The New York City Police Department’s Internal Affairs unit is on a mission – to curtail the widely-held view that certain government vehicles can park where they like without consequence. The NY Times reports that a small towing unit belonging to the IAB is charged with cleaning up No Standing Zones around the city being used illegally by government employees. Not to be discriminatory, the blitz is levied not just at vehicles belonging to State Officials, Federal agencies (like the FBI), and the NY Fire Department, but even the NY Police Department is in the cross-hairs!
According to the report, more than 1850 government vehicles were towed in 2013. There is no fine payable, but one can expect a few hours of inconvenience as the car has to be extracted from the impound lot with proof that the perpetrator was on “official business”. The majority of these vehicles have approved “parking privileges” as identified by the government issued placard on the dash. However, these privileges do not extend to No Standing, No Stopping, Bus Zones or Pedestrian crosswalks, and hence the IAB has the uncomfortable task of towing NYPD co-workers’ vehicles, among others.
“It was the most anti-police thing you could imagine,” a former Internal Affairs officer in the unit said, who for obvious reasons, insisted on anonymity.
The practice is under review by the newly appointed police commissioner, William Bratton.
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