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news
University
police crack down on fake permits
By Joe Licavoli
Summer On-line Forty-Niner
The disabled parking
placard is for a person who has a serious condition and needs
a close parking spot, however University Police at Cal State
Long Beach are finding students illegally using the placards
for a closer spot.
Police have caught about seventy people using these placards
in the past year, said Cpl. John Bellah.
“The penalties are quite severe. California law states that
if you run a stop sign, that’s considered an infraction and
you pay a fine,” Bellah said. “Misuse of the placards is the
same as drunken driving or reckless driving, it’s on the same
level. It’s two points on your driving record, it’s considered
a misdemeanor and you can go to jail for it.”
Another key element of abusing these placards is that it is
something that will stay on a student’s record and may harm
them in their career.
“If you are going to become a police officer, a firefighter,
a doctor, a lawyer, or anything where you have to be screened
it will show up as a misdemeanor,” Bellah said. “And some
people may look at it as fraud.”
The disabled parking placard comes with a registration slip,
just like any state registration slip, which must be presented
on demand to a police officer of DMV official, Bellah said.
Because many student cars at CSULB have a parking permit,
it is fairly easy for police to spot an offender.
“If we a see a car that looks like a students car and see
them using a handicap placard we will give them a misdemeanor
citation,” Bellah said.
The real problem with using the placards illegally is that
people who really need a close parking space can’t find one.
“It makes it hard for people that really need it,” Bellah
said.
The police have computers in their cars that are directly
linked to the DMV and can trace the placards to the disabled
person.
Bellah says police officers are hoping that with more information
given about the consequences of using these placards illegally,
the problem will stop or at least there will be less people
abusing the placards.
“If we could get the word out, that may get people to be smarter,”
Bellah said.
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