MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Miami-Dade police are on the hunt for people abusing disabled parking permits.
“Oh, it’s pretty bad,” said Officer Waldo Almonte, part of the team leading the effort in Kendall’s known hot spots like supermarkets and gyms.
Police camera video obtained by Local 10 News shows officers confronting drivers using handicapped parking decals that don’t belong to them.
“My dad got this car from my grandma,” a college student says in one of the videos.
“It’s not your permit. Oh, it’s my grand — like, we have four for the whole household,” another driver claims.
Almonte explains that some misused decals belong to family members, while others are outright fraudulent.
“People sell them illegally out there,” he said.
Some confiscated decals belong to disabled people who have died.
“They’re just lazy, man,” Almonte said.
“You’re going to the gym to work out but you can’t walk a couple of steps,” Almonte tells one driver in the video.
This driver offers giggles instead of remorse, saying, “I got a million things to do and you just park somewhere.”
“Somebody that needs to park can’t park here because you decided to park here when you don’t need it,” the officer tells him.
Police said they plan to continue their enforcement efforts.