Skipping the customary rules
Police stickers get pass on Park Drive for series
A stretch of Park Drive in The Fenway was down to a single lane yesterday, as more than 30 cars, many bearing Boston Police Patrolmen's Association or State Police stickers, parked for free just blocks from the first of a crucial five-game series between the Red Sox and Yankees.
Boston police said most of the personal vehicles belonged to detail officers providing security at the game, who were crowded out of their usual parking by more media trucks and the need for more spaces for disabled fans. The cars took a lane of Park Drive between Boylston and Kilmarnock streets, a state Department of Conservation and Recreation road that normally does not allow parking.
But while a reporter observed a few uniformed officers leaving their cars, many of those leaving or returning to their cars were not in uniform. Most were with family members, including children.
Several motorists declined to comment about whether they were working a detail at the game. One man, wearing a red Red Sox shirt, deferred questions to his captain, who was not there. There were also at least three out-of-state license plates.
One woman told a reporter she was not a police officer, but her car did not get a parking ticket. ``We just saw people here and we parked here," the woman, who asked that her name not be used because she did not want to get in trouble.
One resident said he had seen
A private database shows the sport utility vehicle belongs to Michael P. Concannon, undersecretary for law enforcement for the state Executive Office of Public Safety. Boston police said that Concannon had permission to park there because a VIP parking area on Van Ness Street was filled. Neither he nor his spokesmen could be reached for comment yesterday.
Just before 5 p.m., as the first game was ending, 35 parked vehicles had Boston police parking permits in their windows. Seven vehicles did not, and only two of those seven had parking tickets on them.
Only one of the vehicles had filled out a license plate number on the blue parking permit. The rest, all dated for yesterday's Sox-Yankees game, were left blank.
When questioned about who was parking on Park Drive, a Boston police officer at the scene who declined to give his name said 90 percent were detail officers. Asked about the other 10 percent, the officer said they were allowed to park there ``at my discretion."
``Certainly it would be unacceptable to the department if someone were taking advantage of this public safety issue," said Boston police spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll.
She said officers need an ``accessible and secure location close to the park for legitimate law enforcement purposes," but declined to elaborate. She said Park Drive was also used as overflow space for handicapped parking and VIPs.
The parking practice infuriates some nearby residents, who say it is unfair.
Edwin Whitman, who has lived on nearby Queensbury Street for 28 years, said he was asked for identification and patted down by a Boston police officer when he was checking out the parked cars.
``These guys are simply getting a free ride," he said.
Reiney Dibiase, who said he has lived in the neighborhood for more than a decade, said the parking along Park Drive has been allowed since the Yankees-Red Sox American League championship series in 2004. ``It's definitely not fair," he said.
Jim Guida, who was dropping off his daughter at her Park Drive apartment yesterday, recently spent $130 on a parking ticket nearby. ``I'm very careful about parking," he said. ``Maybe they should put parking meters over there. I don't think it's right."
But Stephanie Overholt, 25, who lives on Queensbury Street, said the free parking does not bother her. ``There's not really a lot of traffic on it anyway," she said.
Mac Daniel can be reached at mdaniel@globe.com. 
