JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas –
The 902nd Security Forces Squadron is taking steps to reinstitute a program that will authorize service members and civilian employees at participating Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph organizations to issue parking tickets near their facilities.
A guidance memorandum signed by Brig. Gen. Heather Pringle, 502nd Air Base Wing and JBSA commander, requires the security forces squadrons at all JBSA locations to establish a parking warden program for the areas they serve.
“The parking warden program is an administrative tool for commanders to help maintain parking compliance,” said Senior Airman Shasa Honse, 902nd SFS reports and analysis clerk. “The program will benefit security forces and every facility that chooses to participate in the program.”
At JBSA-Randolph, where the program has operated in the past, parking is a particularly vexing problem in the vicinity of Air Force Personnel Center and Air Force Recruiting Service, including the nearby parking lots and the stretch along Fifth Street West, Honse said.
“There are a lot of parking issues around AFPC and some other areas,” said Staff Sgt. Luis Camacho-Morales, 902nd SFS NCO in charge of reports and analysis. “The program will help resolve issues without security forces having to cite the offender. The problem can be fixed before it gets to us.”
Offenses include parking in spaces reserved for others; too close to a fire hydrant, dumpster or crosswalk; and in no-parking zones.
The 902nd SFS will soon conduct training for volunteers chosen by their commanders to serve as primary or alternate parking wardens, Camacho-Morales said. Parking wardens must be grade E-5 and above or the civilian equivalent.
“We’re ready to go,” Honse said. “We just need volunteers.”
Training will consist of a review of program directives and how to complete a Department of Defense Form 1408, the Armed Forces Traffic Ticket, he said.
The memorandum outlines the process for issuing tickets for parking violations in parking lots identified as the wardens’ area of responsibility.
Parking wardens will place a pink copy of the ticket under the windshield wiper of the offending vehicle and, if any information is missing for the citation, write instructions on the back side of the pink copy for the violator to report to the designated building and room.
Parking wardens will also forward completed DD Form 1408s to the security forces squadron, which will process tickets through the Security Forces Management Information System.
The memorandum also details other steps in the parking warden’s process, including completion of the white and yellow copies of the ticket upon contact with the violator, issuance of the pink copy to the violator and instructing the violator to notify their first sergeant or commander of the violation within 24 hours or the next duty day.
Camacho-Morales said parking wardens will find violators by monitoring parking areas and through complaints brought to their attention.
Security forces squadrons are notifying units throughout JBSA about the program, which is voluntary, he said. Commanders will identify primary and alternate parking wardens and send appointment letters to security forces.
“As soon as we get appointment letters back, we will set up training,” Camacho-Morales said. “Training should take no more than an hour.”
To avoid being cited for a parking violation, workers who cannot find open spaces near their building should park farther away or carpool, Honse said.
The program will benefit security forces by allowing them to attend to more pressing matters such as emergencies and traffic control, Camacho-Morales said.
“It will also increase safety in parking areas and reduce traffic congestion,” he said.