With over 4,000 traffic calls so far this year, abandoned vehicles are not a high priority for Bend Police

(Update: Adding video and comment from Bend Police)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ)-- A post on the Nextdoor social media app in Bend went viral this week, after a user claimed Bend police don't enforce the city's 72-hour parking laws, which require that vehicles parked on streets must move a certain distance every three days.

"Doesn’t matter if it sits there for months on end or in front of a business. As long as it’s on a public access roadway, a person can park in the same spot without moving for an indefinite period." the commenter said.

Other users on the app then shared their stories about abandoned cars parked in their neighborhoods for lengthy periods.

"We had a newer vehicle sit in our alley with a broken window for about 9 months and couldn’t get any help." one user said.

The city's law states that regardless of traffic codes, cars cannot be parked for more than three days.

We checked Thursday afternoon around city streets, but only two overtime vehicles turned up. Both vehicles had warning notices from the police department about the 72-hour notice.

Police say there are three types of abandoned vehicles.

"Somebody has left it behind -- that is different than somebody who is parked as a hazard, or who lives in your neighborhood and parks their vehicle and moves it every couple of days," police Communications Manager Sheila Miller said. "And that is also different from people who might live in their vehicles."

"When we triage our calls for service, when we determine what is the highest priority, we're doing that with public safety in mind, and emergencies in mind." she added.

The department says it tries to send officers when there's a complaint, but it's not a high priority.

"We may not get to it, because we are going to an assault. We are going to motor vehicle crashes. And I think most people in our community want that." Miller said. "They want to know that if they are in a really scary, dangerous situation, and they find themselves in need of police and in need of a police response, that we're going to be able to respond quickly as (we can)."

Parking laws are enforced by the department's community service officers, but currently, there's only 10. With 4,000 traffic calls just this year, it's not surprise they're stretched thin.

"Our CSOs may have 15 parking complaints to work through," Miller said. "And then there's a crash on Greenwood that they need to go and they (officers) need to help with, because people are in danger. And it's a bigger public safety risk than dealing with a person who has been parked for four days in a neighborhood."