Need a sidewalk? Call a Cop! by Dignity

Saturday, on my way home from work, I saw at least two cars parked on sidewalks along my SW 107th Avenue route. Typical sight for a drive home from work. No police enforcement. This time I looked left and right on the streets and avenues along SW 107th  Avenue that turns into SW 102th Avenue (which is best known as Fairway Heights Boulevard). The neighborhood is called Fairway Heights Estates. This time, I stopped to take photos of cars parked on the side streets, which led to more cars parked on the sidewalks, about 20 such photos until the camera battery wore out. 

Who were the most notable parkees?

Among the most obvious was a Miami-Dade Police Cruiser parked on the sidewalk. And another notable  parking job was a City of Miami Police vehicle, also setting the example of parking on the sidewalk. 


 

When two cop cars in the same neighborhood routinely park on the sidewalk, they set the example for the community.

Equally notable is the photo with three cars in a row, all on the sidewalk. It is obvious there is no fear of police action. If you are disabled  (or not, for that matter) there is only one way around this block and that is in the street.

The police dispatcher did not want the list of addresses I wanted to report. After a phone confrontation, a supervisor reluctantly agreed to take four of the addresses. I got a call back and another supervisor said that he would notify the Cutler Ridge station about my allegation of the lack of sidewalk ordinance enforcement. The next day, on my way to work, one of the offending vehicles from the side street was still parked on the sidewalk.

When the parking fine went from $28 to $150 at Miami-Dade County Commission people with disabilities did not get the support of Miami Dade Police Executive Director Parker, now retired. No educational program for the police was instituted. Miami-Dade police still do not know about the fine increase, or more importantly why. The blind and people in wheelchairs know about the problem.

Calls to the police dispatch number about parking on sidewalk abuse seem to result in the lowest of priority. The dispatcher actually wanted me to wait for police to come to give them the addresses. Wait for a police officer on the lowest priority call? I'd have been there for hours, if they showed up at all.

Cops that do respond have been witnessed not writing the ticket. "Let em go" was one response because the person came out and moved the vehicle.

The increase of the sidewalk parking ordinance fine to $150 is the best kept secret in Miami-Dade County. I suspect that ticket books do not include this increase, as this would have taken Police Administration action. (Good riddance to Miami-Dade Police Director Parker, who has resigned--He never helped on disabled parking issues.)

It will be interesting to see what the new police directors do in the City of Miami and Miami-Dade County regarding sidewalk parking. I suspect  nothing.

The Miami Herald did not cover the fine increase to $150 and the reasons why  our organization advocated for the fine increase. This publication's editorial staff could care less if a blind person or a person in a wheelchair is struck by a car out in traffic trying to get around a vehicle parked on the sidewalk unless they can assign reporters to cover the accident.

Of course, enforcement of parking laws is not something an able-bodied person thinks about about. They don't have to plot a course that avoids obstacles to get here to there. God forbid that they have to find out the importance of disability laws the hard way. One accident and they might find out what life is all about for some of their neighbors; the very neighbors whose sidewalk they blocked.