Editing Parking meter (section)

===Security issues===
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[[File:Seattle - Worker emptying parking meter, 1960.gif|thumb|right|A worker emptying cash from a parking meter in 1960.|upright]]
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Parking meters are exposed to the [[weather|elements]] and [[vandalism|vandal]]s, so protection of the device and its [[cash]] contents is a priority. The meters are frequently targeted in areas where parking regulations and enforcement are widely perceived to be unfair and predatory.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.lamag.com/driver/selling-unused-parking-meter-time-theres-app/|title=Selling Off Unused Parking Meter Time: There's an App for That Los Angeles Magazine|newspaper=Lamag - Culture, Food, Fashion, News & Los Angeles |date=11 November 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/9473830/Thieves-smash-and-grab-meter-cash|title=Thieves smash and grab meter cash|website=Stuff|date=3 December 2013 }}</ref>

Some cities have learned the hard way that these machines must be upgraded regularly, essentially playing an [[arms race]] with vandals. In [[Berkeley, California]], the cut-off remains of meter poles were a common sight during the late 1990s, and parking was essentially free throughout the city until the city government installed digital parking meters with heavier poles in 2000 (which were eventually vandalized as well).<ref>Demian Bulwa, [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/01/25/BAG664HDH31.DTL "Chicanery tops meters in Berkeley: Vandals wanting to park free put city in yet another jam,"] ''San Francisco Chronicle'', 25 January 2004, A21</ref>