June 26, 2009
Friday

Ms. Price is not the only one who has had an issue with airport parking tickets at Ketchikan airport. On June 23rd at approximately 7:15 PM I was on an outgoing plane with 6 heavy bags, a car seat, a 2 year old, and I am 5 months pregnant. My 65 year old mother, pulled up to the loading zone right in front of the revolving doors to allow me to move the bags and my daughter through the doors and then she was going to go park in short term. My mother came out of the car to assist me after my 2 year old tripped and nearly got smashed in the revolving door. My mother got my daughter through the door and immediately returned to her car to find an officer writing her a $50 ticket.

I am not going to argue the reasoning for the ticket; she left her car unattended for 30 seconds, albeit for a good reason. What I am going to argue is the officer's behavior. My mother did not argue with him even though he yelled at her and tried to provoke her to argue. He laughed at her snidely as he wrote out the ticket and ended with a spiteful "Have a nice day!" as he chuckled. It didn't end there. He then proceeded to go talk with a bystander and explain what just happened as he pointed at my mom and they laughed at her. That alone is completely unprofessional.

I was quite upset as his behavior and shared what occurred with TSA and the AK Airlines Agents. It was interesting to hear they all had terrible things to say about him. They said ever since he came to town, he's been issuing an obscene amount of tickets and has an extremely rude and flippant attitude going about it.

It's one thing to do your job and I understand issuing tickets to people is not a fun task. But the way he handled it was completely inappropriate. I've been in airports in DC, Boston, New York, Chicago, Juneau, LA, Anchorage, Seattle and Portland and seen officers work the airport loading zone, and I have never once seen an officer have this much attitude towards a ticketed individual, in fact, most the time they send them off with a stern warning.

It's unfortunate this is the last thing I saw of Ketchikan, a town I love. And it's even more disheartening to know this may be the first impression people get as they come off the plane. Law enforcement officers are to be looked up to, and this is not the representative I want for my daughter, especially when they are yelling at her grandmother.

Ms. Price, I encourage you to write a letter to the Borough, and I hope other "offenders" do too.

Sincerely,

Frances H. Field
Douglas, AK

Received June 24, 2008 - Published June 26, 2009

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Out of sight By Laurie Price

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