Where to park vehicles on carpool chasing

[Jason Foster]

Hands down the safest place to leave a car.

How about a police station. Parking near or in one of those will certainly be one, if not the safest places. Plus, if you have time, just pop in, and let them know your leaving it there. In some of the smaller towns I'm sure they'll keep an eye on it, or at the very least, they'll see it on a regular basis.

Now as far as the worst place, Chris Collura will tell you the TGI Fridays in South Miami is the worst....lol.

 

[Darrin Rasberry]

The best place to park is on the side of the interstate. Nobody will bother to steal your stuff there.

Seriously, though, everyone is at risk parking anywhere - the best thing to do is to ask your partner to park in his or her garage with the door shut. At any rate, in the future I'm going to make sure all valuables are out of the car before a chase, and in my travel bag or at least more safely locked up at home (I tend to do this by habit anyway). This doesn't prevent a stolen car risk, but all in all, unless the driver lives in a particularly dangerous neighborhood, you're no more at risk than when you park at home, if you're like me and don't have a sufficient garage.

 

[Patrick Martin]

I'd avoid the park and rides in metropolitan areas. Seems that I recall pleanty of stories here in Denver of cars being broken into, ironically during daylight hours. Not all have cameras and the large lots make easy cover for the wrong people.

The key is to ensure that you don't have anything visible or tempting which sends an invitation for an unwanted visitor to enter your vehicle.

 

[Cameron Redwine]

How about a police station. Parking near or in one of those will certainly be one, if not the safest places. Plus, if you have time, just pop in, and let them know your leaving it there. In some of the smaller towns I'm sure they'll keep an eye on it, or at the very least, they'll see it on a regular basis.

Now as far as the worst place, Chris Collura will tell you the TGI Fridays in South Miami is the worst....lol.

At the police department where I worked, there was not any room for civilians to leave their vehicles. As mentioned, smaller towns may be the exception, but many LE agencies also have secured parking areas. In addition, the person to whom you would speak about leaving it there (likely the desk sergeant) changes three times daily. Consequently, it would require them to keep notifying their relief about the vehicle, which wouldn't necessarily make any difference if a cop runs the plate himself or through dispatch, then has dispatch call a hook to remove the vehicle. Maybe others who work in law enforcement can comment, but I probably wouldn't recommend parking a the PD/SO. As for parking near one, that would work as long as there aren't any limits on time; you would be subject to parking enforcement. But, hey - I guess it's worth a shot in the smaller towns.

I like the airport idea. Also, anyplace that is well lit, and where you either have, or don't need permission to leave the car there for an extended period of time. Obviously, take any valuables out of the car.