Reporting Councils to The Police

vikingaero

I was reading this article:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1348789/Two-thirds-parking-tickets-issued-illegally.html

(Yes it's a DM article but I did try to find a lesbian Grauniad one too).

Anyway my point is this: If a Council Parking Jobsworth issues a ticket illegally, then shouldn't we call the Police? Because this would amount to nothing more than extortion/blackmail/attempted theft.

Let's say I'm a Parking Attendant and I issue a ticket onto your vehicle, maybe to hit targets, and I know full well that the allegations are baseless, then what's the difference between that and someone holding a gun to your head demanding your wallet.

I firmly believe that if a Parking Attendant and Council are complicit then both the attendant and Head of Parking Services will should face a criminal investigation.

So would the Police take me seriously on a complaint such as this?

pelirocco

vikingaero wrote: »

I was reading this article:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1348789/Two-thirds-parking-tickets-issued-illegally.html

(Yes it's a DM article but I did try to find a lesbian Grauniad one too).

Anyway my point is this: If a Council Parking Jobsworth issues a ticket illegally, then shouldn't we call the Police? Because this would amount to nothing more than extortion/blackmail/attempted theft.

Let's say I'm a Parking Attendant and I issue a ticket onto your vehicle, maybe to hit targets, and I know full well that the allegations are baseless, then what's the difference between that and someone holding a gun to your head demanding your wallet.

I firmly believe that if a Parking Attendant and Council are complicit then both the attendant and Head of Parking Services will should face a criminal investigation.

So would the Police take me seriously on a complaint such as this?

I would seriously hope not , there is enough for them to do as it is

lucylucky

Could the ticket have been issued in error rather than maliciously?

Would be difficult to prove otherwise.

peter_the_piper

If you think you have proof then its a trip to the Local Government Ombudsman, they will decide if it goes further.

HO87

peter_the_piper wrote: »

If you think you have proof then its a trip to the Local Government Ombudsman, they will decide if it goes further.

And the Common Law offence of Misconduct in Public Office does not apply?

peter_the_piper

But can/will the police do anything on our say-so?

daveyjp

This is where the whole appeal system is seriously flawed. Councils need the cash so will make the driver go through every single hoop to prove their case - this takes time and effort (see Pepipoo for cases which have taken well over a year).

At any time during this process, usually when the driver has the Council strung up so high the Council have no chance of winning they can simply say 'we have decided not to pursue this case any further and the ticket is cancelled'.

The driver doesn't have to pay the ticket, but they don't get their day in 'Court'. If Council's get to the final hour before pulling out (especially on trivial cases) they should have to pay compensation to the driver for time taken in preparing their case - a minimum of £1000 should get them to stop chasing cases which they know they can't win.

HO87

peter_the_piper wrote: »

But can/will the police do anything on our say-so?

An entirely fair point. There is at least one ongoing investigation I am aware of and at least one case currently before the courts but I accept that when viewed amongst the sky-high piles of "concern for welfare" calls, complaints about Fraping and Facebook threats, such a complaint pales into the far distance. However the LGO does not have a shining reputation and regardless of whom the complaint is made to don't expect an easy ride nor a speedy resolution. That's not in anyway to suggest that complaints should not be made or pursued vigorously.

caz74

The daily mail article states that less than 1% of drivers appeal and that 68% of those that do have their ticket quashed. This does not prove that 68% of PCNs are illegally issued, it shows that in 68% of less than 1% of cases the adjudicator has agreed with the driver rather than the Council. The 1% of cases that go to appeal is not a representative sample of PCNs issued so you cannot extrapolate (?) this across all tickets issued. I don't know the figures but I would imagine that a high percentage of PCNs are paid straight away without any kind of appeal as the driver knows they parked illegally and haven't got a leg to stand on. Of course the papers love traffic warden-bashing so they're not going to point this out are they!

Adjudicator decisions are based on the balance of probabilities, and while some may come down to incorrect lines or signs, some tickets may be allowed purely because the adjudicator believes the driver e.g. if they say they were loading even though this was not seen by the traffic warden. I don't believe for a minute that no-one has ever lied to try to get off a parking ticket so there will be a number of cases allowed by the adjudicator where the driver has got lucky in that they have belived them. This sort of decision does not mean that the PCN was issued 'illegally' as the TW would have had good reason to believe that a pcn should be issued.

daveyjp

"I don't know the figures but I would imagine that a high percentage of PCNs are paid straight away without any kind of appeal as the driver knows they parked illegally and haven't got a leg to stand on."

I suspect they have more than 2 legs to stand on. Fighting a parking ticket takes time and most drivers can't be bothered, so paying the fine ends the matter.

Take a look at Pepipoo - I haven't seen a case yet where one of their members looks at the evidence provided and decides there are absolutely NO grounds for appeal. More often than not the wording of the ticket is wrong, or the signage is non compliant, both technical, but both solid grounds for appeal.

caz74

daveyjp wrote: »

"
I suspect they have more than 2 legs to stand on. Fighting a parking ticket takes time and most drivers can't be bothered, so paying the fine ends the matter.

Neither you or I know why 'most drivers' pay the fine - first time I got a PCN I paid it becasue I knew I had parked illegally - I parked in the residents bays outside my boyfriends house - got away with it several times, then eventaully got a ticket - fair enough I thought it's my own fault.

Also not sure that the cases posted on Pepipoo would be a true sample of all PCNs issued.

I'm not saying that all PCNs are perfectly valid, just that I don't think that 68% are illegal just becasue 68% of the very small number that go to adjudication are quashed.