Parking Enforcement Officer

A parking enforcement officer or parking attendant and sometimes parking inspector is a member of a traffic control department or agency who issues tickets for parking violations. Where parking meters are used, they may be known as a meter attendant or a traffic warden (British English). The term meter maid is defined by the Random House Dictionary as "a female member of a police or traffic department responsible for issuing tickets for parking violations," and lists the term as an Americanism originating between 1955 and 1960. The term is sometimes used derogatorily, for both female and male attendants. The term meter Nazi is a strictly pejorative term.

Their use is controversial and they are often perceived as being overzealous. In the UK, this is likely due to high pressure management focused around delivering a certain number of tickets per day leading to allegations of corruption and illegality. This brings accusations that their real purpose is to raise revenue for the local authority rather than keep the traffic moving. Those who receive fines argue that the "punishment does not fit the crime", pointing to the size of fines levied for minor parking violations in comparison with fines generally issued for more serious motoring offences or other offences such as shoplifting. Public dislike of parking attendants in the UK is such that they have been issued stab-proof vests and cotton swabs to take DNA samples when members of the public spit on them, for later prosecution.