Government

‘I Think It’s Time’: Parking Bureau Pursues Body Cameras for Enforcement Officers

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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.

Government

PHOTOS: Parking Bureau’s ‘Pablo Snow-Casso’ Wins Inaugural Snowman Contest at Town Hall

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Building on the success of last December’s “ugly sweater” contest, Town Hall workers this holiday season launched a new competition that saw municipal departments vie for the title of “Best Snowman.”

With limitations on height and prohibitions on working on the snowmen on town time or putting more than $20 into them, agencies from the Police Department and Parking Bureau to the Town Clerk’s Office and combined Health-Building-P&Z-Inland Wetlands juggernaut put their entries on display Monday. They’ll remain prominently displayed for the rest of the week in the Town Hall lobby, according to Cheryl Pickering-Jones, New Canaan’s human resources director. “I think it went great,” she said of the contest. First Selectman Kevin Moynihan called the snowmen “fantastic,” saying he was “so impressed by the creativity and imagination of our town employees.”

“It’s going to be a very close call for Tucker Murphy to pick a winner,” Moynihan said. He referred to the executive director of the New Canaan Chamber of Commerce.