Parking occupancy detection methods, systems and processor-readable media. A laser device unit includes a laser range finder, and a programmable pan-tilt unit is deployable on site to monitor one or more parking spaces. A laser emitting and receiving unit associated with the laser range finder determines the distance of an object by estimating a time difference between an emitted laser and a received laser. The laser range finder is controllable by the programmable pan-tilt unit and scans the parking spaces. A signal-processing unit can convert the measured distance profile to a parking occupancy data to provide continuous parking space estimation data for use in parking occupancy detection.