The Connection

Alexandria — Cheryl Fuller climbs into her white three-wheeled Go-4 at Police

Headquarters on Wheeler Street and heads off to her assigned zone. Fuller has been a traffic enforcement officer for the City of Alexandria for 20 years. Fuller says, "People think we are just out there to write tickets and generate money, but I really view our jobs as compliance. And we are ambassadors." She says they do a lot of things people don't know about like looking for lost children, acting as funeral escorts when they are short, traffic control and, "I even spotted two fires and called them in."

However, Fuller adds, "They call us not so nice names. You have to have a thick skin.” Some of the traffic enforcement officers wear bulletproof vests, “but Alexandria isn’t that kind of city.” She remembers one day when a man got really angry when she was putting a boot on his car. He demanded that she remove it, kicked the boot and threatened to call some of his construction workers over. "I called for back-up and the sheriff's office was there right away. It doesn't happen very often. But it's like a family here. We help each other out."

Fuller says there is a class at the Police Academy that parking enforcement officers can take called Verbal Judo. "It is on how to defuse a situation. It isn't all black and white; you can listen, be empathetic." But you still have to do your job and give them the ticket.

Fuller has been assigned Sector 2 this month, which is Potomac Yard. But the parking enforcement officers get a different assignment each month. She says officers all have their own way of marking vehicles. "In residential areas you have to change the way you mark vehicles because people get used it and know when you came and just move their vehicles around. People are shifty." F

uller explains there are a lot of methods for marking vehicles. “Usually I use chalk (old school) but there are a lot of different ways that I can't talk about."

Fuller parks her Go-4 and clicks on the flashing yellow emergency light. She pulls out her AutoCITE and plugs in meter number 11517. It will pull up the vehicles in the zone that have paid by Pango without putting in a plate number. "I think most people still pay on the street but Pango is catching on."

If no payment is recorded, Fuller looks on the dash of the vehicle. "Hmmm I don't see a ticket." The ticket must be displayed on the passenger side of the dashboard and visible from the outside. "We're not mind readers." Just as Fuller pulls out the AutoCITE to write the ticket for the parking violation, a Pango notification flashes on the screen for the Jeep. "You can pay remotely. Maybe someone was watching out a window or it could have been a coincidence."

Fuller says she likes working outside in all kinds of weather and working as part of the Alexandria Police Department. "They are superior." Although it depends on the zone she is working, Fuller generally writes 25-30 tickets a day. Sometimes she writes more in the summer months because there are a lot of tourists who don't always pay attention. "The average cost of a ticket is $40, but violation of a handicapped space is $500 or HOV is $250.

Fuller has seen a lot of different attempts to get around the rules. She says, "I'll have people tell me they are just parking in a handicapped space for a minute while they run inside City Hall. And I tell them well, if they can run in faster than I can write the ticket." Sometimes they have people who will give their permit to someone, for District 2 for instance, like they were a temporary visitor. "But they actually work there and use it every day."

Fuller says, "I could probably write a 101 excuses book. The most common is 'I was in a meeting.'" But she says you would be surprised how often someone blames a spouse for the expired inspection sticker, both male and female. "You can't do selective enforcement. I found out later that I gave [former] Chief Baker a ticket once. I didn't recognize his personal vehicle."