Page 30 - Security Today, September 2018

Tackling Parking Officer Abuse with Unified Evidence
Parking agencies are gathering infraction evidence more easily
BAy Chris Yigit
bout two million people are affected by workplace violence every year in the United States. Some of these people are parking enforcement officers. While out on daily patrol, parking enforcement officers are regularly subject to verbal abuse and violent out-
safer by equipping their team with body-wearable cameras.
Keeping Officers Safer
Once an aggressor knows they are on camera, it becomes easier for an officer to de-escalate the situation. With a push of the button, a parking enforcement officer can use body-wearable cameras to collect evidence and deter aggressive behavior. Should an altercation ensue, the parking enforcement department has the evidence they need to pursue a criminal case if required.
Because body-wearable cameras are more commonly associated with law enforcement, the system features and workflows are typical- ly designed for police officers and their duties. With slight enhance- ments focused around parking enforcement tasks, body-wearable camera solutions can be just as useful to a parking officer to curb on-the-job threats.
For a long time, parking enforcement agencies have shied away from equipping officers with body-worn devices because they wor- ried about the monumental task of managing a whole new source of
bursts when issuing tickets. In more severe cases, they may even be physically attacked, have coffee thrown in their faces or side-swiped by disgruntled drivers who get caught breaking the rules. This is why many enforcement officers are given hours of training in vio- lence prevention, learning how to de-escalate aggressive behavior and protect themselves.
However, sometimes that training is not enough. Surviving trauma, abuse and assault on the job can often lead to an increase in absen- teeism and stress, which can hurt an organization. According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, nonfatal work- place assaults alone result in more than 876,000 lost workdays and $16 million in lost wages every year. Today, there’s an opportunity for uni- versity and city parking enforcement departments to keep their officers
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0918 | SECURITY TODAY
BODY-WORN CAMERAS
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