UND Parking Enforcement Officer Kerrie Peltier prepares a ticket for a car parked illegally on campus. Photo by Paula Kaledzi.

With the sun shining and wind whipping, UND Parking Enforcement Officer Kerrie Peltier exits her vehicle to get a better look at a car parked in the Wellness Center parking lot without a permit.

As she inspects the windshield, she mentions the other forms permits come in — decal and printed slip — that an officer must look for before issuing a ticket.

“We have to get out and look thoroughly before we write a citation,” Peltier said. “We don’t want to stir up trouble where there is no trouble to be stirred.”

Many people see Peltier and her fellow parking enforcement officers as a group bent on seeking out violators and ticketing them as often as possible, but she says that isn’t the case.

“It is pretty much a stumble upon,” Peltier said about violators. “Campus is divided up into four different routes. So you get all your equipment, you get your routing slip and you have to follow it. (Officers) follow their routes, and if they end up running across a vehicle … they have a process to follow.”

Peltier, who has been working with Parking Services since 2001, knows the stigma that comes with her job but also knows her capabilities.

“Some of the backlash that we get, you just have to be that type of person who doesn’t take it seriously and let it roll off your back,” she said. “That unfortunately comes with this type of job. But I can handle it.”

One piece

The enforcement officers, such as Peltier, are just one small piece of the Parking Services system.

“The parking enterprise consists of the parking lots, parking ramp and surface lots,”  Associate Vice President for Finance and Operations Peggy Lucke said. “The reason why we have parking enforcement is to provide for a safe, reasonable, rational flow of vehicles on the campus and to (have) people park in accordance with the rules and regulations.”

The tension that arises between the employees of Parking Services and individuals being ticketed is one Lucke can understand, but does not condone.

“We’re all guilty (of it)…(but) then you do get caught and you get a citation, you really need to be upset with yourself, because you made that decision and that was a personal choice. But some will choose to deflect that anger externally,” Lucke said. “It never ceases to amaze me how people are able to rationalize the behavior that they exhibit when they’re dealing with a parking issue.

“So people who are normally very courteous, reasonable and rational — it’s not unusual for them to behave 180 degrees differently when dealing with parking.”

Peltier feels as if the issue isn’t really between those caught in the situation, but more with the idea of enforcement.

“I believe it’s the whole enforcing. Anybody who has to enforce the law or policy, you always have individuals who disagree with the policy,” she said. “So I think it’s more that we’re just out following the procedure and policies Parking Services has put in place, and some people don’t like it.”

Growth and change

As the campus grows and changes, Parking Services does as well.

The end goal of those changes is to create a better relationship with the university’s students, faculty and visitors, according to Lucke.

Some possible image changes are on the horizon for the enforcement department.

“We’re trying to get people to think of us in a more positive situation instead of all negative,” Peltier said. “We are going to try to change our look, maybe some better looking uniforms, identify our cars a little better and, internally, there’s going to be some changes.”

Some of those changes require money, but funding isn’t as simple to come by for the department as others on campus.

Parking Services receives no financial support from the university. It generates revenue through limited sources and pays for expenses on its own.

The needs of campus parking exceed available funding. Most revenue is made through parking permits, but Lucke does not intend to increase fees.

“We haven’t raised parking fees in the last three or four years. I made the commitment when I was given this temporary assignment that I wouldn’t raise fees, while parking was under my responsibility,” she said. “I look at our job as doing everything within our control and power to hold those fees at the level they’re at.

“In order to do that, we need to find revenue in other sources.”

Contrary to popular belief, parking citations make up less than 14 percent of Parking Services’ revenue.

More than $2 million were generated through licenses, permits and fees, while $343,908 were generated through citation and fines, according to the Parking Services Financial Activity Report last year.

The employees of Parking Services understand the struggles that come with their job. Regardless of the financial challenges and perceptions of them, they seem more than willing to work and communicate with the campus.

As Peltier drives back to the parking ramp, she looks out into the traffic and says, “Parking Services listens to the needs of our customers. We do make a difference out here.”

Paula Kaledzi is a staff writer for The Dakota Student. She can be reached at [email protected].