Traffic Agents Protest New "Block the Box" Enforcement

Since September 10th, when blocking the box was changed from a moving violation to a parking violation, the NYPD has issued over 1,000 citations to the tune of $150 each. But some traffic cops have come out against the change because they say they're ill-equipped to deal with traffic stops, which are "one of the most dangerous interactions even police officers engage in," according to Anthony Miranda of the National Latino Officers Association. He tells WNYC that NYPD officers "have specialized training specifically for the purposes of car stops. Traffic enforcement agents do not. They do not even have training in non-lethal weapons." In response, Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne released a statement wondering, "Where's he been? Traffic enforcement has always been a difficult and often dangerous job for TEAs and police officers alike, particularly at busy intersections." And with the return of the squeegee men, it's only going to get worse!

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By John Del Signore in News on September 15, 2008 12:23 PM

Comments [rss]

Snoopy

You got it right 76Spit, but you left off the price of gas in your list of items from the sixties. It was floating around .31 a gallon. Do the math and translate it into 2008 dollars. Make yourself useful.

Spirit of 76

Old people are fine. It's senile, sexist old farts I don't like, pining for the "good old days" when cops were all great people, parking checkers were "meter maids," we were fighting the good fight against the Viet Cong, and women and colored folk knew their place.

JenChungsBaby

This was perfectly fucking obvious right from the very start when this dumbass law was passed. TEA's aren't cops! They're parking agents who sometimes direct traffic. They simply aren't trained or equipped to give tickets to moving vehicles, even if the stupid fucking legislators decide to call them "parking" tickets instead of moving violations.

Snoopy

You have a problem with old people Spirit? Like you aren't going to get old and have a shriveled brain? Oops you already have a shriveled brain. I forgot.

Let's see, you are twelve now so that would make it approximately seventy more years before your body catches down with your brain.

JMH

Suddenly, when THEY have to go out into traffic, cops realize that walking around this city can be dangerous, like we've been saying forever.

Spirit of 76

The easy solution would be to use technology instead of humans. Traffic cameras can't be threatened or bullied. Just mount high definition video cameras to capture the plate number and prove the car was actually stopped in the box after the light changed, then mail the ticket to the car's owner, just like red light cameras. No way box-blockers can challenge video in court.

TJ

worst. job. ever.

i feel bad for these people. they get no respect from anyone.

anyone else notice that they're new vehicles are white - just like regular NYPD - as opposed to the darker blue color they've been since the move to the NYPD

Art Vandelay

It's a legitimate complaint -- they should be trained properly to stop cars, and they should be armed if necessary. The expense of training/equipping them should be more than made up for by the fines they'll be able to generate.

Zero sympathy here for motorists who block intersections and crosswalks.

soopaman

What!!!!!!1 they have to do work? What is this city coming to. Its unfair. The traffic agents shoud be allowed to just stand in the center of traffic and chat with each other the way its been done for years. Damn Bloomberg all NYC traditions are going out the window.

Felix Hoenikker

Lovely Rita, meter maid....

Spirit of 76

Good, old Snoopy. Emphasis on the "old." Meter maids? How 1960s. This, from a guy who claims he keeps up with the times yet tries to patronize people he doesn't like with "sonny." Does anyone under the age of 75 use that word? Most towns I know of call them "parking checkers," not "meter maids." Many places don't even have meters anymore.

whitecastlerock

My heart bleeds for these agents...

Snoopy

"that NYPD officers "have specialized training specifically for the purposes of car stops." OK. So have them spend the two hours in class and then they will know what to do.

In most towns, meter maids are called meter maids, not traffic enforcement agents. They have nothing to do with traffic, they are parking enforcement agents.