NCIS and Parking

I think I beat our Pop Culture Guru Isaiah Mouw with this one – Last Night's Episode of NCIS opened with parking enforcement officers…Andy says that it points out at least a dozen, well maybe half a dozen, issues with parking enforcement. You can View it here, at least until next week. After that, look up "Into the Frying Pan…"

The issues I see are: first – I think they would be leading the street sweeper, not following it. Second, two officers in the car? Third – Old Style enforcement vs. new style customer based reactions. Fourth – The debasement of officers (Meter maid, rent a cop.) Fifth – "They broke the law, and for that they must pay." Sixth – Call the "real police." Plus, he admits the "job" cost him his soul.

Not bad, the writers got all this in 60 seconds.

FWIW – NCIS is the number three rated drama on TV, and last week was the sixth most watched show (and it was a rerun). (It came in sixth behind two American Idols, Two Bachelors, and Criminal Minds. In the drama department it was beaten out by House and Greys Anatomy.

JVH

Comments

[Reality Check]

You think the enforcement scooter should precede the sweeper? If they did that, when the stop to cite a parked car in the way the sweeper will have to avoid two (or more) car lengths to get around them, thus sweeping less street. Is that a good thing, when the mission is to clean the street?

[JVH]

Come on Keith...The enforcement people actually go around the neighborhood a millisecond after the "no parking, street cleaning" time starts. In my neighborhood its 8 AM on Tuesday or Wednesday -- depending on the side of the street. In some cases they tow, but mostly they cite -- the sweeper comes through much later.
I think that the signs should all be changed. "NO Parking Tuesday from 8AM until after the sweeper goes by." If you see the sweeper and follow in behind it, you are golden. Why force people to stay off the street for two hours, when the sweepers finished an hour earlier? Plus, I can tell when the sweeper has been there by the little lines of dust it leaves, or the trails of water that it sprays to keep the dust down. I know, I know. The parker would argue that he had seen the sweeper go by and the PEO would say that it hadn't. Still, in a perfect world, it seems like a good idea.
JVH