Location: California
Hi everyone,
I’m dealing with an ongoing issue in my neighborhood and could use some advice on what steps to take.
There’s a clearly marked red zone on my street where parking, stopping, or standing is supposed to be prohibited. Despite this, people frequently park there and even spend hours fixing their broken-down cars. This happens regularly, not just in emergencies, and it’s become a safety concern—especially since the red zone is in front of a fire hydrant.
This happens especially on weekends, when parking enforcement isn’t operating.
The part that really concerns me is how the law enforcement is handling it. I escalated the issue and spoke directly to a police officer, but he told me he doesn’t think parking in the red zone is a violation. In other cases, I’ve seen officers chatting casually with the people parking there—like they’re friends—and just leaving without taking action.
To me, it feels like the rules are being selectively enforced (or ignored entirely), and it’s creating a situation where certain people can do whatever they want while the rest of us follow the law.
What can I do in this situation? Should I report this to Internal Affairs or file a formal complaint with the city? I’m not trying to make trouble—I just want equal enforcement and safer streets.
Any advice or shared experiences would be really helpful. Thanks in advance.
Comments
Call the Fire Marshall instead
Internal Affairs is not going to do anything about a complaint like this.
You can attempt to talk to a supervisor at the department about law enforcement enforcing the rules regarding parking in the red zone area. it is generally a question of how much effort they are going to put in enforcing something that is at most really just a fine.
I mean if there is an issue and the firefighters need to access the hydrant they will just break through the vehicle in question to lay their hoses.