Some Cal State Fullerton students get Fs in parking

They haunt the parking garages here.

Eager students lurk on the outer edges of lots, hoping to sneak into an overlooked space and then race to class.

Others linger near the elevators, picking out likely candidates and inching behind them as they head to their cars, waiting to swoop when the space is vacated.

A few try a more advanced plan of attack: striking deals with friends, trading detailed schedules and swapping spots at just the right moment.

Cal State Fullerton is the quintessential Southern California commuter campus. Nearly 95% of its 36,000 students arrive every day by car. No matter how many lots the campus builds, the demand far outstrips the available spaces. It doesn't help that one of the only ways to fund parking lots is through parking fees and tickets.

So while students steadfastly patrol for spots, an army of officers in blue aggressively hunts scofflaws and issues citations. Every few minutes, it seems, a parking enforcement officer is standing next to an errant vehicle, printing out a ticket.

Last year, students, visitors and even faculty members paid more than $1.275 million to the college in parking tickets.

And now, campus administrators have one more tool: While unsuspecting students rush back and forth to class, the Mobile Plate Hunter 900 is searching for wrongdoers.

The plate hunter consists of two cameras that scan license plates and feed data into a laptop inside the patrol car; the computer spits out information about any fines attached to the plates.

The technology was deployed on campus for the first time two years ago to catch people who rack up parking tickets, school officials said.

Despite criticism from some quarters that campus parking enforcement is excessive, school officials say they have no choice.

"The only way we can build these garages is to charge students who park there," said Bill Barrett, associate vice president for administration.

"We might seem aggressive to some people," he said, but the school's intent is "to get those who try to skim the system to pay up."

With the mobile plate hunter, drivers who collect five or more unpaid tickets are identified and their cars are immobilized, said Joseph Ferrer, director of parking services and transportation at Cal State Fullerton. Last year, 169 vehicles were immobilized.