Dear Clarion,

Last month, my best friend’s vehicle was towed by Parking services. She was at the library studying for an exam she had the next day, came out, and her car was missing.

Her first response was to call Campus Safety. They showed up (I showed up 5 minutes after) and we were both shocked to find out that Campus Safety was unable to tell us if the car had been towed or if it was stolen.

Apparently (and again, this came as a great shock) Campus Safety and Parking Services are two different institutions on campus, and the communication between the two can sometimes be incomplete. Parking Services had indeed towed the car due to several unpaid parking tickets, but did not record the towing nor report the towing to Campus Safety. All Campus Safety could tell us was that a few cars were towed that evening. So my best friend and I are sitting in a DU parking lot at midnight, trying to figure out if we should report the car stolen to the police, or if we should just go home and go to bed

. Campus Safety was able to give us a cell phone number for one of the towing companies Parking Service sometimes uses, but unfortunately, this was not the correct number in our case. That was the only information that Campus safety had. We had many questions such as: Who is the towing company; how much would it cost to get her car back; where is the towing company, etc., none of which could be answered. We finally found her car was towed by calling Denver Police at 1am (the school must report all towings to the police within 30 minutes of towing). I understand that these two campus institutions are separate, but communication between them needs to be stronger for the students’ sake. Having one’s car towed is awful as it is, and not knowing if it is sitting at a lot in Denver or being driven out of the state really adds to the frustration and anger. I agree that parking tickets must be paid, but when we must pay our fines before we register and before we graduate, (meaning Parking Services will get their money eventually) why tow the car in the first place?

Sincerely,

Allison Peasley