City, tow companies rake in millions from unlicensed drivers
ESCONDIDO: City, tow companies rake in millions from unlicensed drivers
Crackdown nets nearly 10,000 vehicles in recent years, reports show
By EDWARD SIFUENTES - Staff Writer | Saturday, August 30, 2008 7:09 PM PDT ∞
An Allied Gardens tow truck driver hooks up a car. The company is one of four that contracts with the city of Escondido. (Photo by Jamie Scott Lytle - staff photographer) Escondido police conduct a DUI/ driver's license checkpoint on Saturday (Photo by Waldo Nilo - staff photographer) No other city in North County appears as determined as Escondido to catch people driving without licenses.
Police records show that the Police Department seized nearly 10,000 vehicles in the last three years from unlicensed drivers, more than double the 4,422 vehicles impounded by Oceanside over the same period and far more than the 705 impounded by Carlsbad.
And over the last three years, the crackdown has generated millions of dollars for Escondido and the towing companies it contracts with.
Escondido police Chief Jim Maher says that the strict enforcement is reducing the number of hit-and-run accidents ---- from 660 in 2005 to 554 in 2007 ---- which he says are caused primarily by unlicensed drivers.
But the crackdown is being criticized by Latino activists, including a former assistant sheriff, Bill Flores, an Escondido resident.
Flores said police are expending a lot of resources going after people ---- mostly low-income Latinos and illegal immigrants ---- for what he said is a relatively minor offense ---- and in a manner that is largely ineffective.
"It's not that anyone is advocating that it's OK to drive without a license," Flores said. "Rather, it's the way police are enforcing the law," seizing cars at checkpoints.
Under state law, vehicles used by unlicensed drivers must be impounded for 30 days, city officials say.
To get them back, the owners typically must pay as much as $1,200 in towing and storage fees ---- costs too steep for many to afford.
Over the last three years, the crackdown has generated over $10 million for the city and the towing companies it contracts with, creating financial hardship for the folks whose vehicles are seized by police and fueling controversy within the Latino immigrant community that appears hardest hit by the enforcement.
Rigorous use of the impound law also has landed Escondido in federal court.
Civil rights attorneys named the city in a lawsuit filed last year, claiming that impounding a vehicle for 30 days as punishment for driving without a license constitutes an unreasonable seizure.
Chief Maher declined to comment for this story, citing the ongoing lawsuit. He referred questions to the city attorney's office.
Hurting the poor?
Questions of fairness and efficiency aside, the city and the towing companies are generating a lot of revenue through the enforcement effort, according to city records.
Figures obtained by the North County Times through a public records request show that the four towing companies the city contracts with earned a combined $8.3 million in the last three years. The city received $2.5 million from the towing contracts and impound processing fees.
Flores and other activists say the crackdown and the punitive fees disproportionately hurt low-income and Latino immigrant families.
"They now appear to be raking in millions of dollars on the backs of poor people," said Flores, a spokesman for El Grupo, a North County-based umbrella organization of civil rights groups.
There is no demographic breakdown of the people caught driving without a license. However, most activists agree that illegal immigrants, who are ineligible under state law to get a driver's licenses, are a large segment of the people caught in the net.
For illegal immigrants, getting caught driving without a license often means losing their vehicles.
Many illegal immigrants buy cheap cars who are worth less than the estimated $1,200 in towing and storage fees. Many of the vehicles impounded by the Police Department are never picked up by their owners and are sold, according to police records and at least one towing company owner.
Over the last three years, towing companies have sold 5,668 cars, according to the reports. Unclaimed vehicles that were sold generated $600,000 for the towing companies over the last three years, records show.
"Many of these cars are sold to wrecking yards for parts, as they are in poor condition," said Josh Park, owner of Al's Towing, one of the companies contracted by the city.
As part of their contracts with the city, towing companies are required to provide quarterly reports listing the number of vehicles towed, the numbers that are released to the owner and how many are sold.
The reports also include financial information, such as the total amount of towing and storage fees and the amount generated by vehicle sales.
What the city takes
However, most of the money generated by the towing companies came from storage fees bolstered by the 30-day impound policy.
Of the 17,673 vehicles towed by the companies in the last three years, more than half of them, 9,765, were taken from unlicensed drivers, according to police reports. The rest were towed for a variety of reasons, including from people too drunk to drive, and from crashes.
Under the contracts, towing companies pay the city an annual fee in exchange for the money the companies charge drivers for towing and storage.
Taking notice of the increasing value of the contracts, the city has steadily increased its take in recent years, from $37,500 per towing company in 2004 to $100,000 in 2008.
Those fees have generated $637,500 for the city in the last three years. The city also charges a $180 impound processing fee that people must pay before they can reclaim their vehicles from the storage yard.
Those processing fees have generated an additional $1.8 million in the last three years, according to the city's budget.
What companies take
For their part, the towing companies took in $8.3 million from their contracts with the city. The companies are A-Z Metro Towing, Allied Gardens Towing, Al's Towing and El Norte Towing.
A-Z Metro Towing's share was $1.7 million, which was the lowest of the four, and El Norte Towing's share was $2.6 million, the highest. Al's Towing earned $2 million from the contract and Allied Gardens Towing earned $1.9 million.
Park, the owner of Al's Towing, said the contracts are not as lucrative as people might think. Rising fuel costs and the increasing contract fees that his company pays the city have reduced his profit margin, Park said.
"The increase in towing and storage charges (set by the city) have not entirely kept up with the expenses associated with running the business," Park said.
Park said the industrywide profit averages about 5 percent.
While the cost of the city's contract with the towing companies increased from $37,500 in 2004 to $100,000 this year, the number of cars being towed by his company has decreased, Park said. Each company gets to answer calls for tows from the Police Department one week out of every month.
"The number of vehicles our company impounded for the city decreased approximately 23 percent from 2006 to 2007, and is projected to decrease by another 8 percent in 2008 based on midyear numbers," he said.
Company officials with El Norte Towing declined to comment. Officials with the two other companies did not return calls for comment.
Storage fees mount
Most of the money that the towing companies made, $5.7 million, was related to storage fees. The rest was from towing fees, $2 million, and vehicles sold, $600,000.
When their contracts were extended last year, the city increased the amount that companies are allowed to charge for towing and impound fees. Towing service fees increased from $120 to $150, and the storage fees rose from $25 a day to $30 a day.
The towing, storage and service fees can add up to $1,200 or more for people whose vehicles are impounded under the mandatory, monthlong policy.
That does not include paying for the ticket, lost wages and other related costs.
Contact staff writer Edward Sifuentes at (760) 740-3511 or esifuentes@nctimes.com.
Related stories:
REGION: Impound policy draws controversy
REGION: Escondido's checkpoints big business
Counties seek dismissal of impound lawsuit
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