5.70.110 Licensees authorized for police impounds.
A. A “police impound,” for purposes of this chapter, means the vehicle has been towed and/or impounded at the direction or request of a police officer of the city and may include, but is not limited to, stolen vehicle recoveries, abandoned vehicles, vehicles disabled as a result of accidents, or any vehicles otherwise lawfully impounded.
B. The terms of this section apply:
1. In the absence of a contract between a towing business or towing service and the city to provide police impounds. In lieu of licensing for police impounds, the city is authorized to contract with tow businesses for towing services and police impounds, including storage for police impounds. The city may, in addition to such other provisions deemed appropriate by the city, incorporate into the terms of such a contract some or all of the provisions of this section relevant to class A licensee requirements.
2. When alternative towing services are required because the towing businesses having a contract(s) with the city is/are unavailable to provide police impounds.
C. The police department is authorized to establish and maintain a list of licensees who are qualified for police impounds. Licensees who, in addition to the other requirements for licensing under this chapter, possess a current letter of appointment from the Washington State Patrol for Zone 3 as established by the Washington State Patrol are qualified for police impounds. Such list shall be reviewed at least annually to determine if licensees listed thereon still possess a current letter of appointment. Licensees qualified for police impounds shall be rated class A licensees.
D. Class A List.
1. The list of qualified class A licensed towing businesses shall be used in connection with the impounding or removal of disabled or abandoned vehicles or vehicles which may be impounded under provisions of law by order of the police.
2. When a person makes a request to the police department or police dispatcher for towing services when the vehicle is not subject to impound, the request shall be treated as a nonpreference matter and the request shall be referred to a qualified class A licensee in the same manner as if the police were requesting the towing service pursuant to an impound.
E. All referrals under subsection D of this section shall be distributed on a rotation basis among qualified class A licensees who have notified the police department in writing of their willingness to accept such referrals.
F. Except in regard to impounds, nothing in this chapter shall be construed to preclude any person from requesting the services of a licensed towing business of their choice unless, in the opinion of the police department, accommodating such request would result in undue delay or the maintenance of a hazardous situation or condition.
G. Any licensee desiring to participate in police-requested towing services and impounds shall make a written request of the chief of police to be placed on the list of class A licensees. If the requesting licensee meets the requirements of this chapter for class A licensees, such licensee shall be added to the bottom of the list of qualified class A licensees.
H. Class A licensees shall observe the following practices and procedures when engaged in police impounds:
1. When called by the police department, the tow truck operator will dispatch a tow truck from within the city within five minutes during normal business hours.
2. Tow trucks dispatched at the request of the patrol after normal business hours will be on the move within the city within fifteen minutes after receiving the call.
3. The tow truck that is dispatched will arrive at the stated location within a reasonable time considering distance, traffic and weather conditions.
4. If for any reason a tow operator is unable to dispatch a tow truck within the stated time or if the dispatched truck will be delayed for any reason, the operator shall so advise the police department stating the reason and estimated time of arrival. In the event the tow truck fails to arrive at the scene within a reasonable time, the police department will contact another tow operator to respond to the scene and will cancel the original tow.
5. A tow operator on rotation who is unable to dispatch or arrive within the times stated in subsections (H)(1), (2), (3) and (4) of this section will forfeit its turn and be placed at the bottom of the rotation list as if it had responded
6. Consistent refusal or failure of the class A licensee to respond to calls from the police department for towing services may result in the removal from the list of qualified class A licensees.
7. The tow operator shall advise the police department when the tow company is temporarily unavailable to respond to rotational calls with a class A, B or C tow truck. Unavailability may occur due to conditions such as, but not limited to, other tow truck commitments, tow truck disabled and/or under repair, unforeseen driver shortage due to illness, etc. The period of unavailability may last less than an hour or much longer. The tow operator will give the reason for unavailability and approximately when the company will be available to respond to calls.
The tow company will be removed from the rotational list and will not be called until the operator advises the police department that the company is once again able to respond to calls with an A, B or C class truck. In all such cases, the tow company will resume its normal position on the rotational list without regard to any missed calls or its position prior to being unavailable.
8. The tow operator will advise the police department whenever a private call is received for tow with circumstances that indicate that the tow is for a vehicle which has been involved in an accident, incident or equipment breakdown on the public roadway. The tow operator also will advise the police department of all private calls to motor vehicle accidents on private property resulting in bodily injury or death.
9. The tow operator will notify the police department before moving any vehicle involved in an accident on a public highway or street under the jurisdiction of the police department or where it appears that the driver of the vehicle to be moved is under the influence of intoxicants or drugs, or is otherwise incapacitated.
10. When the police department is in charge of an accident scene or other such incident, a tow operator shall not respond to the scene unless its services have been specifically requested by the police department, the driver/owner, or his agent.
11. The tow operator shall be available, or will ensure that specific employees are available, twenty-four hours a day for the purpose of receiving calls or arranging for the release of vehicles. Business hours will be posted conspicuously at the operator’s place of business so they can be seen during business hours and nonbusiness hours.
12. The tow operator will notify the police department of the release of stored vehicles within five working days after the release of such vehicle.
13. The operator shall post a current copy of tow and storage rates in the following locations:
a. At the entrance to the place of business, in a conspicuous location, plainly visible and readable by members of the public, whether the business is open or closed. If, in order to meet this requirement, the rate sheet must be placed in a location exposed to the elements, it shall be protected so as to remain legible.
b. Inside the business location, where business is commonly transacted. The rate sheets shall be posted in such manner as to be clearly and plainly visible and readable at all times by customers of the business.
c. A copy of the current rates will be sent to the police department. Notice of any change(s) in service rates will be forwarded to the police department ten days before the effective date of the change(s).
d. In the event that an operator has only a class B truck and utilizes it for class A and B type tows, the operator shall file a rate sheet that specifies the rates charged for the different types of tows.
Whenever any operator utilizes a larger truck than the towed vehicle warrants, the operator shall charge fees based on the size of the towed vehicle, not the size of the truck used. Example: A class C truck is used, at the operator’s discretion, to tow a class B truck size vehicle. The fees charged shall be those for a class B, not a class C.
14. Charges made for towing services arising from calls initiated by the police department shall be consistent with charges made for similar services performed at the request of the general public.
15. Unless other arrangements are made with commissioned police personnel at the scene, all impounded vehicles shall be taken to the tow operator’s nearest approved storage location within the city.
16. The tow operator will maintain, for three years, records on towed and released vehicles that were towed at the request of the police department. This record will include but is not to be limited to:
a. An itemized receipt of all charges for the services provided;
b. An inventory sheet or copy thereof made out by the police officer at the scene of the tow and signed by the operator;
c. All other records required by the police department.
Such records will be available for inspection by the police department during normal business hours at the operator’s place of business.
17. The tow operator will sign an inventory sheet made out by the police officer at the scene. The tow operator shall obtain from the officer, and the officer shall provide, a signed authorization for the impound as required by RCW 46.55.080(2).
18. Tow operators shall perform towing tasks competently. The standard of competence shall be that quality of work which is accepted as efficient and effective within the towing industry.
19. No tow operator, employee or agent shall misappropriate, wrongfully convert to such operator’s, employee’s or agent’s own use, or abuse property belonging to another and entrusted to such operator’s, employee’s or agent’s care or storage.
20. Tow truck operators will use emergency lights to warn other motorists only when at the scene of accidents, disabled vehicles and/or recoveries. Such lighting shall not be used when traveling to or from the scene.
21. Tow truck operators shall be responsible for cleaning accident/incident scenes of all vehicle glass and debris.
22. Specific operating restrictions and/or requirements, by truck class, are as follows:
a. The standard air brake release tools (caging stud assemblies) required to be carried in the class B and C trucks shall be used, whenever necessary, to preserve potential evidence involving brake equipment or adjustment settings.
When an operator is attempting to move a vehicle equipped with locked spring parking brakes that cannot be released by external air supply, the caging assemblies shall be used to release the brake tension. Under no circumstances shall the towed vehicle’s brake assemblies or adjustments be moved or disturbed in any way that will prevent later determination of the preaccident or incident settings.
b. Class B trucks in excess of twenty-three thousand pounds gross vehicle weight rating need not carry dollies when towing or recovering heavy vehicles.
c. Class D and E and S trucks shall not be used to respond to initial calls unless specifically authorized by police personnel at the scene or by local written policy approved by the chief of police.
d. Class E trucks shall:
(i) When used for multiple vehicle towing/recovery (one on bed, one in tow), all invoice charges shall be evenly divided between the vehicles so transported;
(ii) Not be operated in excess of either gross vehicle weight rating or purchased tonnage weight limits;
(iii) Be required to carry its portable lights only when used in a towing mode.
23. Whenever a special event or overflow storage lot is approved by the police department the operator shall maintain personnel at the lot twenty-four hours per day for security and vehicle and/or personal property release. If necessary, reimbursement for such labor shall be part of the contract for the special event, if appropriate, or by amended storage rates with a waiver of the ten-day rate change notice requirement approved by the police department.
At the conclusion of a special event or overflow situation, all vehicles not reclaimed by the owner shall be towed to the operator’s regular storage facility and processed in the normal fashion. No additional fee shall be charged for towing the vehicle from the overflow lot to the regular facility.
24. All work performed by the operator and/or employee shall be in the most professional and expeditious manner. All invoices and other required forms shall be completed accurately and promptly.
I. Records kept on Everett police impounds, including all services rendered at the request of the Everett police, shall be available for inspection by the police department during normal business hours. (Ord. 2976-07 § 1, 2007; Ord. 2602-02 § 2, 2002; Ord. 1830-91 § 11, 1991.)