SPOKANE, Wash. — If you feel like you’re seeing more and more abandoned cars around Spokane, you’re not alone.
Abandoned cars sitting outside homes are popping up across Spokane.
“We get at least five to 10 calls a day about abandoned vehicles,” said Kelle Masterson, lead dispatcher at Big Jims Towing. “There’s not much we can tell them to do.”
The process to get a car removed is more complicated than just calling a towing company, according to the City of Spokane.
After a car is reported, Code Enforcement must investigate it, determine its owner, if it was stolen and if someone is living in it. From there, they need to have the time and resources to tow the car.
“With just those two officers that we hired to do the towing, it is just slow and there’s backlog,” said City Councilmember Michael Cathcart.
In addition to abandoned cars, abandoned RVs are also becoming more common.
“The city said those can be even more difficult to move because, often times, someone is living in the RVs.
“They’ll have people kind of living in the vehicles, coming in and out of the vehicles at all hours of the night, leaving behind things like debris and things that aren’t necessarily safe for their children to find,” said Masterson.
If you notice a seemingly abandoned car or RV, you should try reporting it to the city by calling 3-1-1.
If that doesn’t work, Councilmember Cathcart suggested trying to reach out to your representative.
“I often encourage folks to actually reach out to their councilmembers, just to help make sure the complaints are getting to the right place. It seems to be more effective that way,” he said.
Cathcart said taking care of the abandoned cars is a priority for him during the upcoming budget season.
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