Getting a parking ticket is never a fun experience, but the Bel Air Police Department’s two parking enforcement officers work to ensure that their interactions with people who have violated the Town’s parking regulations remain courteous and respectful.

“One thing Tami and I make sure we do is, stay respectful,” Parking Enforcement Officer Shannon Bush said of herself and her colleague, Tami Leighty.

“The love and peace and joy and kindness that we put out to the public, we’re going to get it back,” Bush added.

As of 2025, Bush has been a parking enforcement officer for five years, and Leighty has been in her position for two years – Leighty has worked with the Town for a total of 12 years, mostly as a volunteer with the BAPD’s youth Explorer post.

“I just really like working with the younger people,” Leighty said.

As parking enforcement officers, their duties include enforcing parking regulations throughout the Town of Bel Air, not just in designated public parking areas such as the Hickory Avenue garage, the lot along Pennsylvania Avenue or metered spaces on Main Street. Town regulations also are enforced in areas such as residential neighborhoods, shopping centers, even the local hospital.

“We come across people every day with different personalities,” said Bush, who noted that, in general, people in Bel Air are “very kind.”

In addition to parking enforcement, Bush and Leighty monitor traffic and stand guard at school crossings, helping students and their parents get across busy streets safely.

Bush praised the Bel Air community, which she compared to “a small family,” and lauded how members of other law enforcement agencies work collaboratively with the Bel Air Police.

“[I] love that the officers from the different agencies work together as a team, which makes me feel safe and which makes me love working for the Town of Bel Air,” she said.

Contact Media and Public Relations Specialist David Anderson at 410-838-7181 or danderson@belairmd.org.