Parking officers are a big part of the City Council’s public face on the streets of the city, and beside their primary job of watching over on-street parking, have to be ready for a range of questions from visitors.

“You get all kinds,” says officer Archie Byron. Late on a Tuesday afternoon he is working a grid of streets south of the Arts Centre, writing tickets and checking cars’ warrants and registrations, joking with passers-by and generally keeping an eye on things.

A day’s work might also include helping someone who has locked their keys in their car, changing tyres, keeping an eye out for missing children, reporting in about roaming dogs or traffic lights that are not working and pointing out the sights for tourists. Because officers regularly cover the ground they notice changes and are able to report about vandalism and shop alarms being triggered.

Team members back at base in Tuam Street pass the information on to whoever needs it.

“It’s a pretty big city and it’s easy for visitors to get lost when they’re not used to it,” Archie says. “People ask where’s the best place to get a park or how to get to where they want to go. They ask us for help in getting back to where they’ve left their car.”

Road-safety issues issues – things like double parking, parking on broken yellow lines and watching for driver behaviour at school patrols – also get a strong effort from the officers.

The parking team has about 18 officers out on the streets every day. On some beats, they can walk up to 20km a day. Their job is often not well understood by the public, explains team leader Kay Hazlett-Brown.

“It’s pretty simple and it’s all about turnover, keeping the cars moving, and giving everyone a fair chance. The street parks are for short stops, only an hour or so,” she says. “If you want to park for longer, then use a parking building. “It’s a question of fairness. If the street parking spaces keep turning over as they’re supposed to, then every driver coming into the city has an equal chance of being able to get a spot close to where they want to pop into.”

And, despite what you might think, parking officers say they are not often confronted by angry people. Archie Byron’s been in the job for about 14 years.

“I reckon the town’s busier now than I’ve seen it in my 14 years. It’s been chokka since August last year, but I’m still smiling most of the time,” he says. “You get a good walk, meet a lot of people. It’s a good job.”