REGION: Escondido's checkpoints big business
City, tow companies generating millions; practice under court challenge
By EDWARD SIFUENTES - Staff Writer | Sunday, August 10, 2008 7:51 PM PDT ∞

Nearly three years after Escondido launched regular checkpoints to catch unlicensed drivers, the practice has become a big business that generates millions of dollars for the city and towing companies.

The money comes from unlicensed drivers whose vehicles are seized, forcing them to pay a minimum 30-day storage fee that can cost $1,200 or more.

Civil rights attorneys say that's excessive and are challenging the city's practice in federal court. A hearing is set for Aug. 18 and may go to trial in October.

"It's a huge revenue-maker for the city and the towing companies and that's what's driving them," said Cynthia Anderson-Barker, an attorney involved in the lawsuit. "It's outrageous what's going on in the city."

On average, the checkpoints are conducted twice a month in what police officials say is an effort to crack down on drunken, unlicensed and uninsured drivers and to reduce hit-and-run accidents.

Unreasonable?

The checkpoints involve screening hundreds of drivers. From 2005 to July 2008, the city impounded more 1,600 vehicles at its checkpoints, a majority of them from unlicensed drivers.

That figure does not include vehicles that may have been impounded during random traffic stops.

Besides generating revenue, the checkpoints also are generating controversy.

Immigrant rights activists say the practice unfairly targets illegal immigrants, who are ineligible for state driver's licenses. The activists and attorneys say the checkpoints are more about generating money for the city than public safety.

The federal lawsuit, filed March 2007 in a U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, names Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Riverside and Los Angeles counties and the cities of Escondido, Maywood and Los Angeles as defendants.

It cites an earlier case by the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, which ruled that towing a vehicle merely because a driver is unlicensed is an unreasonable seizure absent a showing that the vehicle poses a threat to public safety.

Michael McGuinness, Escondido's assistant city attorney, said Wednesday that the ruling was based on an Oregon statute and not the California law.

"Our position is that the case does not apply," McGuinness said.

Safety, not money

Escondido officials say the impound policy is a matter of public safety, not revenue.

"My goal is not to make money," said Escondido City Councilman Sam Abed during a telephone interview Thursday. "It's to get these unlicensed drivers off the street."

Abed and other city officials also say they hold vehicles for 30 days because that's what state law requires.

However, the councilman did take notice of the increasing revenue.

"Maybe we should explore if the city could have a storage yard ... and could generate some revenues for the city," Abed said at a September 2007 council meeting when the towing service contracts were renewed.

The councilman said last week that by having a city-owned storage yard, Escondido may be able to lower the storage fees for drivers whose cars are impounded.

The city contracts with four towing companies to haul and store impounded vehicles. Each company paid the city $37,500 a year for the contracts between 2004 and 2007.

In September 2007, the city more than doubled its contract fees. Each company had to pay $75,000 in 2007-08 and $100,000 in 2008-09.

The companies appear willing to pay because of the lucrative returns from the towing and storage charges. The companies that contract with the city are Al's Towing, A-Z Enterprises, Allied Gardens Towing and El Norte Towing.

Officials from two companies declined to comment on their contracts and two others did not return calls.

How it works

In the new contract, the city raised the towing fee that companies can charge from $120 to $150, and hiked the storage fee from $25 a day to $30 a day.

Other cities have similar fees, such as the $120 towing fee in San Marcos and the $44 storage fee in Oceanside. But no other city in North County appears to charge towing companies up front for the contract.

For example, Vista charges towing companies a $40 flat fee for every car towed under its agreement. And Oceanside charges the towing companies 20 percent of the storage fees incurred after the fifth day of storage.

No North County city appears to impound as many cars as Escondido, either, according to figures provided by officials in Escondido, Oceanside, Carlsbad and San Marcos.

The city conducted 40 checkpoints from 2005 to 2007 and seized 1,243 vehicles.

That number of seized vehicles has grown steadily from 2005, when the city impounded 292 vehicles, to 2007, when it impounded 643.

A majority of the vehicles impounded during checkpoints were due to people driving without a license. For example, the police impounded 61 vehicles during a checkpoint July 5 ---- 46 from unlicensed drivers.

So far this year, the city has conducted about a dozen checkpoints resulting in 416 vehicles towed, according to the Escondido Police Department.

The number of vehicles impounded by Escondido in recent years ---- 1,243 ---- is more than four times as many as other North County cities. From 2005-07, Oceanside conducted 13 checkpoints, leading to 296 seized vehicles. San Marcos conducted 12 checkpoints and seized 205 vehicles, according to records provided by those cities.

Revenue growth

On top of the towing and storage fees, people have to pay Escondido a $180 impound processing fee before they can recover their vehicles.

McGuinness, Escondido's assistant city attorney, said owners can request a hearing to get their cars back sooner than the state-mandated 30 days.

But attorneys for the lawsuit's plaintiffs said in court documents that about 40 percent of vehicle owners request a hearing, but only about 5 percent get their cars back before 30 days.

A request for a full accounting year by year of the total number of cars impounded by Escondido and an analysis of the value of the towing service contracts was not immediately available last week, city officials said.

That information may be available this week, McGuinness said.

But the revenues are in the millions and could grow even more.

Abed said during the council meeting in September that, based on discussions with the Police Department, the city's towing contracts generated about $3 million and could grow to $5 million, if the city adopts its new parking ordinance, which would restrict overnight parking on city streets.

"We could be talking about a $4 million to $5 million business," Abed said.

Contact staff writer Edward Sifuentes at (760) 740-3511 or esifuentes@nctimes.com.


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