The Unequal Spatial Distribution of City Government Fines: The Case of Parking Tickets in Los Angeles

There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between government fines and neighborhood composition using data on parking citations in Los Angeles. Parking ticket fines have received significant attention in public debates concerning bias in government and law enforcement practices. In these debates, community advocates claim that parking citations are spatially concentrated in neighborhoods of predominantly economically vulnerable populations. Using parking ticket data in 2016 from the City of Los Angeles, this study shows that the number of parking tickets is higher in neighborhoods with a larger presence of renters, young adults, and Black residents. The study also finds that the burden on Black neighborhoods is not alleviated by Black representation in city council. However, Hispanic neighborhoods with a Hispanic council representative experienced higher parking ticket rates for regulations that are more likely to be violated by visitors, specifically, violations occurring during the evening and overnight hours, and specific to time-limit and permit-related regulations.

Related collections

Most cited references 27

Record: found
Abstract: not found
Article: not found

The Analysis of Spatial Association by Use of Distance Statistics

Arthur Getis, J. Ord (1992)

0 comments Cited 888 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Neighborhoods and health.

Ana V. Diez Roux, Christina Mair, Anne Ellaway (2010)

Features of neighborhoods or residential environments may affect health and contribute to social and race/ethnic inequalities in health. The study of neighborhood health effects has grown exponentially over the past 15 years. This chapter summarizes key work in this area with a particular focus on chronic disease outcomes (specifically obesity and related risk factors) and mental health (specifically depression and depressive symptoms). Empirical work is classified into two main eras: studies that use census proxies and studies that directly measure neighborhood attributes using a variety of approaches. Key conceptual and methodological challenges in studying neighborhood health effects are reviewed. Existing gaps in knowledge and promising new directions in the field are highlighted.