Nobody likes getting a parking ticket.

But, some people raise a stink when they are caught parking illegally on the NIU campus, said Parking Services Manager Helen Nodurft.

Parking service agents have been threatened verbally in parking lots. In some cases, angry people have followed the agents to their next stop to yell at them, Nodurft said.

Although there have been only a few cases of harassment, Sandy did not want her last name printed in The Northern Star. She doesn’t wear a badge with her name on it, but said she is afraid she would be harassed at home if anyone knew her name.

Nodurft said another problem Parking Services faces is that people are nasty, insulting and use abusive language when they talk to ticket agents.

“We are a public service, contrary to the belief of everyone on campus. A ticket is a ticket. No one wants to get one. But, without them, parking would be chaos,” Nodurft said.

The harassment comes in spurts, Nodurft said. Sometimes it’s worse at the end of a semester because ticketed students worry their graduation or the release of their NIU records might be stalled, she said.

“Some days it seems like every call you get, somebody wants to have your head,” Nodurft said.