Thursday, July 28, 2011

Californication...

LAPD makes it easier for illegal immigrant drivers

This was from earlier in the year, but it just came to my attention on the other coast.  The Los Angeles Police Department had a policy that vehicles stopped at sobriety checkpoints, in which the driver had no license (i.e. shouldn't be driving), the vehicles was towed, and the registered owner could come pick it up.

The point (which I believe started with DUIs in San Francisco about ten years ago) was that you could issue people tickets...which meant nothing.  Even if they did go to court, the fines were not enough to stop them from driving.  (Note:  if the driver does not have a license, do you think he/she has insurance?).  So they passed a law that took away the vehicle...temporarily.

In Arizona - it wasn't just for DUIs, if you were in an accident, or ANY traffic stop, and you had NO DRIVER LICENSE, NO PROOF OF INSURANCE - the vehicle was towed.  The owner (you can't be a 'registered owner' without a driver license) could pick up the vehicle the next day.


What was the result?  Many cars were towed that NOBODY came to pick up.  Why?  Because the registrations were in names of people who had no idea about the car, or allowed their name to be used but didn't care to get involved to pick up the car.

...so, back to LAPD:

“As we reviewed our impound policies it became obvious to me that they had disparate impact on individuals based on something that was entirely out of their control," Beck said.

California doesn’t issue driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants.

Under the new policy, officers will give unlicensed illegal immigrants “reasonable time” to find someone else to drive their cars home. 

"I think that in the course of time he will be acknowledged as a great police chief and a very wise man because this is the right thing to do," said Juan Jose Gutierrez of Vamos Unidos U.S.A.


God Bless America!

3 comments:

LL said...

It is a boon to tow companies who auction the cars.

And it takes wet backs off the highway (your heard me correctly). In fact, this happens all the time in SoCal in many cities. LAPD is the only politically correct one of the lot. The rest simply hook up, tow and go.

Driving is not a "right". It's a privilege.

Mrs. K said...

Amen LL!!!

Josiah said...

"The policy comes in response to the concerns of Latino civil rights activists, who say impound fees are unfairly costing otherwise hardworking illegal immigrant drivers hundreds of dollars."

It is NOT unfair, however, for said illegals to break multiple laws, at the cost and risk of the actual innocent victims: the taxpaying, insured, licensed, car owners, who pay for the roads, the lights, the signs, and the cops.