Sanitation Inspectors Go High-Tech: How to Challenge Computerized Citations

"Maybe with this system, we'll get it in a timely manner and then we can pay it," says Paparo, director of management at Buchbinder & Warren, which represents about 5,000 units in 100 buildings.

The news can seem grim for boards worried about sanitation violations: Using the computers allows agents to issue more violations, with fewer of the kinds of errors that have gotten them thrown out of court in the past. "This makes sanitation officers more efficient and more productive in their work," says Lauren Olin, regional manager for government solutions with Intermec, which sold the $4 million project to the city.

Citations written by hand often have inaccurate or illegible information, whether it is the type of violation or an incorrect name or address, says head DSNY spokesperson Steve Stam. Such mistakes can allow citations to be thrown out if you appeal to the Environmental Control Board (ECB), the body that hears challenges to sanitation citations. And agents who still write violations by hand have more difficulty trying to track multiple violations and learn of repeat violators by leafing through large paper booklets with adjudications.

With the computers, that data is automatically available. Agents plug them into chargers at the end of a shift, and the information is automatically processed by a central server, identifying owners and alternative addresses where a summons can be sent by mail.

Refuse to Lose

Fighting a computer-generated ticket is no different than fighting a handwritten one: You present your case to a hearing officer, and if you want to then appeal that ruling, you can request a review by the full ECB board. That happens with about half of DSNY's citations, according to ECB deputy director Mike Moran.

Illegibility alone is not always enough to toss a ticket. Instead, credibility is one of the key factors, Moran says, using the example of a dirty-sidewalk violation. "The person can say, 'I sweep it three times a day,' and prove it to the [hearing officer]." A ticket that is easier to read also benefits the violator. "When it's easier for them to read, it's easier for them to make their defense," or decide whether to contest it at all, Moran says.

Another reason the DSNY implemented the new computer system, says Stam, was to better track repeat violators, who are subject to stiffer fines. The computers can also access an address database of 1.1 million properties, culled from a variety of city sources.

But just because the violations are computerized, management companies and board members should not be "running scared." Glen Bolofsky, head of the commercial site ParkingTicket.com, which helps people fight parking tickets, says he knows all about contesting computerized violations. "We've lived through this, we've survived it and we've overcome it. They're bullies with computers and they're just trying to push people around and write these minor infractions."

Bolofsky says he sees errors in about half of the computerized parking tickets, noting that people are often more likely to type something incorrectly than to make a mistake in writing. "You've got keystroke errors; you've got errors in moving from one field to the next."

Condo/co-op lawyer Anthony Vassallo agrees. "I don't see how this is going to eliminate mistakes," he says. "Someone still has to enter the information." He does suggest that boards notify residents about the new computers, so they can be extra careful about sanitation issues. "It may be a good time to clarify the rules," he says.

But despite the specter of more violations or citations that are supposedly "bulletproof," many say they're not worried. "The well-run establishments are not going to be the ones that will be affected one way or another," says Jennifer Leuba, board president of the 36-unit Collect Pond House co-op in Tribeca.

Maria Summers, who is on the board of her 16-unit co-op in lower Manhattan, says a few more $25 citations for trash violations will not push her property to court. "The building is not going to fight it — it's not worth their time and expense," Summers says. Furthermore, she didn't think the prospect of more tickets would make residents any more diligent about their trash. "At the end of the day, we've never had a maintenance increase because of recycling [fines]."

Adapted from Habitat April 2007 . For the complete article and more, join our Archive >>