perhaps there’s discrimination. It may be sex or race oriented but it’s also lower income. There’s unrest across the nation. It’s caused from civil unrest and police abuse. Careful Mr. Mayor, it can come here.
They give tickets there every day of the week during the swimming season- you are right that there may not be enough parking but they were not targeting anyone – I got a ticket there a number of years ago when a tree branch was covering up a sign
Just a reminder. Parking tickets are civil citations, not a moving violation or crime. City ordinance doesn’t allow appeals into court. They’ll sue into small claims but insist with that judge you want circuit court. They don’t pursue there. Case is dismissed via lawyer petition.
My action, it works. Ignore them but show up for small claims stating you’ll not accept your case being heard unless it’s in circuit court. They going further not possible. They drop it. I’ll be doing this regularly as Uber driver.
City government is unconstitutional. Join me, we can force them to change into democracy. Also, there’s an unofficial contest to see who can collect the most unpaid citations.
Matt’s got it right.
The police must not like country music as I got a ticket at Kenny Chesney…and it is articles like this that take away anyone’s ability to take you seriously…including the few times you actually have a point..
Yeah, it was ‘stretch’ when several off-duty police officers after a training meeting decided to get drunk at Touchez and threaten homosexuals with a pool cue a few years back.
http://caselaw.findlaw.com/sd-supreme-court/1060955.html
Touchez…going back more than just a few years there now l3wis. Dating yourself a bit ;).
So some dumbasses get drunk and show their homophobia 15 YEARS AGO, all the cops must be gaybashers?!?!?!
Painting with a wide brush again?
Did anyone else hear about Kermit Staggers at the City Council informational meeting Tuesday complaining about the ticket he received on Saturday?
Yup, he had a photo with a tape measure clearly showing he was 25 feet from the curb. It seems our cops have nothing better to do then hand our silly parking tickets, take breaks in the Mickey D’s parking lot and eating free meals at the hospital. But you know, we need more of them, so we can be safe from shadows and ghosts at Tuthill park 😉
LJL – did you read the entire link I shared? This wasn’t an isolated incident.
Looks like Staggers suffered the citations harrassment process. Next, the code enforcer shows up Saturdays with multiple tickets for something on his property undefined in ordinances. It’s how the mayor plays. If you don’t agree with him, he’s the kid who takes his ball and goes home. So childish but easier to deal with than unjustified ethics complaints.
If there really was a violation is it still harassment?
Lewis knows all about Touchez. He would often show his pocket pool cue there.
I watched the video of the 6/23/15 Council informational session today (Saturday) . Kermit’s complaint about his parking citation (made during the “open discussion” portion of the meeting) was not included in the video shown on CityLink.