Imagine going to your vehicle after a long day of classes to discover you locked your keys in your car, have a flat tire or a dead battery.

Students at all Alamo Community College campuses don’t have to worry about being stuck or paying expensive fees from outside sources of help such as Pop-A-Lock. A free courtesy patrol service is available to all students, faculty, staff and visitors.

The main services the ACC Courtesy Patrol provide are unlocking a car, jump starting a dead battery or assisting with an air compressor for flat tires.

A few things that they cannot do are change a flat tire, replace vehicle parts, transport persons off campus or push/tow a disabled vehicle.

“I was not aware of this service. That would have been nice to know,” said Denise Jaramillo, dual enrolled student at Palo Alto College and Texas A&M University/Kingsville-San Antonio System Center.

Sandra Hood, a Librarian at Palo Alto College Ozuna Center, also said, “I did not know we had that service.” In fact, many students and staff were not aware that such a free service exists.

John Strybos, Associate Vice-Chancellor of Facilities, said, “The courtesy patrol is a service that started primarily at San Antonio College where we had 20,000 students.

People locked their keys in the car, they will come out and have a flat tire or their car won’t start. They will just have some sort of problem with their vehicles. It’s just to help service the students.”

The courtesy patrol now extends to St. Philip’s, Palo Alto, Northwest Vista, the Southwest campus, and Northeast Lakeview. The courtesy patrol is headquartered at the motor pool garage at San Antonio College, so it may be a short wait depending on where they are coming from.

“One person is hired for the day and one person at night. This service runs from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.,” said Gary Sanders, Fleet Maintenance Supervisor. “Because the schools are so far away from each other, it may take us up to 45 minutes to get to someone, depending on traffic.”

When asking for assistance, provide the make, model, color and license plate number of your vehicle for faster service. Tim Hobbs, ACC campus courtesy patrol driver, said, “You will need to remain at the vehicle. If not, go to the campus Police Department and wait for us there.”

Palo Alto’s Police department is located in the Student Center, across from the Bursar’s Office. After they arrive, the patrol will ask for your driver’s license and your signature on a release of liability form before they will perform any service. Anyone who is in need of this service may contact the ACC Department of Public Safety Police Dispatch at (210) 208-8099 or notify a campus police officer who will contact dispatch for you.