Dear Beverly,

I apologize for the delayed response on your query about citing folks who violate disabled/handicapped parking space law. I am the Community Affairs Coordinator for the MPD's East Precinct. The email was sent to me - probably due to your home address being in East Nashville. Also, the initial email was routed to my junk folder. This is normally a desirable necessity for all of the business spam, but not so good for Seeclickfix.

The citing of parking violators is a concern for Central Precinct, where the Mayor's Office is located. It's also a concern for the East Precinct officers and the department as a whole.

It's impossible for me to determine how many times officers did not cite someone, but we do keep records of parking citations issued. Annually, the number of parking citations issued is in the thousands. Many of those are for parking in designated spaces.

As policy, we do not tow vehicles unless they present a danger or impede others. This could be blocking someone's driveway or rendering a fire hydrant inaccessible to the fire department. From a personal viewpoint, most officers are quite willing to cite handicapped parking space violators since it is generally offensive to everyone - including police officers. That being said, officers must prioritize their time and it is acknowledged that parking enforcement takes a back seat to answering calls for service.

I will personally relay the request to Central Precinct officers and the officers that work in East Nashville. If you have a desire to communicate further, please contact me.

Sincerely,
Sgt. Dan Ogren
Community Affairs Coordinator
East Precinct
936 E. Trinity Lane
Nashville, TN 37207
615.862.7500
dan.ogren@nashville.gov