John Deutzman's Blog

Thank you for that one John!

Tickets used to be to keep people from breaking laws, but now it seems to be a profitable business or game......like the "Supermarket Sweep" or "Beat the Clock!" "How many tickets can you write before they get to their cars?"

It looks like they are competing with each other for some type of bonus or recognition.
I remember reading in our local paper that our town cops were ranked by how many tickets they wrote for the year......so it really is a business if you think about it. It's not much different than sales rankings in business used to keep employees on top of their game.

Jane

John, thanks for staying on this story. Many of us have noticed this before, but we have no way of proving it. I don't believe for one minute that it's a mistake. It can't be a coincidence that so many agents have their time set two minutes ahead. They would have to notice the time difference between the ticketing devices and other time keeping devices. Alternate street parking is a huge cash cow for the city. I'm originally from Iowa and I know a thing or two about cows. When you have one, you always milk it. Please stay on these people. Once the heat is off, they'll go right back to cheating the public. Thanks again! Have a good night.

Daniel

It does not surprise me one bit about early clocks used in scanners, do the math how much money has additonally been ripped out of the peoples wallets due to a what im sure was a calculated effort on the part of the city,its a simple equation, early clocks = more tikets , and how exactly do you fight that ticket its your word aginst the citys good luck! People who read meters and give out tickets are souless vultures, they contribute to the ultimate degradition of societys morals people blindly following orders "just doin my job" real hard........ bein' an ass laws are supposed to protect people not fleece people get your heads straight people cuz KARMAS a real biotch, think anyone's child hood dream is to be a meter maid do you really feel satisfaction in you work knowing that 99% of the tickets givin' out enforce no rightous laws but in fact contribute to the bad rep nyc has for sucking every red cent you have got ...and more. I only wish the those fools who take these jobs would have to face their own penaltys when they issued a false tickets like if i caught one giving me a ticket and i could prove beyond a resonable doubt i was in the right, BANG they own me $45 (plus the $45 surcharge) that would be awesome!!!!!!!!!!!

oh yeah, they really suck.

that's exactly my point john, but a problem is also in the eye of the beholder, and trust me more money for nyc is never a problem!

Sanctus,
We've done dozens of stories like this showing the struggle innocent people go through with the ticket system yet nothing at all has been done to fix it. On the contrary, internally they portray me as the bad guy who seems to be obsessed with the problem.
But all you have to do is check the calls to 311 or the complaints we get to see how unhappy people are with the way the ticket system works. Their attitude of indeference and desire to place the blame on a reporter who reports it is frightening.
It's also symptomatic of people who've spent their entire lives sucking off the public's hard earned money. They develop an arrogance, get themselves bodyguards and a team of spokespeople.
There are very few true public servants left.

John, I too enjoyed your report last night. I was slightly taken aback by the first traffic cop you confronted. Was he screaming as he scurried into the back seat of his car? Or were those violent sneezes? Either way, I thought it very odd and unprofessional. I also think there are a lot of scandals to be uncovered in the USPS.

John,

It would be impossible to prove that it is intentional, but let the numbers speak for themselves. In your venture; did any of the ticket-givers not have their watches set a few minutes ahead?
I think we should find out what type of bonus the bureau is offering them. I don't believe they are just being paid salary if they are being this agressive in their jobs. Why would anyone cheat the system unless something was in it for them?

Jane

Calmax...

Wow....that is so sad! If a class-action attorney knew, he/she would round up all of the agents that were fired for low ticket revenue. That would be the smartest way to get justice *and* correct the ongoing situation.

Jane

JAsharf,

Do you have the law or order in writing or a place I can find that? I am not aware of such an order. You can copy/paste it here.


Calmax,

Several years ago we had many traffic agents come in with their idendities hidden...they provided documentation that proved they had a quota it think it was 37 on foot and 56 in a car or something like that.

Jane,

Their scanners were set ahead of the real time of day. Most agents carry cellphones like we do and could quickly varify that the city scanner didn't match the real time of day.

John