Why Don’t Sioux Falls Police Tow Vehicles Before Plows Go Through

Why do Sioux Falls Police not have vehicles towed before sending the plows through the streets, so they are not plowed around? Here is why.

Here is the answer from the Sioux Falls Police Department...

"For each vehicle that is towed during a snow alert, it takes between 30-90 mins from the time of the request to the time the vehicle is loaded and moved from the roadway.

We work with a number of contracted providers and they are really good at what they do, but even with them all combined, we would not have the available equipment to do this in any sort of efficient manner.

Additionally, these tow truck companies also have other responsibilities to help tow nonsnow alert related vehicles as well as they come up (ie. your car broke down, stuck in the snow etc).

If we were to attempt to tow each vehicle prior to plowing the streets, streets would remain unplowed for days as we waited to tow vehicles out of the way, and road graders and snow plows would be sitting as they waited for this.

Currently, we ticket and tow immediately from all Emergency Snow Routes if the vehicle is parked on it and plowed in. Generally, in Zones 2 and 3, we begin ticketing vehicles first if they are plowed around.

Once all zones have been gone through by police and ticketed, then we come back through and begin towing vehicles that are still not moved at this point.

If a street is completely blocked by vehicles and it is impassable for the plows to get through at all, we may ticket and tow immediately to assist the plows in getting through with at least one pass.

As the street department is able they then will come back through areas to help clean up. Please recognize this is a larger-than-normal snow event, so all are doing their best to make the streets passable.

Slow down, give yourself some time, and help a neighbor out if they are plowed in."