Impounded cars boost city of Bell's coffers

As city administrators' salaries were rocketing upward in Bell and council members' stipends were among the highest in the state, the city went on an aggressive push to increase municipal revenue by impounding cars in the city, police officers say.

Officers in this poor, largely immigrant community were pushed to have more cars towed and, at one point, were given what some patrol officers said amounted to a daily quota. Several officers said they were reprimanded when they failed to find cars to tow and were warned that City Hall jobs could be at risk if impounds did not accelerate.

At the same time, the city charged one of the highest impound release fees in the area and benefited from an agreement with a single towing company, from which it collected additional fees every time a car was impounded.

"It really changed our culture," said police Sgt. Art Jimenez. "Rather than being police officers and being proactive looking for crime, we were out there looking for vehicles to impound."

Capt. Anthony Miranda, who has helped lead the department since Chief Randy Adams resigned in July, said that officers were never given a quota but that in 2009 they were given a daily goal of towing two cars, writing three moving violation tickets and making one arrest. He said the goal was to make the city an undesirable place for gang members by cracking down on traffic enforcement.

Impounding cars, usually because the drivers are unlicensed, has been a steady revenue stream in Bell for years. In the last fiscal year, the city expected to make more than $770,000 from release fees, which would amount to between 2,000 and 2,500 impounds per year. The previous year, the department made more than $834,000.

The city charges unlicensed motorists a $300 fee to release the car; those charged with driving under the influence are charged $400. The number does not include costs imposed by the impound lot, which starts with a $104 base fee and increases $27 per day.

By contrast, Simi Valley, which has a population three times Bell's, brings in about $61,000 a year from impound fees and charges $77 to release impounded cars, officials said. In unincorporated Los Angeles County, drivers pay $93 to get a vehicle released. The amount, experts said, is meant to recoup costs involved in towing the vehicle, not to make a profit for the city. In all three areas, additional fees for towing and storage are paid directly to the towing company.

In Bell, towing and storage fees were compounded by an agreement with Bell Tow Service Inc. that allowed the city to collect a separate fee of 10% per impound, which generated tens of thousands of dollars per year.

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