Exclusive: Attacks On Philadelphia Parking Authority Officers Have 'Risen Dramatically' Since 2018
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Loathed, feared, and now under attack. Only Eyewitness News has the details on Philadelphia parking officers being attacked while on the job. Disturbing new numbers show just how dangerous their job has become.
Janet Laing had just printed a $76 ticket for a car parked in a no-stop zone when the driver came back and got nasty.
"The gentleman came running down the street and said 'he's moving, he's moving,' but it was too late because I had already started," said Laing, a Philadelphia Parking Authority parking enforcement officer. "He got mad. He went around to his vehicle, wind his window down, started spitting at me, pulled out his private parts, spat at me some more, and then he took off."
Laing isn't the only PPA officer who has been attacked on the job.
Megan Gallagher says a woman punched her twice in the face because she thought her boyfriend was going to get a ticket.
"My face split open, because she got me twice, so I was bleeding everywhere," Gallagher said, "and it was just awful."
Parking enforcement supervisor Megan Gallagher says a woman punched her twice, splitting her face open, because she thought her boyfriend was getting a ticket. In an exclusive interview with @CBSPhilly, @PhilaParking says attacks against parking enforcement officers are up. pic.twitter.com/VuqWR4DM2n
— Madeleine Wright (@MWrightReports) February 8, 2022
"Over the past three years, assaults and incidents against the parking enforcement officers, or those who issue the tickets, has risen dramatically, going from 12 incidents and assaults in 2018 to 58 in 2021," PPA Board Chair Beth Grossman said.
The total number of incidents is even higher when you count towing and booting officers, going from 73 in 2020 and 286 in 2021.
Why does Grossman think the numbers are going up?
"I think it's a lot of reasons," Grossman said. "I think you know, so many things going on in the world have made people angry and divisive."
The man who sexually assaulted Laing was eventually arrested and convicted.
The woman who attacked Gallagher was never found.
All they're asking for is respect.
"These people just want to do their job. It's a difficult job," AFSCME District Council 33 Secretary-Treasurer Frank Halbherr said. "They come in and do it every day. They just want to make it home to their families."
The Philadelphia Parking Authority is offering more training to its officers to help them deescalate tense situations.
If you get a parking ticket and you'd like to contest it, you can dispute it by filling out a form on the PPA website or by writing a letter to the Bureau of Administrative Adjudication.