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Applicable To:  All employees

Approval Authority:  Chief Richard J. Pennington

Signature:  Signed by RJP

Date Signed:  4/23/07

1.        PURPOSE  PAGEREF _Toc168470934 \h 1

2.        POLICY   PAGEREF _Toc168470935 \h 1

3.        RESPONSIBILITIES  PAGEREF _Toc168470936 \h 1

4.        ACTION  PAGEREF _Toc168470937 \h 2

4.3        Recruiting and Screening  PAGEREF _Toc168470938 \h 2

4.4        Training  PAGEREF _Toc168470939 \h 3

4.5        Management PAGEREF _Toc168470940 \h 3

4.7        Liability  PAGEREF _Toc168470941 \h 4

5.        DEFINITIONS  PAGEREF _Toc168470942 \h 4

6.        CANCELLATIONS  PAGEREF _Toc168470943 \h 5

7.        REFERENCES  PAGEREF _Toc168470944 \h 5

1.               PURPOSE

To establish procedures for approving volunteer applicants to serve as enforcement monitors of disabled parking laws as authorized by Georgia Code Section 40-6-228.

2.               POLICY

The Atlanta Police Department will utilize volunteer disabled persons to assist in the enforcement of the disabled parking laws.

3.               RESPONSIBILITIES

3.1              The Chief of Police or his / her designee will choose whether to appoint an individual as a Disabled Parking Enforcement Monitor (DPEM) with the recommendation of the SOS commander.

3.2              The Procurement Unit will be responsible for ordering caps and vests for the Disabled Parking Enforcement Monitors.

3.3              The SOS commander will implement this policy and will designate a sworn employee as the DPEM coordinator to administer the DPEM process. 

3.4              The DPEM coordinator will screen and process all applications for DPEMs.  This process will include interviewing the applicant and investigating the applicant to determine their qualifications.  The DPEM coordinator will also enforce the wearing of caps and vests, and displaying identification when enforcing disabled parking laws.

3.5              Disabled Parking Enforcement Monitors will adhere to this policy, state laws, and city ordinances relating to the enforcement of disabled parking laws.

4.               ACTION

4.1              The Chief of Police or designee will appoint, suspend, dismiss, or relieve the DPEM upon the recommendation of the SOS commander.

4.2              The DPEM Coordinator will maintain a roster of all active DPEMs approved by the Department.

4.2.1           The roster will consist of the following:

1.    Picture Identification

2.    Identification number

3.    Name, address, and phone number

4.    Sworn date of the DPEM

4.2.2           The DPEM coordinator will submit a copy of the roster to Traffic Court and to the Field Operations Division, and will notify each of any change of status to any DPEM. 

4.3              Recruiting and Screening

4.3.1           The SOS commander or designee will recruit qualified disabled applicants through the Atlanta Center for Independent Living and other associations of disabled persons.

4.3.2           A disabled applicant must completely fill out a City of Atlanta application and submit it to SOS.

4.3.3           A disabled enforcement monitor must:

1.    Be able to write and speak the English language.

2.    Be physically able to write and to place completed parking tickets on the vehicle’s windshield.

3.    Be a citizen of the United States, of good moral character, and not previously convicted of a felony.

4.    Be a disabled person as defined by Georgia Code Section 40-6-221, paragraph 5.

4.3.4           The DPEM coordinator will interview the applicant and investigate his or her qualifications.  The DPEM coordinator will document the interview and investigation; recommend for or against appointment of the individual, and forward the package through the chain of command to the SOS commander.

4.3.5           The SOS commander will review the package and forward those recommended for appointment through the chain of command to the Chief of Police.

4.3.6           The appointed applicant will take and subscribe to the following oath of office (Form APD-693):

                  I, _______________, do hereby agree and affirm to perform the duties of Disabled Parking Enforcement Monitor within the City of Atlanta, Georgia, to the best of my knowledge and ability and in accordance with Georgia Law (Georgia Code 40-6-228) and City of Atlanta ordinance (City Code Section 150-29).  I further affirm that I am familiar with and understand the duties, responsibilities, and liabilities of the laws governing this appointment.  I acknowledge that this appointment is at the discretion of the Chief of Police who reserves the right to revoke or withdraw any privilege or authority associated with it at any time.

4.3.7           The DPEM will be issued a certificate of enforcement authority and a lapel identification badge after taking the oath of office.  Each monitor will also be issued a wallet-size laminated certificate for field identification.

4.4              Training

4.4.1           The Training Academy will approve training programs for the Disabled Parking Enforcement Monitors.  Lesson plans and teaching aids will be drafted and implemented to ensure adequate job knowledge by the monitors.

4.4.2           The SOS commander will swear in the Disabled Parking Enforcement Monitors following the successful completion of training.

4.4.3           The Training Academy will award a certificate of training upon successful completion of the approved training course.

4.5              Management

4.5.1           The SOS commander will be responsible for supervision of the program and for reporting the program’s progress to the Chief of Police.   The DPEM coordinator will be available for the monitors to assist with any problems.

4.5.2           The SOS commander will issue parking citation books.  The parking citation books will be pre-marked for the handicapped violation to prevent unauthorized enforcement.

4.5.3           The DPEM coordinator will maintain a file on the application, screening, appointment, and activity of each Disabled Parking Enforcement Monitor for three years following the termination of his or her last appointment as a monitor.

4.6              Guidelines are established in accordance with Georgia Code Section 40-6-228 (b):

4.6.1           No DPEM appointed under this program will be deemed a peace officer or required to receive peace officer training or certified as a peace officer under the laws of the State of Georgia.

4.6.2           No DPEM will be deemed an employee of or receive any compensation from the City of Atlanta, but the Atlanta Police Department (APD) shall provide any person so appointed with a uniform consisting of a pith helmet and a windbreaker jacket which shall remain the property of the Atlanta Police Department (APD).

4.6.3           No DPEM will have the power or duty to enforce any other traffic or criminal laws of the state, county, or City.

4.6.4           No DPEM will have the power to possess and carry firearms and other weapons while enforcing the handicapped parking laws for the City of Atlanta.

4.6.5           No DPEM will be entitled to any indemnification from the state, county, or municipality for any injury or property damage sustained by such a person as a result of attempting to enforce the disabled parking laws of the state.

4.7              Liability

4.7.1           No DPEM permitted under Code Section 16-11-126 to carry a weapon or who possesses a valid license to carry a pistol or revolver issued under Code Section 16-11-129 will posses or carry firearms or other weapons while enforcing the handicapped parking laws for the City of Atlanta.

4.7.2           Neither the state, the City of Atlanta, nor any department, agency, board, or officer of the state or the City will be liable or accountable for or on account of any act or omission of any person appointed as a DPEM in connection with such person’s enforcement of the provisions of Code Section 40-6-226.  Each authorized person will specifically hold harmless the City of Atlanta, its employees and agents from liability for any such act or omission by such authorized person. (Georgia Code Section 40-6-228 (c)).

5.               DEFINITIONS

5.1              Disabled Parking Enforcement Monitor: Volunteer, disabled person, sworn in by the Chief of Police or his designee to enforce disabled parking violations as authorized by Georgia Code 40-6-228.

5.2              Disabled person as defined by Georgia Code 40-6-221, paragraph 4;

1.    “Permanently disabled person” means a person with disabilities whose disability or incapacity can be expected to last for more than 180 days.

5.3              Persons with disabilities as defined by Georgia Code 40-6-221, paragraph 5;

1.    Is so ambulatorily disabled that he or she cannot walk 200 feet without stopping to rest;

2.    Cannot walk without the use of or assistance from a brace, a cane, a crutch, another person, a prosthetic device, a wheelchair, or other assistive device;

3.    Is restricted by lung disease to such an extent that his or her forced respiratory volume for one second, when measured by spirometry, is less than one liter, or when at rest, his or her arterial oxygen tension is less than 60 millimeters of mercury on room air;

4.    Uses portable oxygen;

5.    Has a cardiac condition to the extent that his or her functional limitations are classified in severity as Class III or class IV according to standards set by the American Heart Association;

6.    Is severely limited in his or her ability to walk due to an arthritic, neurological, or orthopedic condition or complications due to pregnancy; or

7.    Is a blind individual whose central visual acuity does not exceed 20/200 in the better eye with correcting lenses or whose visual acuity, if better than 20/200, is accompanied by a limit to the field of vision in the better eye to such a degree that its widest diameter subtends an angle of no greater than 20 degrees.

6.               CANCELLATIONS

                  APD.SOP.6090  “Disabled Parking Enforcement Monitors”, issued July 1, 2004

7.               REFERENCES

                  Form APD-693

                  City Code of Atlanta Section 150-29

                  Georgia Code Sections 40-6-221, 40-6-226, and 40-6-228