After years on the ropes, a new sense of accountability, transparency and professionalism has brought accreditation for the Upper Darby Parking Enforcement department.
The department received official accreditation last week from the Accredited Parking Organization program through the International Parking & Mobility Institute. The accreditation is with distinction and is a dramatic change for the department that suffered scrutiny in recent years.
Over the past few years, over 18,000 unaccounted parking tickets went missing, an alleged “slush fund” of cash from parking kiosks was uncovered and the former head of the department was arrested.
In August 2024 the township transferred parking enforcement into the police department and Superintendent Timothy Bernhardt was assigned by Mayor Ed Brown to clean up the mess.
Bernhardt called the accreditation historic and credited Brown for taking the steps to professionalize the department.
“I got to credit him … the need for change and investing in parking enforcement and investing in employees,” Bernhardt said Thursday.
“We are only four or five in Pennsylvania that have it and the only police department that has it. It speaks volumes to all those employees over there every day,” Bernhardt said of the parking department, which has 10 employees.
He said that coming in, the department was a mess and the award shows how things have changed and the commitment employees show every day.
“They had it tough. It was a mess over there and it has completely done a 180. They are proud to say they are employees of the township and proud to say they are employees of the parking enforcement.”
Bernhardt said as when he took over in the police department one of the things he felt was important was to establish pride and accreditation.
“We are setting the bar as high as we can and meeting all the standards,” he said.
One of Bernhardt’s first actions was to put Lt. Lou Garay in charge. Bernhardt had praise for Garay along with the whole staff.
Upper Darby Police Lt. Lou Garay, left, and police Superintendent Timothy Bernhardt accepted the parking accreditation award on behalf of the township. (COURTESY PHOTO)
“I want to credit Lt. Garay, who oversees it, and all the employees over there. This is a clear prestigious achievement for them,” he said. “For the community knowing what the parking was and all the issues, they should be pleased, satisfied and understand they have a parking department that is transparent, held to accountability and professionalism at the highest level.”
Upon taking over, the police department learned that the parking department had no procedures or policies, and employees were given no training and lacked a sense of cohesion. One of the first things they did was to put the staff in uniforms.
“They were coming to work in just shorts and T shirts and no one knew who they were,” Bernhardt said. “We had to give them some pride in coming to work every day. They didn’t have any equipment, even the counting of change and coins.”
He said the uniform is relaxed and the township vehicles they use are identifiable, with township emblems and yellow lights.
“They are parking enforcement department, not just some people out there walking around giving out tickets,” the superintendent said.
The move gave employees a foundation so they could take pride in their work and everyone in the township knows who they were. He credited the staff for buying into the process.
Bernhardt said he also wanted accountability. To address this as well as a second issue of transparency, the staff was given body cameras.
“No one likes parking. No one likes a parking ticket,” Bernhardt said. “Everyone wants to say, ‘I had money in the meter and you gave me a ticket and you shouldn’t have.’ The body cameras show there was a violation.”
Bernhardt said the department knows what occurred in the past when change was poorly handled, so the body cameras provided accountability whenever an employee was emptying meters or handling coins.
“Those body cameras are tagged and held so if there is ever a discrepancy, or incident, they could go back and look at the body camera video,” Bernhardt said.
The superintendent said the township is also moving away from obsolete coin meters and were able to get out of a disastrous contract and into digital processing. The staff now uses handheld devices that are transparent and are GPS located. They take photos of the vehicle, the tag and violation.
“We know where they were, when they were there and the images are right there. People want to dispute it, … we can show them where they were parked and what the violation was.” Bernhardt said. “It’s about the transparency in the parking department.”
The entire staff are certified as parking enforcement compliant professionals and the next step is for Lt. Garay and parking manager, Norma Ritter to receive parking transportation mobility certification.
“This achievement is the top benchmark of success in our industry, and it follows a comprehensive documentation and review process,” said Shawn Conrad, CEO of International Parking & Mobility Institute. “Only best-of-class organizations can meet the demanding level of excellence required to gain accreditation.”
To earn the accreditation Upper Darby worked with third-party reviewers presenting evidence in 14 categories. The Accredited Parking Organization is a designation that recognizes best practices in responsible parking management, safety, data security as well as risk management, Conrad said.
“It’s historic what that department was and what it has become,” Bernhardt said.