Career profile for Parking Enforcement Officer

What does a Parking Enforcement Officer do?

Parking Enforcement Officers patrol assigned area, such as public parking lot or city streets to issue tickets to overtime parking violators and illegally parked vehicles.

What kind of tasks does a Parking Enforcement Officer perform regularly?

Parking Enforcement Officers are often responsible for overseeing or executing some or all of the following tasks:

Enter and retrieve information pertaining to vehicle registration, identification, and status, using hand-held computers.
Patrol an assigned area by vehicle or on foot to ensure public compliance with existing parking ordinance.
Write warnings and citations for illegally parked vehicles.
Appear in court at hearings regarding contested traffic citations.
Maintain assigned equipment and supplies, such as hand-held citation computers, citation books, rain gear, tire-marking chalk, and street cones.
Respond to and make radio dispatch calls regarding parking violations and complaints.
Maintain close communications with dispatching personnel, using two-way radios or cell phones.
Perform simple vehicle maintenance procedures, such as checking oil and gas, and report mechanical problems to supervisors.
Observe and report hazardous conditions, such as missing traffic signals or signs, and street markings that need to be repainted.
Identify vehicles in violation of parking codes, checking with dispatchers when necessary to confirm identities or to determine whether vehicles need to be booted or towed.
Train new or temporary staff.
Make arrangements for illegally parked or abandoned vehicles to be towed, and direct tow-truck drivers to the correct vehicles.
Investigate and answer complaints regarding contested parking citations, determining their validity and routing them appropriately.
Provide information to the public regarding parking regulations and facilities, and the location of streets, buildings and points of interest.
Prepare and maintain required records, including logs of parking enforcement activities, and records of contested citations.
Perform traffic control duties such as setting up barricades and temporary signs, placing bags on parking meters to limit their use, or directing traffic.

The above responsibilities are specific to Parking Enforcement Officers. More generally, Parking Enforcement Officers are involved in several broader types of activities:

Activities	Importance	Details
Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates		Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
Operating Vehicles, Mechanized Devices, or Equipment		Running, maneuvering, navigating, or driving vehicles or mechanized equipment, such as forklifts, passenger vehicles, aircraft, or watercraft.
Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events		Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.
Documenting/Recording Information		Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form.
Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards		Using relevant information and individual judgment to determine whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards.

Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates

Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.

Operating Vehicles, Mechanized Devices, or Equipment

Running, maneuvering, navigating, or driving vehicles or mechanized equipment, such as forklifts, passenger vehicles, aircraft, or watercraft.

Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events

Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.

Documenting/Recording Information

Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form.

Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards

Using relevant information and individual judgment to determine whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards.

What is a Parking Enforcement Officer salary?

The median salary for a Parking Enforcement Officer is $42,070, and the average salary is $44,870. Both the median and average roughly describe the middle of the Parking Enforcement Officer salary range, but the average is more easily affected by extremely high or low salaries.

Many Parking Enforcement Officers earn significantly more or less than the average, due to several factors. About 10% of Parking Enforcement Officers earn less than $27,370 per year, 25% earn less than $33,330, 75% earn less than $54,530, and 90% earn less than $66,260.

Between the years of 2020 and 2030, the number of Parking Enforcement Officers is expected to change by -35.4%, and there should be roughly 400 open positions for Parking Enforcement Officers every year.

Median annual salary: $42,070
Typical salary range: $27,370 - $66,260
Projected growth (2020 - 2030): -35.4%

What personality traits are common among Parking Enforcement Officers?

Interests

Career interests describe a person's preferences for different types of working environments and activities. When a person's interest match the demands of an occupation, people are usually more engaged and satisfied in that role.

Compared to most occupations, those who work as a Parking Enforcement Officer are usually higher in their Realistic and Conventional interests.

Parking Enforcement Officers typically have very strong Realistic interests. Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.

Also, Parking Enforcement Officers typically have strong Conventional interests. Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.

Values

People differ in their values, or what is most important to them for building job satisfaction and fulfillment.

Compared to most people, those working as a Parking Enforcement Officer tend to value Relationships, Support, and Independence.

Most importantly, Parking Enforcement Officers moderately value Relationships. Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment.

Second, Parking Enforcement Officers moderately value Support. Occupations that satisfy this work value offer supportive management that stands behind employees.

Lastly, Parking Enforcement Officers moderately value Independence. Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to work on their own and make decisions.

Psychological Demands

Each occupation brings its own set of psychological demands, which describe the characteristics necessary to perform the job well.

In order to perform their job successfully, people who work as Parking Enforcement Officers must consistently demonstrate qualities such as self-control, integrity, and independence.

Below, you'll find a list of qualities typically required of Parking Enforcement Officers, ranked by importance:

Demands	Importance	Details
Self-Control		Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.
Integrity		Job requires being honest and ethical.
Independence		Job requires developing one's own ways of doing things, guiding oneself with little or no supervision, and depending on oneself to get things done.
Stress Tolerance		Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high-stress situations.
Attention to Detail		Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.

Self-Control

Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.

Integrity

Job requires being honest and ethical.

Independence

Job requires developing one's own ways of doing things, guiding oneself with little or no supervision, and depending on oneself to get things done.

Stress Tolerance

Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high-stress situations.

Attention to Detail

Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.

What education and training do Parking Enforcement Officers need?

Working as a Parking Enforcement Officer usually requires a high school diploma.

Parking Enforcement Officers need anywhere from a few months to one year of working with experienced employees. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with this occupation.

Educational degrees among Parking Enforcement Officers

1.1% did not complete high school or secondary school
19.5% completed high school or secondary school
27.3% completed some college coursework
17.1% earned a Associate's degree
30.6% earned a Bachelor's degree
3.9% earned a Master's degree
0.6% earned a doctorate or professional degree

Knowledge and expertise required by Parking Enforcement Officers

Parking Enforcement Officers may benefit from understanding of specialized subject areas, such as public safety and security, law and government, or computers and electronics knowledge.

The list below shows several areas in which most Parking Enforcement Officers might want to build proficiency, ranked by importance.

Knowledge areas	Importance	Details
Public Safety and Security		Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Law and Government		Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Computers and Electronics		Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Education and Training		Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
Psychology		Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.

Public Safety and Security

Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.

Law and Government

Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.

Computers and Electronics

Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

Education and Training

Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

Psychology

Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.

Important Abilities needed by Parking Enforcement Officers

Parking Enforcement Officers must develop a particular set of abilities to perform their job well. Abilities are individual capacities that influence a person's information processing, sensory perception, motor coordination, and physical strength or endurance. Individuals may naturally have certain abilities without explicit training, but most abilities can be sharpened somewhat through practice.

For example, Parking Enforcement Officers need abilities such as oral expression, speech clarity, and oral comprehension in order to perform their job at a high level. The list below shows several important abilities for Parking Enforcement Officers, ranked by their relative importance.

Abilities	Importance	Details
Oral Expression		The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Speech Clarity		The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
Oral Comprehension		The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Information Ordering		The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
Near Vision		The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).

Oral Expression

The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.

Speech Clarity

The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.

Oral Comprehension

The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.

Information Ordering

The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).

Near Vision

The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).

Critical Skills needed by Parking Enforcement Officers

Skills are developed capacities that enable people to function effectively in real-world settings. Unlike abilities, skills are typically easier to build through practice and experience. Skills influence effectiveness in areas such as learning, working with others, design, troubleshooting, and more.

Parking Enforcement Officers frequently use skills like speaking, monitoring, and active listening to perform their job effectively. The list below shows several critical skills for Parking Enforcement Officers, ranked by their relative importance.

Skills	Importance	Details
Speaking		Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Monitoring		Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Active Listening		Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Critical Thinking		Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
Social Perceptiveness		Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.

Speaking

Talking to others to convey information effectively.

Monitoring

Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

Active Listening

Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.

Critical Thinking

Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.

Social Perceptiveness

Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.

What is the source of this information?

The information provided on this page is adapted from data and descriptions published by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration under the CC BY 4.0 license. TraitLab has modified some information for ease of use and reading, and the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment, and Training Administration has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

If you have any questions or suggestions about this information, please send a message.

Career profile Parking Enforcement Officer

Parking Enforcement Officer

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