City workers in Boston are racking up tickets for parking in handicapped spots and in front of fire hydrants but they aren't paying them. The Boston Herald documents how they've ignored 467 tickets worth $26,815 since September 2004. Although city workers can park in no parking zones or expired meters on official business, they are never allowed to block fire hydrants or handicapped spaces.

The exemption from parking tickets does not apply to Upland Road residents who are caught in the middle of a political battle between the police and Alderman George Doyle over back pay. Residents who happen to live on a road in Doyle's district have received citations for parking in front of their own homes, many of which do not have driveways. Aldermen have held up $700,000 in back pay for officers because they lack the funding and are trying to raise it.

Sergeant James Smith explained to the Boston Globe, "it is true that some of the officers are miffed about the way the city has been treating them, and I think their attitude is if the city is going to treat me like garbage, it's no more Mr. Nice Guy."

In the meantime, Christine Brophy, one of the Upland Road area residents who received several parking tickets in March, said she thought the Police Department's flurry of ticketing backfired. "It is just turning the city against them," Brophy said. ''Clearly the police want their raise and the city doesn't have the money to fund it. But to people like us who have no other place to park, it's just plain silly."