SweeperGate ‘Bogus News,’ no sweeper ticket policy change, Hermosa Beach Police say [UPDATE]
by Kevin Cody
A story posted on Easy Reader’s website and Facebook page last Wednesday, March 20, stated Hermosa Beach Parking enforcement is now ticketing cars parked on streets during street sweeping hours after the street sweepers have passed. The city website states parking is allowed after street sweepers have passed.
The following day, Thursday, March 21, the Hermosa Beach Police Department posted on its Facebook page and the City’s Instagram page the following response to the Easy Reader story.
Bogus News
Full Transparency Alert. No Tricks!
Response to news article:
HBPD was made aware of an Easy Reader news article claiming that CSOs (Community Service Officers) issued street sweeping tickets to vehicles parked after the sweeper had already passed. Per the city website: PARKING IS ALLOWED AFTER THE SWEEPER HAS PASSED. We have made NO changes to this policy. A friendly reminder, you can’t always believe what you read in the news. Especially from an anonymous source. Our community services division has conducted an extensive review of citations recently issued (including GPS tracking on our vehicles) and were not able to locate any errors. If you believe you were wrongly issued a ticket, please contact (310) 318-0249.
The story Easy Reader posted to its web site last week, quoted a lifelong Hermosa Beach resident who said he was shocked several Thursdays ago to discover a street sweeper violation parking ticket on his car windshield.
The resident, who asked not to be identified, acknowledged he parked on his street during street sweeping hours. But he said, the street sweeper had already swept his street.
“As long as I can remember it has been common knowledge that you wouldn’t be ticketed on street sweeping days if the street sweeper had passed,” he said.
“In the days after I was ticketed, I noticed my neighbors were also getting ticketed on street sweeping days after the street sweeper had passed,” he added.
“So I called the police department and was told community services ticket writers have been instructed to ‘circle back’ after the street sweeper passes and ticket cars parked within the street sweeping hours.”
The resident did not get the name of the person he spoke to at the police station.
In the following days, the story elicited hundreds of comments on the various online sites where the story and the police rebuttal were posted.
At Tuesday night’s city council meeting, Chief Paul LeBaron disputed Easy Reader’s reporting that cars have been ticketed after the street sweepers have passed.
“Department staff has conducted hours of audit and research…. At this time, we have not found any examples [of citations issued after the street sweepers had passed],” the chief said.
Social media comments criticizing the department because of the story were disturbing, he said.
“It was very difficult to read some of the comments. We established trust in our community and that is our top priority,” he said.
Social media comments were evenly divided between those critical of Hermosa’s parking enforcement and those critical of Easy Reader for relying on a single anonymous source and posting the story before confirming the enforcement policy change with the city.
Councilman Raymond Jackson posted on the City of Hermosa Beach’s Instagram page, in reference to Easy Reader publisher Kevin Cody, who wrote the story, “This Clickbait writer is known for half truths and disregard for the facts.”
Commentors on the City’s Instagram page critical of the city’s parking ticket policies, included many who said they had been ticketed on street sweeping days after the streetsweeper had passed.
A downtown Hermosa Beach business owner wrote, “We have had members of our team and visitors personally issued tickets after the sweeper has passed so this is an interesting post and makes us wonder how to prove it when a ticket ends up on a windshield?
In an interview with Chief LeBarron, and with HBPD Captain Landon Phillip on Wednesday, the officers said their staff reviewed recent street sweeper tickets and streetsweeper GPS logs to look for tickets issued after the street sweepers had passed. None were found, they said.
Chief LeBaron invited people who posted on social media, who said they had been ticketed after the street sweepers had passed, to ask to have it dismissed.
“We’re not afraid to admit mistakes. But it’s disappointing to see people expressing distrust of the police after we have invested so much effort in building the community’s trust,” he said. ER