I’ve lived in Los Angeles for a little over three years.

In that time, I’ve paid almost $1,000 in parking tickets.

Now, don’t get me wrong: It’s my own fault. In moving, school, work and a number of other activities, I’ve completely forgotten the streets and times when it’s illegal to park.

But last June, my second parking ticket of the year prompted my own undercover investigation; one “street cleaning” day, I set up shop on my front porch and waited.

Let’s pause for some background.

The printed slips of paper seem to appear all by themselves on illegally parked cars — the result of a Parking Enforcement team that seems nearly omnipresent, and all too up to the task of ruining someone’s day.

But in recent years the amount of revenue from parking fines has increased noticeably, according to officials in the Los Angeles Department of Transportation, while the number of complaints has skyrocketed.

My undercover investigation stretching from August 28 to Oct. 30 revealed that, while the City of Los Angeles is ticketing every street weekly for “street cleaning,” it is failing to actually sweep those streets — an inaction that may open up the City to legal issues due to hazy legal wording in the municipal code.