Despite efforts to heighten surveillance of illegal parking in
areas designated for disabled persons, misuse of disabled parking
placards continues to remain a problem at UCLA.
Even after the notorious handicapped parking scandal of 1999, in
which 19 former football players used fraudulent disabled parking
placards, a “small minority” of UCLA students continue
to misuse the placards, said Renée Fortier, UCLA parking
administrator.
In 2002, university police cited 29 people for misuse of
handicapped parking placards through November, in addition to the
numerous people cited by parking services for similar
violations.
Following the 1999 scandal, Chancellor Albert Carnesale issued a
statement requesting that Parking Services and the UCPD step up
their efforts in preventing such crimes.
Parking Services responded by implementing a disabled placard
misuse hotline in August of 2000, which allows individuals to
report suspected abuse of disabled parking placards on or off
campus. More recently, in September of 2002, Parking Services
posted signs in on-campus parking facilities encouraging people to
report misuse.
“It has been pretty effective,” said Parking
Administrator Brad Carter.
He added that the hotline receives about four or five calls a
week.
For some, however, the hotline raises concerns regarding
disabled students with unobservable disabilities being reported for
illegal parking.
The DMV stipulates that individuals may receive disabled person
placards if they have a cardiovascular or lung disease, both of
which may appear unobservable.
Approximately 12 percent of students who received disabled
student parking permits have some type of unobservable disability,
according to Ed McCloskey, student affairs officer of the Office
for Students with Disabilities.
The risk of students with unobservable disabilities being
reported is seen as a necessary evil by some.
“I’ve had friends (with unobservable disabilities)
harassed, but you show documentation and that’s it,”
said Dria Fearn, the head of the Disabled Student Union, a
USAC-sponsored student advocacy group that supports students with
all types of disabilities.
Some students feel it isn’t their responsibility to report
individuals for misusing disabled parking spaces, possibly falsely
accusing them.
“It is not the students’ duty to spy on individuals
for something as menial as a handicapped parking infraction,”
said Bradley Roberts, a third-year history student. “Leave
that to meter maids.”
Fines for the misuse of disabled parking can get considerably
high, especially if the parking citation includes multiple
infractions.
Parking in a disabled space with an illegally obtained placard
constitutes a $500 fine with an additional $350 fine given for
parking in a stall allocated for disabled parking.
Although hefty fines may deter some people from misusing
disabled parking, educating people on the repercussions to the
disabled community in need of these spots is critical in keeping
disabled parking misuse from continuing, said Kathy Molini,
Director of OSD.
The American with Disabilities Act dictates that 4 percent of
public parking stalls must be allocated for the disabled.
This does not take into account the number of disabled people in
need of placards or the number of disabled permits issued.
In 2001-2002, 742 students were granted the disabilities student
parking permit at UCLA, which is separate from a DMV issued
placard, said Molini.
UCLA has a history involving the misuse of disabled parking. The
football player parking scandal involving several former Bruin
stars including Cade McNown and Skip Hicks left a negative imprint
on the football program and the university that continues to
linger.
During the mid-1980s, the Culver City DMV used one of
UCLA’s parking areas as a test site to conduct a sting to
ascertain if disabled placards were being used fraudulently.
During that time Parking Services worked closely with the DMV
while they conducted annual and semi-annual stings on campus.