NEW YORK CITY – The New York Police Department is taking the next step in the fight against illegal parking, using a special device that redefines what it means to “start your car.”
The device is called the “barnacle” – and it’s designed to vacuum the windshields of cars whose owners don’t pay their parking tickets. In recent days, the New York Police Department launched a pilot program using the device to target illegally parked trucks in Queens.
“It makes it impossible to be able to drive,” said retired NYPD Sgt. Joseph Giacalone. “So you can’t hold the steering wheel and try to drive in the passenger seat.”
Experts cite countless videos online showing how to defeat a boot. Some videos have been viewed millions of times. But there are no videos that allow you to hack the “barnacle”, at least not yet.
How does the “barnacle” work?
The device uses two industrial-grade suction cups that provide 1,000 pounds of suction, sticking like a marine crustacean, blocking the driver’s view. The only way to get released is to pay the fee, which can be done online or over the phone.
Police experts say FOX 5 NY If the goal is to reduce illegal parking, the devices are helpful, but so are summonses, and they say it appears the city and the NYPD are moving away from summonses, which have been particularly visible since the pandemic.
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