Parking enforcement clampdown has SFMTA workers worried about safety
SAN FRANCISCO - Hundreds of Muni parking enforcement officers rallied on Thursday outside the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency.
The parking control officers are angry at their employer after learning through news reports that the city is gearing up for a major parking crackdown they will have to enforce. They said this would put them in danger.
Officers said previous stepped-up parking enforcement or fine increases have led to more threats and even assaults; making their work more dangerous.
"Put a target on our back and puts us in a precarious situation with the residents and the challenges that we face. We still haven't gotten a date; the actual date we'll be doing that," said Trevor Adams, a senior parking control officer.
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SFMTA workers fearful parking crackdown could put target on their backs
SFMTA parking control officers said they have received death threats and had guns and other weapons pulled on them while confronting drug dealers or users who are double-parked.
"It shouldn't just be a top-down decision. It's not thoughtful at all and that should not be how we govern," said District 1 Supervisor Connie Chan.
Officers said it can be especially difficult when ticketing people who are living in their vehicles, during encampment removals, and enforcing the parking rules in open-air drug markets.
"Weapons and vicious animals. We encounter that on a daily basis," said Adams.
Added parking control officer Michan Schexnader, "They already don't like us. So, I feel like his extra enforcement is gonna make them have much more animosity towards us.
She described a scary encounter with a car owner who followed her for several blocks.
"Waited for me at the stop light, punched my vehicle, punched through the window, and cut my eye," she said.
Muni station agents said they experience much of the same.
"There's everything in the subway. What you see on the street is happening in the subway also," said station agent Shalana Willis.
Muni said in a statement, "Our Parking Control Officers are provided de-escalation training, self-defense tools, and have access to our internal dispatch center that communicates directly with SFPD for any assistance they need."
The agency also said since 2018, crime in the system is down 48%. But, ridership is also down 29%. That suggests that actual crime is down 19%.