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A Fairfield parking ticket shows the signature of “Officer 87” alongside a photo of the real Officer C. Ervin, who is wearing a mask and covering his nameplate to maintain his mysterious reputation.
The Mirror: You are known to many students as just “Officer 87,” but what is your real name?
Officer 87: C. Ervin. I’ll leave it with just the first initial to keep an air of mystery…
TM: Have you ever worked in other types of law enforcement?
87: Yes, I used to be a police officer in Fairfield and I knew a little bit about the campus before I came here because I worked basketball games, dances, and other events.
TM: How do you like this [job] compared to being a Fairfield police officer?
87: It’s very different. As a police officer I dealt with people of all ages and backgrounds and here it is mostly students. It’s a very different setting.
As a police officer you deal with severe crimes and here there are some crimes, but not on the same scale as a police officer might deal with.
TM: You are mostly known for your parking tickets. What else do you do when you are on duty?
87: I assist with traffic details, organize parking for large meetings, assist with vendors on career day, and sometimes help other officers on duty when they are busy.
TM: Where do you think you give out the most tickets? Where are the ticket hotspots?
87: Canisius and Bannow definitely. It’s convenient for students going to class there.
TM: Is there any fooling you, or will you always find the illegally parked cars?
87: Oh yeah, I mean the kids are smarter than I am, but I have my little methods and they give themselves away sometimes too.
TM: Have you ever seen students put an old ticket on their window to be sneaky?
87: Oh yeah, all the time! I know where I’ve been and if I see an envelope that looks a little suspicious then I’ll definitely check it out.
TM: Have you ever been there when public safety towed a car? And how many cars do you think are towed in a year?
87: Oh yes, last year they towed 55 cars! After the cars get towed, they go to a lot on the Bridgeport/Fairfield town line.
TM: What is the highest number of tickets you’ve given out in a day?
87: In one day, I’ve given out anywhere from 50 to 75 tickets. And I don’t have a quota, even though a lot of people think that I do.
TM: Has public safety ever considered charging higher fees for full campus parking rights?
Contributed Photo
87: It probably will not happen because there are so many cars here and such limited parking. If you gave everyone here that privilege it could be a madhouse with cars everywhere.
Faculty or staff could lose their spots and it would create traffic issues. I’ve heard people say that the school should build a garage behind Alumni Hall but that would probably cost a lot of money and people would have to monitor and patrol that garage. Parking here is not an easy fix.
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