BOSTON (AP) – State officials promise to crack down on the abuse of handicap parking permits after a yearlong investigation found that nearly one-third of the placards found on cars parked in downtown Boston were being used by people who were not disabled.

The Registry of Motor Vehicles planned to announce details of the probe at a news conference Monday and recommend changes, The Boston Globe reported.

The misuse of handicap placards is “an unconscionable insult and a fraud,” said Inspector General Gregory Sullivan.

The probe focused on business districts where parking spaces are in high demand.

In many cases, officials said able-bodied motorists were displaying permits that legitimately belonged to friends and relatives.

Investigators found 49 placards that were being used even though the individuals they were registered to had died. In one case, a Brockton woman was using a battered permit that she got from her mother, who had inherited it from her mother after death.

Anne L. Collins, registrar of motor vehicles, said it was “appalling” that someone would take a space away from a disabled person who might need it. “It’s the lowest level of scoundrel in the assortment of motor vehicle offenders we see,” she said.

Violators confronted by state police were ordered to surrender their permits and pay a $500 fine. They also faced a 30-day suspension of their driver’s licenses.