Parking Enforcement - West Hollywood fraudulent un-regulated parking enforcement of West Hollywood West Hollywood California

I don't know where to begin...I have 3 personal unquestionable incidents and they have done nothing but give me the run around.

Aren't my taxes good enough to fund the city of West Hollywood? Must they make fraudulent claims knowing full well that only 3% of the people will actually contest in order to make money.

Question: What check/balance is in place to make sure that a meter maid cannot make up any claim write a ticket?

Answer: There is none. And once that parking ticket is written, the city will side with them, every time....no matter how unbelievable the claim; no matter how many photos clearly show an error; no matter how many witnesses... These facts are a formula for disaster. And the parking enforcement knows this...after all they set it up. They know that its too costly to fight a claim all-the-way and it consumes too much of teh citizens precious time: 97% of people just pay the $40 fine. (Keep in mind, most of those 'people' are out-of-work or struggling actors, who need to stretch $40 as far as it can go in order to live.)

I have always heard stories from close friends but I always assumed "Theres no way this could be true;...they're probably making this up to cover up some parking violation they feel guilty for..." But then the fraudulent ticket writing happened to me....3 TIMES!

Before going into this I shall also note that my record is spotless for a reason...I DO read the signs; I DO follow the rules...little did I know...this will not keep you safe from abuse.

A short EXAMPLE: (True example from a friend of mines experience which summarizes many points of interest.)

He receives a final notice in the mail threatening a collection agency for a ticket that wasn't even received or true. He was out of town on that day AND the zone which they mentioned didn't even exist in the location cited! YEt they used his VIN and LICENCE plate number to write a fraudulent ticket! Also, not only the ticket wasn't delivered, but the previous notices were never sent to the address; somehow though....the final notice was....curious. To this day he is out 300 bucks, due to this.

For those of you that do not know...west hollywood is a very small juristiction of Los Angeles. It is very easy to walk from one end to the other by using Santa Monica Boulevard. Not a stretch to imagine that the meter maids see the same cars which eventually become recognizable & targetable...especially if you are on their bad side....

Heres my personal examples:

I.)
"WECOME TO WEST HOLLYWOOD"
My neighbor frantically knocking on my door one morning "YOUR CAR IS BEING TOWED! YOUR CAR IS BEING TOWED!" (...what the f ?)

Blowing past him to my car on the street right outside my apartment in a legal spot and my hang tag clearly visible. Officer observing the tow truck driver begin the routine as he is finishing writing me a ticket by pressing 'enter'.

As he presses it, I reach him. "Whats going on!!!"
What ensued was a back and forth between me and the officer. Him using intimidation techniques then trying the 'friend' approach by saying that it wasn't so bad because he called off the tow-truck so I ONLY have the ticket.

What happened? A cute young actress just moving in had purchased/posted a temporary parking permit for the spots two cars in front of me. She was pissed because her moving truck didn't have the full stretch as a runway, so she called the cops and told them that someone was in HER spot!

The officer was happy to be her hero as he flirted with her while writing a fraudulent ticked to someone who wasn't there to defend himself. He didn't count on my neighbor coming to get me!

The argument continued. Now attracting attention of my other neighbors who were occasionally budding in with "look! this is clearly not a violation...LOOK AT IT, hes two car lengths away!!!" I even got the girl to admit plainly that she was sorry, and wrong; right in front of the officer and my witnesses!

After moving to antagonizing the officer in front of my audience by saying things such as "look, he doesn't know what to say because he knows hes lying." After questioning his phoney excuses such as "well...I already pressed enter, i can't undo it."...to...(He literally said this: "I'm the 'parking king', If i say all you have to do is contest it believe me, it'll be ok."

Of course that was his final stance after trying other tactics and the good cop approach, which didn't stand up to my REASONing.

At the end of the day, I got my $40 ticket and the meaningless review cycle that must happen to even have a hope that it will be forgiven. Never happened....dispite my detailed photographs which were taken on-site, and my thurough contestation of the events which I submitted. I also was un-aware...that I would experience officer Davis again.

II.)
"F YOU, THE 'PARKING KING' NEVER FORGETS."

After a wonderful sunday breakfast at IHOP with my wife. I return to my car legally parked at a metered spot which isn't effective on sunday. A ticket.
What the f !!!?

As I read it, I felt like it was a tabloid of my life...'Parking in a Handicap spot with no placard visible.' Astonished and giving the benefit of the doubt, I looked at the spot: no sign, no blue color, no blue meter, there was none even on the street itself? How could such an obvious error be over looked? Was it meant for someone else? Nope...my licence plate was there.

Remembering my last ordeal, I started scouring for 'evidence' to support the truth. Ah, there it is, it lists the meter number which was correct. And the meter is clearly not a handicap meter...good, I'm safe...TRUTH WILL PREVAIL!...nope.

Next to the meter I notice the officer,...DAVIS. I looked at my wife in astonishment over the unusual coincidence. My wife actually cried in disbelief because we couldn't afford yet another WASTED $40. It was what we had to live on for that week.

I took photos of the spot, the meter, everything around it. And once again, included it in my report/contestation. Surely, with the meter clearly visible on ticket and photo...it would be an obvious error...nope....DENIED.

Thats when my conspiratorial mind kicked in. THen my rational...'why not? why wouldn't they? They can get away with it. And with human nature...if you can get away with something...eventually...its going to happen. Unless you're a person who keeps your nature in check with a strict moral code.
But all I needed to see was "DAVIS" written on the ticket.

III.)
"the NEVER ENDING STORY BEGINS?"

Yet a third ticket, this time no named officer, no VIN number, we didn't even receive the parking ticket...do you know why???
Because we never parked.

One day I was dropped off by my wife, she wasn't even stopped for literally a second the car barely stopped moving much less ever having the chance to be in park (which it never was). I exited the car as she was going to circle the block until I was finished at the bank. Then I would jump in. Something that isn't unusual in the least.

WE received a ticket in the mail. "Parked infront of a meter in a red zone." What the f ?

After going to the site, we saw the supposed redzone. Its in the right hand lane that is used to turn right onto santa monica boulevard. The right hand turn where i exited as my wife waited for an opening in traffic. Hardly 'parking'...its two birds with one stone. She was turning right, i exited. That simple.
....so i simply received another $40 infraction which could be denied as well.

CONCLUSION:
What effective recourse do we the citizens (as individuals) have against these fraudulent claims & corruption? Sure, take time off work; go to meetings with council members; in the end after losing money and pissing off your boss,...you take it up the tailpipe.

These three examples alone, I lost $80 bucks which I needed to live. Lost, as if i worked for free during the manhours I spent at work making it...a days pay basically (after taxes)!...Over fraudulent claims where I could have no recourse.

I wish innocent until PROVEN guilty also applied to parking enforcement...but then...they would have to find a new way of scamming money out of taxpayers. No. Instead,...for the city of west hollywood and the criminals who write the tickets: Its "guilty until proven innocent"....and boy, do they revel in it.

Sean
west hollywood, California
U.S.A.