Toronto police are speaking out about an apparent uptick in assaults against parking enforcement officers.

On Tuesday morning police confirmed that there have been three incidents involving aggressive behaviour directed at parking enforcement officers over a 10-day period.

The latest incident took place near Queen and Portland streets on Nov. 8.

Police say that the suspect in that incident pushed a parking enforcement officer to the ground, causing him to sustain minor injuries.

Three days prior another incident took place when a suspect struck a parking enforcement officer’s vehicle after they were asked to move their car from a no-stopping zone outside of a fire station on Bellevue Avenue.

All told, police say that a total of 13 parking enforcement officers have been assaulted on the job so far in 2022.

“We have had officers assaulted, spat on, intimidated yelled at and this abuse undermines their wellness and it challenges their ability to go out and do their job every day,” Matt Moyer, the acting superintendent of Traffic Services, told CP24. “This has to stop. We have to change the narrative.”

Moyer said that in one of the recent assaults a 20-year-old veteran of the parking enforcement unit was spat at and had to receive medical treatment to both of his eyes as a result.

He said that beyond the assaults, there has also been an alarming “surge” in other aggressive behaviour directed towards parking enforcement officers.

He wants that behaviour to stop and is reminding drivers that while there is a process in place to challenge a ticket, that conversation “should not be taking place on the street once a ticket is written.”

“They (parking enforcement officers) will go out each day, do their job and be yelled at, have cars come at them, have people challenge them and say offensive and derogatory comments towards them and yet they come in, they put their book away, they smile and they go home and try to resume a normal life. They have accepted that as the norm and we think that has to change,” he said. “It undermines your confidence and it can be quite weighing and taxing on your wellness as a public servant.”

Jeffrey Adubofuor, 30, of Toronto, is wanted for assaulting a peace officer in connection with the latest incident near Portland and Queen streets on Nov. 8.