The Little Falls Police Department may soon have a new tool at its disposal to combat motorists who have fistfuls of unpaid parking tickets. City officials hope that this tool will do what they have been unable to do for years — get parking ticket scofflaws to pay up. The Police and Fire Board Monday passed a recommendation along to the Common Council’s Law and Ordinance Committee to institute the use of the Denver boot to resolve a $42,000 problem that has left the city with between 2,000 and 3,000 unpaid parking tickets. Under the ordinance, habitual offenders will become prime candidates for the boot — a metal wheel clamp that renders a vehicle immobile, forcing a motorist to pay off the debt before the boot is removed. If they do not, their vehicle will be towed and impounded. “This is a considerable amount of money, and usually it is the same people who are not paying their parking tickets,” said Chief of Police Michael Masi. “The village of Herkimer has a similar ordinance in place and they have found it to be a good resource, as the number of fines are down and more people are paying their tickets. The city of Utica recently announced a similar ordinance, and the announcement alone resulted in more people coming in to pay off their tickets. The boot has proven itself to be an effective recovery tool when it comes to collecting unpaid fines.” Masi said that the department is considering the purchase of two or three boots at ...
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