How to get cops to do their jobs?

If there are two intent to tow stickers, then the car is in violation of normal parking, no? Essentially the same deal as parking in front of a yellow, etc.

If that's the case, call the local tow trucker to haul it away. He would file the tow with the police, and if anybody comes to claim it within such and such time they'll have to pay. If they don't show up, the tow truck co auctions off the car and pays itself.

Perhaps I'm wrong, but I've always thought tow trucks have the ability to tow improperly parked vehicles in many states.
 
Good luck getting the police to do anything about it. I had a similar problem. A junk car flipped over near my house (on my property) and the drivers scampered. My wife called the cops at 1:00am, said that there had been an accident and they told her to go check to see if anybody was in the car. I said no way, we are not going out to check on a vehicle in the middle of the night, that is your job.

They didn't come that night. We called the next morning and the next and no one ever came. Then TWO days latter a little SOB of a cop showed up literally pounded on my door and DEMANDED to know about the flipped over car in front of my house and why hadn't I reported it and how long had it been there. I told him to go check his phone logs, we'd been calling for days and to get the car towed away. He then very officiously told me that the car was not in the travelled portion of the road and therefore it was MY problem to get it towed. Luckily my wife was there and calmed me down. She made several calls and eventually the Town Clerk got sick of the calls and had a tow truck haul it off as a "courtesy".

Moral of the story, call your local elected officials and get them to do something about it.
 
Here's an update:

did the either or the two traffic officers call me back: no
did the police chief call me back: no
did the community policing officers call me back: no
did the mayors office call me back: no
did the car get towed: no

car - 4
Dave - 0
 
At my department we are not allowed to tow a vehicle in this type of situation unless it is impeading traffic flow and a danger. Is it parked on your property? If so you can have it towed at the owners expense. If it is parked against the curb and not in traffic the must I would be able to do is check the vehicle for stolen and if the doors were unlocked I could search it for anything suspicious.,,,VWB.
 
There's a parking regulation concerning what's an abandoned car:


Chapter 90: Section 22C. Abandoned motor vehicles; removal and disposal

Section 22C. If the superintendent of streets or other officer having charge of the public ways in a city or town reasonably deems that any motor vehicle apparently abandoned by its owner and standing for more than seventy-two hours upon a public or private way therein or on any property therein without the permission of the owner or lessee of said property or if a captain or lieutenant of the state police reasonably deems that any motor vehicle apparently abandoned by its owner and standing for more than seventy-two hours upon any property under their respective jurisdictions, is worth less than the cost of removal and storage and expenses incident to disposition pursuant to sections seven to eleven, inclusive, of chapter one hundred and thirty-five, sections eighty-nine to ninety-four, inclusive, of chapter ninety-two, or sections forty-five to forty-eight, inclusive, of chapter twenty-two C, he may, without incurring liability on his part or on the part of the city, town or the commonwealth, take possession of such motor vehicle and dispose thereof as refuse. Any such superintendent or other officer of a city or town may, likewise, without liability, take possession of any such motor vehicle deemed worth more than the cost and expense as aforesaid, and deliver the same to the officer or member of the police department of the city or town, designated by the rules of said department as custodian of lost property, wherein said motor vehicle was found, who may dispose thereof pursuant to said sections seven to eleven, inclusive. Any such officer of said state police may, likewise, without liability, take possession of any such motor vehicle deemed worth more than the cost and expenses as aforesaid, and dispose thereof pursuant to said sections eighty-nine to ninety-four, inclusive, or said sections forty-five to forty-eight, inclusive.
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I calculated the car has not moved for a minimum of 588 hours.

I dropped by the police station and left the info with the desk officer.
 
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What about using the tags or VIN to track down the owner? That way instead of torching an innocent car you can torch the bleeping owner. Or do the less fun thing and ask them to remove the car, or have the car towed and send them the bill. Politeness optional.
 
I did call the mayors office twice yesterday, they claimed they would look into it. My ward councilor called be back yesterday evening, said it would get towed today. (We'll see)

I will be writing a letter of complaint asking that it be retained to be used during the next review of the traffic/parking officer and for the department.

This is funny, when I stopped by the police station and talked to the guy behind the glass, he took the information and said he'd "remind" the traffic officer. He asked how long it was there, I said 4 weeks. He looks at me and said "We don't believe the public on these matters, we have our own records!" I said "Fine, check you records, you'll see it's been there for 4 weeks".
 
Find a buddy that has an old 4x4, wrap bumper in old blankets. at 2 am push car in front of someone else's house.
 
If anyone cares about this here is the result, 4 weeks to the day that I started complaining, 8 weeks since the car had been a problem, it was finally towed.

Interesting things I found out:

Half the people didn't actually know the correct person, and they were sending me to the wrong person.

Only one person in the police department can or will have cars towed. All requests to have cars towed goes to one person.

The right person had been on vacation for a week, though no one told me.

Every single person I talked to to get help, claimed it was their influence that got the car towed.

The police finally told one person they would investigate having the car towed. This was after the car had actually been towed.
 
Sounds like a serious bureaucracy problem!

Many years ago, in the area I now live, there was a problem with abandoned cars. After fielding a number of citizen complaints, the county decided to do something. We were instructed to go out and cite all these vehicles, writing the parking citation to "The Registered Owner". We were also to question folks in the neighborhood to see if anyone knew the owner.
If the vehicle were not removed within a week of being cited, the county would tow the vehicle and bill the registered owner.
Amazingly, most all these vehicles mysteriously vanished prior to being towed! Seems all those neighbors, who didn't have a clue as to who the owner was and where they lived, managed to get the word out...
 
Back in the PRK, I have seen it take 6 months to have a vehicle towed. The problem is that no one wants an abandoned vehicle. We had a '70s Honda Civic parked on the street next to our house for almost 8 months. Within the first 3 months, all the windows were busted out, parts were removed from the engine and dash, all the tires were flat and the VIN was removed. Some kids even tried to set it on fire. Eventually, it was towed.

There was an old rusty boat trailer parked on a street 3 blocks for me. It sat there for over a year. It had those yellow stickers all over it. Most had rotted away. I asked a deputy who came into our shop about it. He said that the CHP had jurisdiction in that area and they requested that it be towed by their contract towing company, but if the company doesn't want it, they just ignore it. That was about 5 years ago. For all I know, it's still there. :rolleyes:
 
Considering the rise in the price of scrap metals, you'd think they'd be fighting for the things! They're even stealing the catalytic converters around here.
 
I don't know what size cities we're talking about here,but that doesn't seem to go on in Rochester.They must tow vehicles on a regular bases up here,they take them to a impound yard where the owner can pay the fines and reclaim his car.If they don't after a set amount of time,and I'm not sure what that is but I figure 60-90 days,the car is sold at an impound auction.The city has an impound auction every Wednesday of the year,the only way they skip an auction is if a holiday falls on a Wednesday,they usually sell between 100 and 150 cars every week,most go for scrap price but some are put back on the road.
 
brewthunda said:
You should have just put a "$50 or best offer" on it - it would probably have disappeared in a week.
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...Or a bullet-ridden dead body in the car...Then the police would have HAD TO tow the car away as evidence.:D.:D.
 
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