Plastic tickets

Beginning on February 6, 2012 the Yuba Community College District (YCCD) Police will begin issuing a new type of citation to those not following the YCCD parking regulations. The new citations will be printed on the spot with a handheld printer using a new plastic material that is impervious to weather, the same type of material that California now uses for fishing and hunting licenses.

This weatherproof “paper” should benefit students by not getting an even bigger surprise when you can’t get your grades and you owe the YCCD Police $100.00 just because that gnarly winter storm blew the weak and rain soaked $25.00 paper fine away.

Another benefit that the student now has, is that when each ticket is issued, there are four pictures taken of the vehicle. So those that find the plastic ticket on their windshields will be allowed to use that ticket to access the mug shots of their ride. If it is not your ride, then you should point it out, if you see what the officer may have missed, the sticker that slid between the windshield and dash in the picture, then you have a good shot of keeping that $25.00 after you follow the correct procedures.

If you happen to walk up to your vehicle and find one of those new-fangled tickets under the wiper and you feel that the citation was given in error, you can go online and dispute the ticket. If you decide to contest the citation online, then the confirmation and decision of your appeal will be sent to you via email. The ticket system uses your email account that the school provides. So be prepared to know how to access your student email if you choose to appeal the citation.

On the other hand, if you just did not pay for that parking pass on time or you parked in some other illegal manner that you know was wrong, just pay the ticket. You can do that online with a credit card within twenty-four hours of receiving the citation. After every shift the citations that have been given during each shift is downloaded into the system and are then immediately available for access.

You can still pay your fines the more traditional way if you want to see where your $25.00 is headed or if you just do not believe in the use of credit cards. Fines can be paid by mail to the address printed on the front of the ticket or by bringing the citation and payment directly to the local YCCD Police Station. You may still use the traditional way of appealing a citation in the same manner as before as well, in person.

The YCCD Police Chief, John Osbourn, said that he believes the new system,“will help assure that (information) is correct.” Creating less problems for both those that use the parking lots and those that enforce the rules.

So if you happen to see a piece of white plastic under your wiper, do not try and rip in half and toss it with the ten fliers you gathered at Wal-Tard earlier that day. Because, I hate to say it , but you just got a ticket!