Just six months after parking enforcement operations were shifted under police department supervision, the village is seeing benefits. Police started conducting annual checks on parking officers’ driving records, which turned up three employees with revoked driver’s licenses. The village terminated all three officers, one of which was discovered with a prior DUI, according to Village Manager Tom Barwin.
Routine driving history checks were not being made on parking enforcement officers while the parking services division was under public works’ control, Barwin said.
The village shifted parking control to its police department earlier this year after former village parking officer Keith Kotero was caught allegedly pocketing $5,625 in bribes for removing boots from seven different cars and canceling parking tickets.
Barwin said, after considerable analysis, the choice was made to switch parking enforcement’s control because of the police department’s “quasi-military environment” and 24/7 supervision of its operations.
“I think we’re seeing more accountability already,” Barwin said.
Police are also strengthening parking employee training, teaching them to make snap judgments while on the parking beat. The village is also seeking reports and feedback about how village policies and ordinances might be conflicting with common-sense application of laws on the street.
Barwin said the village wants to strengthen the parking division’s ties to the police department, which previously controlled parking operations until the mid-1990s.
“We’re really obsessed with crime fighting here,” he said. “There’s the famous broken windows theory of crime, where you fight major crime by not allowing minor crime to get a foothold [in the community]. Parking officers will eventually be trained to look for evidence beyond a car having a license plate and 50 cents in the meter.”
Barwin appointed a task force to study Oak Park’s parking operations after the village discovered Kotero’s illegal activity.
In addition, two weeks ago, five-year veteran parking services manager, Alva Johnson, announced his resignation. His last day was on Friday. He is reportedly moving into the private parking sector as a parking management specialist. Barwin said he couldn’t address whether Johnson’s resignation was related to Kotero’s crime or the three employees with revoked licenses, saying only, “It’s a tough job.”
Former police chief Joe Mendrick, who headed the task force, is filling Johnson’s position on a part-time basis as the village reviews what it wants to do with parking overall, Barwin said.
CONTACT: mstempniak@wjinc.com