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Hollywood tour buses are getting special treatment from local parking cops, according to an investigation.
NBC Los Angeles conducted an investigation and found that while folks like you and me stand a good chance of getting ticketed within minutes of our meter expiring, these tour buses can park at meters without paying a dime for hours.
Over the course of three weeks, NBC watched to see who got ticketed and who didn't in Hollywood. Parking enforcement is aggressive in that hood, and there are sensors that let the city know which occupied spots are expired. The team watched lots of people get tickets, but noticed that tour buses hogged 1-hour spots for 6 hours at a time some days without getting a ticket. The team witnessed one guy get a ticket in a loading zone, while the tour bus next to him didn't.
One of the tour operators anonymously admitted to getting special treatment: “They’re really cool with the businesses owners and the tour companies. They haven’t ticketed us and some of the meters aren’t even fed."
This investigation comes just as the city announced that it planned to raise the fines for parking tickets.
Greg Savelli, the new chief of parking enforcement, called the special treatment "unacceptable" and thanked the TV station for calling the department's attention to what was going on. He promised to meet with the buses and remind them to park legally, and he added that he would be meeting with officers to remind them to, you know, do their jobs.
NBC has been all over the parking beat. It broke the story that a few LADOT officers had acted in a porn on the job , while the department chief turned a blind eye. The station took credit for the chief stepping down.
