Parking wardens are being issued with GoPro cameras in Whakatane to reduce the amount of abuse they suffer.
The council says a trial was such a success it is being copied in New Plymouth and looked at in Auckland, Hamilton and Hawke's Bay – not just for parking wardens, but also for animal control.
Gary Waller used to get abuse all the time.
"There [were] always people shouting at you, screaming at you, calling you all the names you can think of," says Mr Waller. "I have even been pushed against the wall [and] hit.
"I got in an incident where I was issuing a ticket, and it got to the stage where the guy was chasing me around the car," he says. "He would run one side, I would run the other side, and then I went to the police station and reported it to the police. I could not ID the guy because I was too busy trying to get away from him."
Mr Waller was so fed up he donned a camera. It had an instant impact.
"People recognised that we were wearing cameras, with the advertisement as well that they might be recorded," he says. "They dropped off pretty much straight away."
He even got an apology from a man who had abused his family outside a roast shop.
There are still arguments, and it does not stop the odd driver trying to pull a fast one.
But faced with a camera, Mr Waller says the majority of motorists now accept their tickets more readily and more politely.
Reference: http://www.3news.co.nz/nznews/parking-wardens-don-cameras-to-stop-abuse-2015052417#axzz3b60mcuML
The council says a trial was such a success it is being copied in New Plymouth and looked at in Auckland, Hamilton and Hawke's Bay – not just for parking wardens, but also for animal control.
Gary Waller used to get abuse all the time.
"There [were] always people shouting at you, screaming at you, calling you all the names you can think of," says Mr Waller. "I have even been pushed against the wall [and] hit.
"I got in an incident where I was issuing a ticket, and it got to the stage where the guy was chasing me around the car," he says. "He would run one side, I would run the other side, and then I went to the police station and reported it to the police. I could not ID the guy because I was too busy trying to get away from him."
Mr Waller was so fed up he donned a camera. It had an instant impact.
"People recognised that we were wearing cameras, with the advertisement as well that they might be recorded," he says. "They dropped off pretty much straight away."
He even got an apology from a man who had abused his family outside a roast shop.
There are still arguments, and it does not stop the odd driver trying to pull a fast one.
But faced with a camera, Mr Waller says the majority of motorists now accept their tickets more readily and more politely.
Reference: http://www.3news.co.nz/nznews/parking-wardens-don-cameras-to-stop-abuse-2015052417#axzz3b60mcuML
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