Photo By Ericka Gillespie | Staff Sgt. Smith stands next to a no parking sign on the Ordnance Campus of Fort...... read more read more
FORT GREGG-ADAMS, Va. — Law enforcement with Fort Gregg-Adams Directorate of Emergency Services is responding to several parking violations in highly-trafficked areas of the installation and are asking for the community’s help to foster a safer environment.
“Law Enforcement management will implement a zero-tolerance enforcement plan to make this a priority for daily patrol law enforcement operations,” Ronald D. Sims, Directorate of Emergency Services lieutenant. “This plan is a direct enforcement operation that is now being integrated into daily required checks of the identified areas for violations throughout each officer’s assigned shift.”
The parking violations are most commonly occurring on the Ordnance campus and around the installation’s temporary lodging areas. Some of the common violations DES patrols are finding include:
• parking outside of marked parking spots
• parking in front of fire hydrants
• parking in marked “no parking” zones
• parking facing against the flow of traffic
According to DES vehicles improperly parked tend to block roadways and make it difficult for other vehicles to maneuver around them. This can lead to serious hazards like traffic accidents and the inability for emergency response vehicles to reach those who may need assistance. Additionally, allocating police patrols for parking violations pulls those resources away from other important missions they perform.
Beyond posing potential dangers, those who violate parking regulations on post may be required to pay towing and storage fees if it is determined the vehicle needs to be removed; driving privileges may be revoked for multiple or gross parking violations; and in some instances, owners of illegally parked vehicles may be found liable if a traffic accident occurs.
In the event of someone being parked incorrectly, Law Enforcement will make every attempt to identify and locate the vehicle owner or operator. In the event they are unable to identify the owner or operator, law enforcement will utilize a wheel locking device (vehicle boot).
“We always try to resolve parking issues at the lowest level,” said Louis P. Ostmann, Directorate of Emergency Services Chief of Police. “This sometimes means going into a building and locating the driver of the vehicle and having a simple one-on-one conversation.”
Information will then be left on the vehicle for the owner or operator to contact the PMO. Once the PMO is contacted, the law enforcement officer will respond to the location and issue the appropriate violation notice and remove the wheel locking device.
This device is authorized to be utilized on all improperly parked vehicles, this includes personally owned vehicles, government operated vehicles, motorcycles and trailers.
“When law enforcement is notified by the community or through law enforcement crime data analysis of a concern due to violations of the law, installation policy or the safety of the community, we develop an action plan to address it,” Ostmann said.
Fines for parking incorrectly on and around the installation range from as low as a $50 fine plus a $30 processing fee and could be up to a $250 fine plus court cost. Additional fines are based upon the violations committed.
“The process to achieve the best possible outcome is always through communication, education, and enforcement,” Sims said.
DES has been working with the installation’s commanders to socialize the parking concerns and the safety risk it is causing. Together they reevaluated the concern and what actions were necessary to end continuing violations like parking in fire lanes and no parking zone.
For more information on parking violations, please read Army Regulation 190-5.
AR 190-5 section 6-1 subsection b. states “Parking is prohibited along any curb or roadside that does not have marked parking spaces, along any yellow or red painted curb with or without a sign that indicates a fire lane or along any shoulder in a manner to impede the flow of traffic. Vehicles will be parked between outline parking space lines. Vehicles found in violation of the parking policy will be cited and may be booted or towed at the expense of the owner.”
| Date Taken: | 10.11.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 10.11.2024 16:57 |
| Story ID: | 483020 |
| Location: | FORT GREGG-ADAMS, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 7 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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