Reading Parking Authority responds to app reviews by camera | Local News

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When the Reading Parking Authority announced last week that it was going to launch a pilot program using cameras to issue parking violations, starting with double parking in front of its own office, some people questioned its legality.

James Sikorski Jr. of the PA Advocate National Motorists Association wrote a letter to the editor which was published in the Reading Eagle. He questioned whether the use of cameras to emit citations was permitted by state law and was contrary to the measure.

We have to be careful with the use of cameras to do the job of the police or the parking lot officers, he wrote. Cameras should not be used as a substitute for real people when it comes to law enforcement. There have been dismal failures with ticket cameras everywhere. It would be good to take a look at all of this before covering the city with ticket cameras.

“I looked at Title 75 under the PA statutes and I can’t find anything that says all of this is allowed in Pennsylvania. Did I miss it? I found other things that were allowed, but nothing like that.

The Executive Director of the Parking Authority, Nathan Matz, said he had worked with the authorities’ lawyer to ensure that the use of cameras to enforce parking violations was legal.

We consider this to be no different from the current cameras we use every day in the hands of our enforcement officers, Matz said. The only difference is that the new cameras will be fixed compared to the mobiles.

The authority voted a contract with Vade, a parking technology company, to capture double-parking violations in front of the authorities office.

Citations will be issued to drivers who park illegally, in the same way speed cameras and red light cameras issue traffic citations to drivers.

The authorities office will serve as a trial site with the aim of expanding the program to the whole city.

The pilot program will cost $ 500 per month for 24/7 monitoring. The authority will test it for three months.

The authorities’ lawyer and the city’s legal department are working together on this business.

Lawyer for the parking authority, Mahlon J. Boyer, said the authority can use cameras to enforce city parking orders.

To date, no ban against the use of cameras by authorities has been determined, he said. The law on the parking authority generally provides that the authority is empowered to perform all acts and things necessary for the accomplishment of its objectives and to exercise the powers conferred on it.

The city authorized the parking authority to enforce on-street parking in 1997, Boyer said.

Based on the notified authorization from the city, the parking authority is authorized to administer, supervise and enforce an effective system of street parking regulation, which includes the issuance of parking tickets for illegally parked vehicles, Boyer said.

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