Nov 9, 2009 9:22 pm US/Central
City Steps Up 'Denver Boot' Enforcement
Chicago Crews Will Be Stalking Scofflaws Overnight To Help Collect Fines
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
Don't say you haven't been warned.
The city's overnight Denver boot patrol is already on the street. It's a new way to boot more vehicles and bring in more revenue.
CBS 2's Mike Parker reports the city means business.
The city Revenue Department said it has "repositioned resources to maximize coverage … and to increase efficiency and productivity." Translation: more Denver boots, more money to wash away all that red ink in the city budget.
A little Ford sits virtually alone on Lincoln Avenue, immobilized by the dreaded Denver boot. What's unusual is when it was booted – around 2 a.m.
Mike, the guy who calls himself the Parking Ticket Geek, is the one who has spilled the beans, on his website theexpiredmeter.com.
Without any announcement, the city of Chicago has begun sending out boot crews late at night and into the pre-dawn hours to stalk scofflaws six days a week. The Revenue Department trucks, equipped with high-tech cameras and computers, will be looking for vehicles with old unpaid parking tickets.
Early Monday evening, the city finally confirmed that it's happening.
"As a professional serial scofflaw, it's pretty upsetting that the city is going to such measures to get the money," Mike said.
It takes an estimated $300 to $500 to remove a car from legal limbo. If the city can collect tens of thousands of the fines, you'll be talking real money.
"It's one more thing piling up on the motorist," Mike said. "With red-light cameras, we have the increased parking-meter rates, we have now this additional enforcement of boots. It does add up. It would be nice if we could get a break once in a while."
Let's try to sort out what gets your car booted. If you fail to pay two tickets that are more than a year old, you're eligible. If you fail to pay three tickets in less than a year, the city can nail you. And you can't plead ignorance.
The city sends out as many five warning notices on each ticket before lowering the boom. And now the boom can come down in the dead of night.
Mike's website claims as many as 100,000 boots will be made in 2010. That comes out to tens of millions of dollars. The Revenue Department says that estimate is way too high.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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