Just wondering if anyone has written about or has some sources on the towing racket?
All I have is this: Maywood, RIP: When Police Kill a City
Beginning in 1999 — shortly after Talmo joined the force — and ending in 2007, the Maywood police carried out a vehicle towing and impoundment racket that soaked up huge amounts of money for the city’s parasite class. Supposedly begun for the purpose of removing unlicensed drivers from the streets, this was actually a criminal enterprise involving bribes, kickbacks, and other corrupt emoluments.
The AG report found “a glaring lack of documentation as to [the] rationale for impounding the vehicles that they seized”; it also concluded that the Maywood Police “routinely towed and impounded vehicles in situations that were not warranted” under existing laws and precedents.
A Maywood PD defector told the AG’s investigators that it was well-established practice to conduct traffic stops without reasonable suspicion in order to satisfy the demands of police officials who were “pushing tows”; officers were expected to “get at least two tows per shift.” Checkpoints were set up and used to confiscate vehicles or, when possible, to shake down motorists for what amounted to protection money.
Most of Maywood’s population is Latino. In 2005, the city council declared Maywood a “sanctuary city” for illegal immigrants.
Although rooted in identity politics, this decision had the effect — perhaps unintended — of expanding the municipal revenue pool, since “undocumented persons” — or “Mos,” derived from “Mojado” — were preferred targets for vehicle confiscation and other forms of highway robbery. But no motorist was safe in Maywood, particularly those with out-of-state license plates.
The AG report describes an August 2005 case in which a police officer confiscated a vehicle with Oregon license plates. The police officer cited the driver for failing to present a California license, confiscating the man’s valid Oregon license as he wrote the citation.
The cop summoned a partner in crime to tow the vehicle away, where it was impounded for 30 days. The driver was able to get the spurious citation dismissed, but only after paying $1,500 in ransom to retrieve his stolen car.
Multiply that example by a several thousand, and you begin to get a picture of what went on in Maywood between 1999 and 2007.
Anyone care to delve into the mechanics of it? Or how they think it works?
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It matters whether it is public or private property?
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Public is obviously illegitimate.