Q Should police use private contractors to issue parking tickets?
The idea of using private contractors to help with some of the more simple or mundane tasks of our overworked police force is commendable. However, there are certainly more pressing problems in Hong Kong than illegal parking.
The city continues to be plagued by minor offences such as littering, smoking in prohibited areas, jaywalking, drivers who do not turn off their vehicle engines when parked, and so on. We see these things every day and they do cause a considerable nuisance, or even outright danger in some instances, to other citizens. On a daily basis, I am sure these petty 'crimes' do at least as much damage to our city as illegal parking. There are certainly laws and penalties for these frustratingly common misdemeanours, yet the police appear to have more than enough on their hands and cannot deal with them.
Would it not be logical to have properly trained private contractors issuing fixed-penalty tickets to those who commit these minor offences? Or is it simply that issuing parking tickets to unattended cars is simply an easier way of collecting revenue than catching and fining walking, talking perpetrators?
Alan Sihoe, Prince Edward
Practically speaking, I don't think that using private contractors to issue parking tickets is a good idea because the public expect the police to maintain law and order, and that includes issuing parking tickets. And it would not be easy for the public to verify the identity of the true contractor appointed to the job. The effectiveness and efficiency of the work of private contractors are still in question as this has not happened before.