Safety sticks installed in Yonkers to crack down on illegal parking

September 29, 2025 • 14:57

Yonkers, New York, is deploying automated ‘Safety Sticks’ to combat illegal parking, a move that introduces new surveillance technology to city streets. These solar-powered devices, from vendor Municipal Parking Services, photograph vehicles in prohibited zones, creating time-stamped evidence for the city to issue parking tickets. While officials tout the system as a fix for dangerous double-parking that obstructs buses and traffic, the program shifts enforcement from police officers to a privatized, automated process. A police detective dismisses privacy objections by questioning why law-abiding citizens would be concerned. The program is currently in a data-gathering phase with no active ticketing, but it represents a further expansion of private-public surveillance partnerships in municipal governance, prioritizing enforcement efficiency over concerns about data collection, vendor incentives, and the potential for error or mission creep in automated policing.

Read the article at News12