Officials: Impound measure expensive, hampers police
By Tillie Fong 
| September 25, 2009 | 7:01 AM
Denver safety officials warned that if a vehicle-impound measure on the November ballot passes, enforcement of the law could add to the city’s budget problems and result in police-response delays.
“There’s a domino effect,” said Sgt. Dan McCoy, Denver police liaison to the manager of public safety’s office.
McCoy joined City Attorney David Broadwell and Chief Gary Wilson and Capt. Craig Meyer of the Denver Sheriff’s Department in briefing the City Council’s Safety Committee this week on the impact of Initiative 300. The measure, which will appear on the Nov. 3 ballot, would augment Denver’s existing vehicle-impound law.
Last year, Denver voters passed Initiative 100, giving police officers the discretion to impound the vehicles of unlicensed drivers, including cars driven by illegal immigrants. To reclaim the vehicle, the owner must post a bond of $2,500 within 30 days or the car is auctioned off. The city holds the bond for one year, and it is forfeited if an unlicensed driver operates the vehicle in Colorado during that time.
Initiative 300 came about because its proponent, Daniel Hayes, a Jefferson County resident, thinks that Denver has not been willing to enforce Initiative 100.
“They towed cars that shouldn’t be towed,” he said Wednesday. ”They don’t care about the public safety.”
Hayes did not attend the Safety Committee meeting.
Budget considerations
Initiative 300 has many of the same provisions as Initiative 100 but also some key differences, according to Broadwell.
One major change is that the new proposal would make it mandatory that vehicles be impounded if the driver does not have a valid license. Broadwell said that the proponents of Initiative 100 tried to incorporate the same mandate in that measure but that it was worded poorly and the zero-tolerance policy wasn’t clear.
The wording in Initiative 300 states that impounding ” ‘shall’ occur, not that it’s authorized,” Broadwell said.
“If that discretion is taken away, it will have a huge impact on personnel,” McCoy said, noting that five new officers would be needed to handle the increased workload.
Police estimate that if Initiative 300 passes, tows would jump from 15,723 this year to 33,892 next year, an increase of 115 percent.
Denver contracts with Extreme Towing to tow vehicles to the impound lot at a rate of $69.59 per tow. With the estimated jump in tows from Initiative 300, McCoy said that the city would have to pay an extra $1.2 million per year for the service.
Hayes disagreed with the analysis of Initiative 300′s fiscal impact.
“That’s pure speculation on the part of the City Council and police,” he said.
Hayes said that if Denver needs money to implement the measure, it should ask the public for it and likely would get it.
“I believe it would save money,” he said. “It would cost extra to get it going, but it will save money in the long run.”
McCoy also said that the proposal would impact police response time, as it takes about an hour on average for an officer to go through the impound process.
Councilwoman Jeanne Faatz, however, said that in discussion with the purchasing department, she learned that the city could place conditions on the towing service to address the time issue, such as establishing multiple tow areas around the city to respond faster to calls.
A crunch in the impound lot
The Denver Sheriff’s Department also has concerns about an increase in impounded vehicles. Its impound facility sits on about 20 acres of land and is divided into two storage lots, with space for a maximum of 2,200 cars. The lot size can’t expand since the property sits on the border with Adams County.
“We are really landlocked,” Wilson said.
In 2008, the daily average of vehicles in the lot was 1,713; this year is expected to have a daily average of 2,073. However, Wilson noted that between May and August, the lot averaged 2,167 vehicles a day.
“Our true operational capacity is 2,062 vehicles, but we push those numbers up a little bit (because) there’s a section that we use for overflow space,” he said.
When the impound lot reaches its maximum capacity, an “emergency tow status” goes into effect until the number drops below 2,200. Under these conditions, the only vehicles accepted into the lot are related to crimes such as homicide, fatal accidents, hit and run, felony-related vehicles that need to be secured, and vehicles retained for evidence.
From January through August this year, the lot experienced a record 64 days in which it exceeded capacity and went into emergency tow status.
Wilson said that the status is removed after impounded vehicles are auctioned off — about every two weeks — but then, after a few days, the lot refills and the restrictions return.
“We see the numbers climb very quickly,” he said.
If Initiative 300 passes, the sheriff’s department may have to restrict further what cars can be accepted at under emergency tow status or consider plans to expand the impound lot.
Faatz wondered whether Denver can lease space elsewhere.
“Is there a requirement that it be in the city and county of Denver boundaries?” she asked.
Wilson said that if the city decides to expand the impound lot, he would prefer that it be nearby since it would not be cost-effective to manage two separate lots.
“You can definitely expect that we would need more resources to pull that off,” he said. “We will be impacted by staff and equipment needs.”
Immigration status
Broadwell said that Initiative 300 presents additional challenges by tying impounding vehicles to the driver’s immigration status. He said that the city has asked the measure’s proponents to make the language cleaner and to make a distinction on whether the plan targets unlicensed drivers or illegal immigrants, but that those clarifications have not been made.
“It’s not just about driving without a valid license, but about being in this country illegally,” Broadwell said. “Officers are supposed to make an immigration determination as well.”
Hayes did say that one of the measure’s purposes is to target illegal immigrants, wherever they come from, whether Poland or Mexico.
“Race is not the proper word,” he said. “You’re dealing with their immigration status, not race.”
He cited as an example the case of an illegal immigrant who is accused of killing two women and a toddler in Aurora last September when the SUV he was driving hit another vehicle and then crashed into an ice cream shop.
“The only way to get illegal aliens off the road is to take their cars,” Hayes said. “If you write a ticket to an illegal alien, you might as well give a ticket to a baby. They’re not responsible citizens. They’re freeloaders, and most people want them out of here.”
Broadwell said that another provision in Initiative 300 addresses illegal immigration through bonding rules. In the current law, lienholders are exempt from paying the $2,500 bond to get the vehicle back if they attest in writing that they will not return the vehicle to the person who owned it at the time it was impounded.
Under the new measure, the exemption would apply to the lienholder only if the lien is at least $1,000 and if, after release from impound, the vehicle is not sold to a person without a valid driver’s license or to an illegal immigrant.
Committee Chairman Doug Linkhart expressed surprise at the provision.
“How would the lienholder track down the person they sold the vehicle to and determine their immigration status?” he asked. “Does every car seller have to determine the immigration status of every purchaser?”
Faatz asked whether car dealers are required to sell vehicles only to people with valid driver’s licenses and, if so, said that the dealers can easily make a copy of the driver’s license for their records.
Broadwell said that the provision in Initiative 300 may require dealer to perform two separate checks: one for a valid driver’s license and one to determine the purchaser’s immigration status.
“It’s another complexity of the law,” Broadwell said. “It doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of how to implement it.”
Lopez expressed concerns that if Initiative 300 passes, it could face legal challenges over constitutional issues such as federal pre-emption, meaning that a city can’t take over the functions of the federal government, including dealing with immigration.
“What I have seen and what I’m worried about is any kind of lawsuit that could come out, especially at this time when we’re struggling with the budget,” he said. “I don’t know if we can prevent that.”
Hayes said that he doesn’t believe the measure is overreaching in its authority in having the city deal with illegal immigration.
“The federal government is already asleep at the wheel,” he said. “If it’s legal, it’s legal. If it’s not, it’s not. Let them challenge it.”
Taking it to the voters
Councilman Rick Garcia said he is concerned that because the Nov. 3 election is a mail-in ballot, no Blue Book will be sent to voters giving the pro and con arguments on Initiative 300.
“There is no planned information from an independent source,” he said, adding that the City Council should issue a proclamation of its position on the measure before the election.
“I would recommend a ‘no’ vote,” he said.
LInkhart said that the committee members will not take a position, but he does expect a proclamation to be issued, as well as a debate among the full council.
Faatz noted that Initiative 300 would be the first since Denver voters approved a measure taking the City Council out of the process of approving ballot measures.
“We have no official role in this,” she said. “We didn’t propose it, we don’t put it on the ballot. The people took us out of the process.”
Councilwoman Judy Montero disagreed with Faatz, saying that the City Council should weigh in on the measure.
“We’re looking at a $120 million deficit and not taking money out of the general fund,” she said. “Taxpayers need to know they will be responsible for these additional costs.”
daniel hayes, Denver city council, doug linkhart, Jeanne Faatz, Judy Montero, Paul Lopez, police, Rick Garcia, vehicle impound
