Release of Impounded Vehicle Without Fee

A: Lieutenants or higher are allowed to release impounded cars without the owner having to pay for the towing, the impound cost, and the storage cost. To make that decision, they should make sure they pay attention to the city’s economic state and how the police department has to do things in a fair and equal way. Usually, one can let a car be released if it was impounded to keep safe and it wasn’t ever related to a crime or accident. Here are some examples:

If a driver got arrested but wasn’t actually put in the jail because the arrest wasn’t for a good enough reason. If the car or the driver is immune to being impounded. If the owner wasn’t told that their car was going to be impounded. When an owner didn’t get the opportunity to go and get their car when they were asked to (like with an abandoning issue or anything like that.)

B: When a car gets released without a fee, cops should make sure to tell their supervisors about any info they have on the situation, and those will then get told to the lieutenant or higher that wanted to have the car released. If a car needs to be released ASAP, they should call the auto pound with all the info about the car (what it looks like) and the name of the person asking for it to be released. The supervisor of the auto pound should keep a log of the cars that get released without a fee.