22-year-old dev creates web app that tracks San Francisco traffic cops using public data

Riley Walz, a 22-year-old software developer based in San Francisco, has developed a unique web app called Find My Parking Cops that provides near real-time tracking of parking officers issuing tickets.

The app leverages publicly available data from San Francisco's parking ticket system. Walz writes on his website that he figured out that all the ticket ID numbers follow a sequential pattern after his roommate got a parking ticket and reverse-engineered the data feed.

Walz discovered that the city's website also includes a full copy of the citation, including the citation ID. Using automated scripts, the application monitors new ticket issuance and accurately maps the location where parking enforcement officers are active.

Users of the app can see a live map highlighting areas where citations have been recently issued, giving drivers up-to-date information on where the traffic cops are. The tool also features a leaderboard ranking individual officers based on the volume and monetary value of fines they have issued during a given period.

The app received significant attention upon its launch, and also faced resistance from city officials concerned about privacy and officer safety.

San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) spokesperson Erica Kato said in an email to The San Francisco Standard that the city changed its site to protect parking cops.

“Citations are a tool to ensure compliance with parking laws, which help keep our streets safe and use our limited curb space efficiently and fairly. We welcome creative uses of technology to encourage legal parking, but we also want to make sure that our employees are able to do their jobs safely, and without disruption.”

Due to the change, the app stopped working for a brief amount of time, a few hours after its launch, but at the time of writing this article, the app remains operational.