In January 2023, Steve Shiotsu parked his car near Lake Merritt in Oakland, only to find it missing four hours later.
Initially, he thought the vehicle might have been towed, but a search yielded no towing signs.
Realizing it had been stolen, he filed a report with the Oakland Police Department the following day.
However, just two months later, Shiotsu began receiving parking tickets addressed to his stolen car.
After receiving a citation of $196, he contacted the city’s Parking Citation Assistance Center to contest the ticket, only to be informed that he needed to provide a copy of his police report for dismissal.
Frustrated, he questioned why parking control technicians didn’t check the vehicle’s plates before issuing citations.
He learned that there was a disconnect between the city’s transportation department, OakDOT, and the police department, and that parking control technicians lack access to the OPD’s stolen vehicle databases.
This separation meant that those issuing parking tickets were not able to determine whether a vehicle had been reported stolen.
Over the next few months, Shiotsu received eight additional citations, accumulating fines totaling $2,089.
Although all the fines were eventually dismissed, he expressed frustration regarding the unnecessary work he had to deal with.
Shiotsu’s experience is just one of many similar cases in Oakland, as highlighted in a recent report by the Alameda County Grand Jury.
The report indicated that OakDOT had issued parking tickets to numerous stolen vehicles from 2022 to 2024, some of which received multiple tickets over extended periods and in various locations.
“Receiving notice of a ticket adds insult to injury,” stated the grand jury.
Victims of car theft find themselves dealing with sanctions for violations they did not commit.
Importantly, auto thefts in Oakland surged significantly in 2023, with over 3,600 reports received as of July 2025.
Despite these troubling findings, the city of Oakland has yet to formally respond to the grand jury’s critiques.
City spokesperson Jean Walsh provided a statement to The Oaklandside, noting that, while OakDOT issues several thousand tickets annually, fewer than two out of 1,000 citations are mistakenly sent to stolen vehicles.
In such rare instances, the citations are dismissed, according to Walsh.
An inquiry into how OakDOT identifies stolen cars reveals a complex process.
When a parking control technician identifies an illegally parked vehicle, they utilize a handheld device for images, ticket details, and ticket generation.
For suspected abandoned cars, they may consult OakDOT’s Vehicle Enforcement Unit.
This unit identifies stolen vehicles using the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (CLETS), a tightly controlled system linked to both state and national databases.
However, access to CLETS is restricted to authorized law enforcement personnel for official use, thus creating limitations for parking control technicians who cannot access it in the field.
The grand jury noted that it would be impractical for parking technicians to consult the Vehicle Enforcement Unit before ticketing every illegally parked vehicle due to the high volume of citations issued.
However, OakDOT has access to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) database, which allows for checks on stolen vehicles until March 2029.
This access could enable personnel to fetch necessary information without involving OPD or the Justice Department.
Notably, San Francisco has chosen to stop ticketing stolen vehicles, a strategy praised by the grand jury.
In 2023, former Mayor London Breed ordered an end to the practice after reports surfaced detailing that hundreds of tickets were sent to individuals who had reported their cars stolen.
The grand jury indicated that San Francisco officials developed a system connecting a portion of the CLETS database of stolen vehicles to the handheld devices used by parking enforcement officers.
This system updates daily to inform parking technicians which vehicles should not be ticketed.
Despite this success in San Francisco, Oakland officials regard their situation as unique.
A spokesperson for the city noted that San Francisco’s transportation department is the only non-law enforcement agency statewide that has established this data-sharing system.
The Oakland officials highlighted their interest in pursuing similar arrangements but recognized the distinct nature of San Francisco’s situation.
Walsh also mentioned that OakDOT is currently procuring a modern parking citation management system with improvements for checking stolen vehicle hotlists.
In December 2024, OakDOT issued a request for proposals to enhance their systems, looking for software that includes access to DOJ hotlists for stolen vehicles.
While this request was closed in February 2025, the timeline for selecting a vendor remains uncertain.
Overall, Shiotsu’s case and the spread of inadvertent citations to stolen cars highlight a significant issue within Oakland’s parking enforcement and technological capabilities, prompting calls for urgent reform.
image source from：oaklandside
