A September 2008 Star Watch investigation examined the use of "free parking" placards by government employees and officials parking in downtown Indianapolis. Officials revoked the placard system in response to the probe. The day the first story was published, on Sept. 25, 2008, the IRE's Extra! Extra! blog for good investigative pieces picked up the piece and gave it national attention. The stories won the 2009 "Best Government Coverage" first-place award from Society of Professional Journalists - Indiana on April 25, 2009.
Sept. 22, 2008: Star investigation finds scofflaws. Indy city council asked to address parking ordinance problem.
Sept. 23, 2008: Caught! Sheriff to invalidate parking meters.
One of my favorites from the series was that it pressured a judge in Indy to quit using a freebie pass. A placard on the dashboard of this guy's car said simply "federal judge official business." No name. No authorizing signature. No date. No contact information. Nothing to suggest the car's owner had special permission not to feed the meter. It was picked up/reprinted by the Indiana Law Blog Website.
Lastly, here's the video I shot of the parking-meter hogs story courtesy of YouTube.
Follow-up: On July 10, 2010 a different variation of the parking-meter hog scam emerged. The story was entitled, Authorities pursue driver of car showing placard that lets one ignore parking fee.
