With support from the appointed body that helps oversee her, the head of the New Canaan Parking Bureau last week said she intends to put together a formal, comprehensive proposal for getting body cameras for enforcement officers.
On a night that saw a Westchester woman hurl expletives and serious accusations during an appeal hearing for a $30 ticket, Parking Manger Stacy Miltenberg said “it is time that the [parking enforcement] officers get body cameras like the police do.”
“I think that there’s two sides to every story and think it will be beneficial,” Miltenberg said during the Parking Commission’s regular meeting, held July 11 at Town Hall.
She added: “I really do think that it is a good idea.”
In addition to laying out cost options for different types of models, Miltenberg said her proposal will include recommendations based on the officers’ uniforms, specifics on when they would be used and turned on, and a governing policy that could use the New Canaan Police Department’s as a baseline model.
“I think it’s time,” Miltenberg said.
Parking Enforcement Officer Lisa Pia, a guest at the meeting, agreed with that assessment, saying she’s wanted the cameras “for years.”
“Because people make accusations that are not accurate, not even close to being accurate,” Pia said. “And who has our back unless we have proof? I had a situation today when some lady said I was yelling at her and I said, ‘Ma’am, I think you are not liking the answer I am giving you and you are not happy with it. I am not yelling at you.’ And she’s like, ‘OK fine, I’ll move.’ You can’t be any nicer to these people and they turn it around. Because they want the ticket taken back.”
The commissioners at the meeting—Pam Crum, Peter Ogilvie and Stuart Stringfellow—spoke in favor of Miltenberg pursuing a formal proposal for the body cameras.
Come on. This is New Canaan. One “nut job” incident = cameras? Just like Waveny cameras because of Jennifer Dulos’ abandoned vehicle. Pretty soon we’ll have them everywhere.
I grew up watching the Andy Griffith Show, wishing that I could be a neighbor of Opie’s in the town of Mayberry. Even then I knew Mayberry was not a real place. But, the sense of love and care that the citizens had for each other no matter the calamity gave us an ideal of a home where old-fashioned neighborliness, and traditional ways, built a more humane way of life. There, imperfect people strove to overcome their trials and tribulations as they looked to care for thy neighbor as thyself. Mayberry was a myth while New Canaan is quite real, but many of us who chose to live here do so I think because we all long for a bit of Mayberry in our lives.
Unfortunately, as much as we may long for simpler days, today we must serve and protect not only our neighbors and visitors but also the men and women who work for the town on our behalf. A disagreement can turn into an accusation which becomes a lawsuit. I wish it was not needed, but I agree that body cameras for our enforcement officers are a sound investment to support them in their work and to provide a more accurate record when memories clash.