Civil enforcement officer
A civil enforcement officer (CEO or colloquially traffic warden, parking enforcement officer, or parking attendant) is a person employed to enforce parking, traffic and other restrictions and laws. England & Wales In England, they are employed by county councils, London borough councils, metropolitan district councils or Transport for London, and in Wales by county (borough) councils - or private companies contracted by any of the above. Until the passage of the Traffic Management Act 2004, on-street parking and traffic movement violations were enforced by non-warranted police traffic wardens employed by constabularies. Off-street parking violations were enforced by parking attendants employed by local authorities and private companies. Powers of a Civil Enforcement Officer Civil enforcement officers may only exercise their functions when wearing a uniform authorised by the Home Secretary. Their powers include: issue penalty charge notices for numerous offences (governed by civil law), either via a hand-held device or CCTV. inspect and confiscate disabled parking permits interview motorists suspected of disabled badge fraud under caution immobilise vehicles. Penalty charge notices are not criminal proceedings, and failure to pay will result in certificated bailiffs serving warrants of execution. They may issue penalties for several moving violations, among them driving in bus lanes, executing prohibited turns and driving the wrong way on a one way system. Civil enforcement officers employed by some authorities issue fixed penalties for non-traffic offences using the community safety accreditation scheme of the Police Reform Act 2002. In Wales, the Vale of Glamorgan Council employs "dual role" uniformed enforcement officers that are authorised to enforce both civil parking legislation, and criminal legislation with regard to environmental crime, anti-social behaviour, bylaws and public spaces protection orders. Belgium In Belgium, municipalities use Stadswachten (City Guards); these public but civil officials can be compared to civil enforcement officers and can only write reports that are sent to a magistrate who decides if, according to the findings of the guards report, a fine will be issued. In Belgium, Stadswachten can be recognized by the purple jackets they wear. The Netherlands In the Netherlands municipalities used Stadswachten (City Guards) until 2004; these officers were public civil servants who patrolled the city but had no power to fine civilians. These days Stadswachten do not exist anymore, and the Guard departments were changed into Handhaving (Enforcement) units. Unlike the British City Wardens, Handhavers (Enforcers) do not have civil status but are fully public officials and have limited police powers. These officers are sworn BOA (Special Enforcement Officer) and have the powers to detain people to confirm their identity, search people for proof of identification or offensive or dangerous weapons (if arrested), investigate offences and certain crimes, issue fixed penalties, make warrantless arrests and use force with or without the use of weapons (baton, pepperspray). Most municipal enforcement officers (BOA) are equipped with handcuffs. Some cities also issue police batons to their officers. According to Dutch law, some BOA's can be equipped with pepperspray (cities of Utrecht and Amsterdam in 2016) and a handgun (cities of