FRAMINGHAM — Framingham Police are cracking down on illegal parking in handicapped-accessible parking spots this holiday season.
Funded by a grant from the Framingham Disability Commission, officers are checking for the proper license plates or placards and handing out warnings and $300 tickets to violators parked at some of the city’s busiest stores.
“I don’t know if it’s that people are trying to violate the law, than it’s easier to just get into an empty handicapped parking spot and be closer to the stores,” said Framingham Police Officer Jason Ball. “But it’s very important for those handicapped spots to be available for people who truly are authorized to use them, and people that need them.”
Officer Ball spent Friday night at Walmart, BJ’s and Shoppers World, peering through dashboards for placards on vehicles without disabled plates.
Some of the tickets Ball has written have been for expired placards or no placards on display at all; other drivers have placards that don’t belong to them.
“You can’t lend (the placards) to a friend, you can’t lend them to relative. You have to be using them yourself,” said Sheryl Goldstein, a member of Framingham’s Disability Commission and a disability activist. “You can’t just... park in a handicapped spot and run into a store to pick something up. People need to be very mindful of that.”
Disability Commission Chair Karen Dempsey is often frustrated by people illegally parking in spots she needs.
“It’s been tough, and around the holiday times it can be even harder,” Dempsey said. “When someone does that, then that means myself or someone else in a wheelchair van then can’t go out.”
Dempsey also stressed that drivers cannot park in handicapped-accessible parking aisles - the zebra stripes beside the parking spaces. The 5- or 8-foot access aisles that run parallel to the parking spaces allow her enough room to park her van and release her ramp.
“Hopefully, with this increased enforcement, people will get the message that this is serious,” Dempsey said. “We’re taking it serious in Framingham.”
The police effort started Nov. 23, and will continue through the end of the year, while picking up again at various times in 2020.