YONGSAN GARRISON, Republic of Korea -- Military Police (MP) from the USAG Yongsan, Directorate Emergency Services, Provost Marshal Office were able to remove vehicles abandoned in the Dragon Hill Lodge (DHL) underground parking lot thanks to new vehicle extrication equipment, July 2.
"We're doing this because the Transport Motor Pool tow wrecker can't get in here," said Sgt. Matthew Elam, the garrison traffic non-commissioned officer in charge. "It's too low of a roof, but with this equipment we can at least bring them to the front of the parking lot."
Certain places on garrison, such as the DHL underground parking lot, make it difficult for MPs to remove vehicles that were either disabled or abandoned. This is now possible with the newly purchased "Go Jaks." Go Jaks can be rolled underneath each of the car's wheels, allowing a vehicle to be carried off its wheels and pushed out of tight areas.
"We ordered two sets and bought them specifically for this reason," Elam said. "This means we can get abandoned vehicles out of areas that tow trucks can't go."
Elam explained that two cars had accumulated dust and other signs of abandonment in the DHL parking lot over the past three months. Elam posted a 72-hour watch sticker, notifying owners that they needed to move their vehicles.
Since the owners did not show up, the vehicles were removed and taken to the impound lot. If the owners or next of kin can't be reached to claim the cars, they will be picked up by the Directorate of Logistics at USAG Daegu to be destroyed.
Abandoned vehicles are detrimental to the Community, claiming parking space needed by other people. On Yongsan Garrison, Elam estimated there to be approximately 20 abandoned vehicles.
Although having equipment such as Go Jaks allow MPs to remove these abandoned vehicles, Elam emphasized that this responsibility falls primarily on Servicemembers and Civilians who PCS, not on the garrison.
"They can sell their vehicles to somebody else, donate it to Camp Kim, or if they don't have the chance they need, they can contact Camp Kim and get advice from them on how to take care of their vehicles," Elam said. "There are some situations where people have to get rid of their vehicles, but they can't just PCS to their next duty and forget about it because it will catch up to them later."
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