- May 3, 2024
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Local police are cracking down on the many drivers who illegally park in handicapped spots.
BY EMILY BLACKWOOD | STAFF WRITER
There police are on the prowl this holiday season, looking out for shoplifters, rowdy crowds and, more than you might think, people misusing handicapped parking spaces.
On Black Friday, Ormond Beach police were spotted outside of Walmart handing out citations to those misusing handicap parking permits. Ormond Beach Police Department Public Information Officer Keith Feder said that there are different kinds of violations but, commonly, the busier it gets, the fuller the parking lot gets.
Most of the people who don’t have a permit will park and dodge in the store for a minute. But there are also the folks that use someone else’s permit. Some violators have a permit to transfer a parent around, but the parent isn’t around and they’ll still use the permit.
This season, many of these violators will find Ormond Beach Police waiting outside the parking lot, and asking for corresponding paperwork.
For those that weren’t posting a handicapped parking permit, it’s a city parking citation. But if they are using a permit that isn’t officially assigned to them, then it is a criminal citation.
“If an officer catches them coming outside of the store and getting into the vehicle, we’ll demand a drivers licenses to see if it matches the handicapped permit,” Feder said. “If it does not, they get a criminal citation, which is a second degree misdemeanor.”
Violators will have a mandatory court appearance and the permit will be seized. They will then be charged with the unlawful use of a parking permit and get cited for parking in a handicapped spot.
“It’s kind of a double-whammy,” Feder said. “When you get an area that has a large elederly population like Volusia and Flagler county, you got more people that are going to need those spaces. And people will still try to take advantage of it.”
This time last year, police collected almost 40 violations of handicapped parking. Almost 400 were collected for the year of 2012.
Numbers are down this year and, so far, Ormond Beach police have collected 282. The most active month was March.
Feder said police are cracking down to make sure the spots are only being used for people who really need them.
“If you were in Walmart on Black Friday I guarantee if you walked through that store you saw people that are toting around oxygen bottles, people using canes and walkers and riding around on electric carts,” Feder said. “Those spaces were permitted just for people who have mobility problems.”
