El Cerrito Police Crack Down On Disabled Parking Abuse

EL CERRITO, CA — When it comes to disabled parking, there a lot of room for abuse. There's the use of spaces by able bodied people. Then there's the use of placards that belong to someone else or have expired.

El Cerrito Police recently conducted a disabled placard/license plate operation in and around the Del Norte BART station.

During a three hour operation officers contacted 21 persons, issued four parking citations for stopping in disabled stalls, and issued three citations for misusing a disabled placard that belonged to someone else.

"Many of the people we contacted who were legitimately using a disabled placard were appreciative of our efforts to keep the disabled parking spots available for those that need them," police said in a written statement.

Penalties are stiff for disabled parking violations. Violators are subject to a fine of not less than $250 and not more than$1,000. The license plates and/or placard are seized by the officer and returned to DMV with a notification advising that they were used fraudulently. In addition, the parked vehicle receives a $275 parking citation.

Officers will continue to look for violators. If you spot what you believe to be a violation, call the non emergency dispatch center at 210-233-1214.

-Image via El Cerrito Police

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