Park Illegally Without Getting A Ticket?

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) -- A former parking enforcement officer says the city comes down hard on officers who don't write enough parking tickets and claims there is a ticket quota in place.

 The whistleblower, who didn't want to reveal his identity, fearing retribution, says he and his fellow officers were told to write as many tickets as possible.

"We were told we could write up to four tickets per vehicle", he tells CBS 13 News.

 In addition, he claims his former co-workers would write "fake" tickets to drivers who get them angry. He tells us "somebody drives away on you, all you really need to do and I know a few guys that do it, you just crumple the ticket up, throw it in the garbage can and what happens? The driver that drove off on you gets a ticket in the mail with a late fee."

He also alleges parking officers are told to stay away from Land Park Drive because that's where a lot of city officials live. The city denies the allegations.

Parking Enforcement Supervisor Howard Chan tells CBS 13 News: "We unequivocally deny all of the allegations with the exception of one. It's true that we consider requests that parking not be enforced at certain City sponsored and special occasions, where it's simply the right thing to do. As for ticket quotas, we have no citation quotas, period. Certainly if we did have a quota that every officer issue 100 tickets per day, the City would be adding $53 million to its coffers and we wouldn't be here today with a $40 million deficit. Obviously, that is not the case. Our parking enforcement officers do a tough job every day, serving the community. Their role is often misunderstood and frequently criticized. But rest assured, without parking enforcement there would be parking chaos downtown."