Parking
permit forgeries not fooling anyone
By
Dylana Foy
Online Forty-Niner
Staff Writer
Altered and forged parking permits have always been a possibility for those
trying to get around the law, but they are becoming easier to detect, and
fines make it costly for a violator.
According to campus policy posted on Cal State Long Beach’s Web Site,
parking permits are required on campus at all times, and meters and permit
parking lots are enforced at all times. A parking permit for each semester
costs $98, or $24.50 for a motorcycle/moped permit. If a visitor parks on campus,
a day permit can be bought for $3.25.
However, not everyone wants to pay to park. Some intrepid drivers take matters
into their own hands and create their own permits.
“
I’ve seen hand-drawn permits,” said Thomas Bass, senior director
of Parking and Transportation Services.
“
I’ve also seen elaborate ones with lots of time and attention put into
it.”
Parking and Transportation Services are finding more fake parking permits now
than in the past, according to Denitra Jones, coordinator of citation processing.
Parking and transportation services find as many as five fake parking permits
a month.
The rise in discovered fake parking permits might not be because more exist,
though it has become easier to identify differences between real and fake permits.
“
It’s been easier to detect forged or altered permits because of the
hologram it has,” Jones said.
The hologram is not the only distinguishing characteristic of the current parking
permit.
“
We have ways to authenticate [a permit],” Bass said. “But I’m
not about to share them.”
Bass said he could tell when a permit is “just not right.” Sometimes
the parking permits are pretty close to the real thing, and other times they
are crude replications, said Bass.
If an altered or forged parking permit is found, a citation with an enhanced
fine is issued. For the semester, an altered or forged permit will have a fine
of $88-$150, according to Jones.
“
The fine is set at a level that it would make better sense to buy a parking
permit,” Bass said.
A forger may have to pay a $150 fine for a permit that would have only cost
$98.
Once an altered or forged permit is found, Parking and Transportation Services
will confiscate it.
“
We immobilize vehicles till the permit is handed to us,” Bass said.
Parking and Transportation Services immobilize a vehicle by putting a boot
on the tire so the vehicle cannot be moved.
According to Bass, Judicial Affairs at the university could discipline the
vehicle’s owner further, but for most cases, the fine is a sufficient
punishment.
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