Editing Wheel clamp (section)

==Controversy==

Wheel-clamping is notoriously unpopular with unauthorised parkers. While a [[traffic warden]] or police officer has jurisdiction over public roads, in many countries, the law allows landowners to clamp vehicles parking on their property without permission.

One British man became so annoyed at having his car clamped that he removed the clamp with an [[angle grinder]]. He subsequently received publicity as a self-styled "[[superhero]]" called "Angle-Grinder Man", offering to remove clamps for free with his angle grinder.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/3112670.stm |title='Superhero' takes on clampers |date=16 September 2003 |publisher=BBC |access-date=11 July 2014}}</ref>

Other motorists have cut the clamps off with [[bolt cutter]]s or even clamping their own cars beforehand so that property owners will be unable to clamp an already-clamped vehicle and may think that another owner has clamped it. However, the practice of removing clamps is usually only done for those that were installed by private parties; the removal of clamps installed by authorities (chiefly the police) is an offence.{{citation needed|date=November 2011}}

A New Zealand wheel clamper made national headlines in 2013 after he secretly recorded a police officer allegedly threatening to not help if an aggrieved member of the public attacked him.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.3news.co.nz/Taranaki-clamper-public-enemy-no-1/tabid/1771/articleID/289256/Default.aspx |work= 3 News NZ |title= Clamper: public enemy no 1 |date= 7 March 2013 |access-date= 7 March 2013 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130419195631/http://www.3news.co.nz/Taranaki-clamper-public-enemy-no-1/tabid/1771/articleID/289256/Default.aspx |archive-date= 19 April 2013 |url-status= dead}}</ref> It was not the first time the clamper involved had been in the news.<ref>{{cite news|url= http://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/8083537/Attempt-to-remove-wheel-clamps-fails |work=Stuff.co.nz |title=Attempt to remove wheel clamps fails| date=15 December 2012 |first=Yvette |last=Batten |access-date=11 July 2014}}</ref>

There was a 2017/18 illegal boot operation around Los Angeles where a scammer booted unsuspecting drivers and demanded a high release fee. People were instructed to call 911 and report the scam if they fell victim. It has since ceased, and the scammer was arrested.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}}