Elmhurst Parking Cop To Get More Efficient

Elmhurst IL

09 March, 2021

3:31 PM

Description

ELMHURST, IL — Pens and paper are out the door for Elmhurst's parking officer. The operation is expected to become computerized. On Monday, a City Council committee recommended the city approve a $27,000 purchase of license plate-reading equipment to help the parking officer track cars and cover more ground. "I think this technology is incredible," Alderwoman Tina Park said. "It sounds like a big time-saver. I couldn't believe it was still pen and paper." Elmhurst used to have two parking officers. But because of a hiring freeze since the pandemic's beginning, the city has kept one of the positions vacant for about a year. Police department officials said they would like to see how much more efficient the parking officer can become with the equipment before deciding to refill the vacancy. Alderwoman Marti Deuter said the technology could help the city determine with more accuracy the necessary numbers and locations of its 20-minute and three-hours spaces. In 2019, the city received $1.2 million from its parking compliance program. Because of the pandemic, that amount dropped in half in 2020, officials said. The focus of parking enforcement is on the city's downtown, also known as the central business district. Its secondary focus is other business districts, according to a city memo. The main violations are parking over the time limit and in spaces reserved for specific categories of drivers such as customers, employees, the disabled, permit holders and fee payers, the memo said. The new computerized system is expected to launch in the summer.