Crime & Safety

Kirkland Parking Enforcement Going Digital

New camera/computer/GPS system will help pinpoint overtime violations.

The people you hate to see hovering over the hood of your parked car in Kirkland have a new tool to keep you on time: a new digital system for pinpointing overtime parking violators.

Starting next week, Kirkland parking enforcement officers will start using a camera/laptop/GPS system that recognizes license plates and monitors how long a vehicle has been parked.

The camera takes an image of the vehicle and its plate, while the GPS -- Global Positioning System -- loads its coordinates into the laptop, which has software that time-stamps the photo. The system triggers an alarm when vehicles captured in the database have gone beyond the parking space time limit.  

Parking spaces with time limits in Kirkland include the lot on Central Way and Lake Street, the Lakeshore Plaza lot at (evenings), the garage near the and along may streets downtown.

“This proven technology will simply enhance the manual chalking system we currently utilize to monitor and enforce parking regulations in our downtown core,” Lt. Mike Murray of the Kirkland Police Department said in a press release.

“Experience has shown that these electronic chalking systems are more efficient in the time it takes our parking enforcement officers to monitor vehicles and more accurate because of the detail the system captures in the images.”

The city is working with the to let businesses know about the new system, which will be used in addition to the traditional tire-chalking method.

For more information about the city’s parking enforcement program, visit www.kirklandwa.gov/police or contact Lt. Mike Murray, Traffic Division, at 425-587-3402 or mmurray@kirklandwa.gov.


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