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Philly pays $30K to two 'courtesy' tow victims, but class-action suit continues

inquirer.com

31–40 of 142 posts

Re: Philly pays $30K to two 'courtesy' tow victims, but class-action suit continues

#31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They didn’t check the license and registration of the vehicle?

For a reported stolen car/felony stop, it seems pretty reasonable that they'd handcuff the driver before checking the driver's license and discovering it matches the registration.

If the driver is otherwise complying and saying “this is my vehicle, wtf are you doing?” then: no, I strongly disagree.

Re: Philly pays $30K to two 'courtesy' tow victims, but class-action suit continues

#32
post #28

> Problem is, the city doesn’t have a modern, reliable way to track the vehicles’ new locations, leaving owners wandering the streets for days or weeks, looking for their cars. They could do vastly better than the status quo with century-old multi-part paper form technology. "White Copy - Central PD Tow Office", "Yellow Copy - Precinct PD Tow Clerk", "Pink Copy - DMV, to mail to vehicle owner", ... This kind of worse…

> They could do vastly better than the status quo But why should they have to? It’s 2022, get a LoJack or AirTag for your private property that you leave lying around illegally in public space.

The cars are towed away from legal spots.

Re: Philly pays $30K to two 'courtesy' tow victims, but class-action suit continues

#33
post #5

> Henin was placed in handcuffs because police in New Jersey thought the car was stolen. That was because, months earlier, the car had been courtesy towed in West Philly, and she reported it stolen as police advised. Henin followed up with Philadelphia police when she later found her car, but they mistakenly left it in the stolen-vehicle database. It could be the argument for a sitcom. Not funny in real life when pol…

More like a dystopian horror movie

I think I’ve seen this kind of farce happen often enough in sitcoms. Odd Couple “My Strife In Court”, Seinfeld “The Parking Garage”, The Golden Girls “Ladies of the Evening”. People are always getting arrested in sitcoms for dumb reasons.

Re: Philly pays $30K to two 'courtesy' tow victims, but class-action suit continues

#34
post #28

> Problem is, the city doesn’t have a modern, reliable way to track the vehicles’ new locations, leaving owners wandering the streets for days or weeks, looking for their cars. They could do vastly better than the status quo with century-old multi-part paper form technology. "White Copy - Central PD Tow Office", "Yellow Copy - Precinct PD Tow Clerk", "Pink Copy - DMV, to mail to vehicle owner", ... This kind of worse…

> They could do vastly better than the status quo But why should they have to? It’s 2022, get a LoJack or AirTag for your private property that you leave lying around illegally in public space.

[deleted]

Re: Philly pays $30K to two 'courtesy' tow victims, but class-action suit continues

#36
Ah yes, reminded me of when my motorcycle was parked near 7th and South St. There was construction I guess, and my motorcycle was apparently courtesy lifted to the sidewalk. I returned from vacation to ~$700 of tickets for the bike being on the sidewalk.

Re: Philly pays $30K to two 'courtesy' tow victims, but class-action suit continues

#37
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right, but they could have verified that the registered owner and person driving the car were the same person. However, since it was in a different state, perhaps the registration database wasn't available - only the stolen vehicle database was.

The article says she was handcuffed (detained); it does not say she was arrested (which would be absurd).

The quote from the police chief implies she was arrested (though it's in brackets, so it could just be sloppy reporting):

> “My sergeant on the scene received information from Philly PD, who said, ‘Go ahead. Lock her up. It’s [a] good [arrest],’” Long Beach Township Police Chief Anthony Deely said in 2020.

Re: Philly pays $30K to two 'courtesy' tow victims, but class-action suit continues

#38
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> _is_ this theft? If not, why? No, the asset is being moved, not retained by the mover, and it's ostensibly being done for the public good (edit: see the link further down the thread for why this matters). If _eminent domain_ isn't theft, this definitely isn't. > Does it matter if it's done by a private towing company? Not if they're deputized.

> No, the asset is being moved, not retained by the mover I don't get this argument. If I take something which doesn't belong to me, say from a store, and move it two blocks away and put it down, I would still be stealing right? Is the perpetrator required to 'retain' something for it to be theft? If I'm caught while stealing and drop the item, "I just moved it without the owners consent" probably isn't going to cove…

As a followup on the "ostensibly being done for the public good" part, the article describes the courtesy towing practice in a way that sounds like it's sometimes for private uses: "moves vehicles from legal parking spots for special events, construction or emergencies". I have to assume that the organizers of those special events or the firms involved with that construction have paid for some permit which is meant to give them exclusive use of the street parking, in which case it sounds like the public good is only indirectly from the revenue from those permits. Apparently the ability of municipal governments to exercise eminent domain solely for the purpose of increasing its revenue was only established by a court case in 2005. So in 2004 would you have agreed that courtesy towing for a private special event or private construction project was possibly theft? Or at least possibly a 5th amendment violation? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelo_v._City_of_New_London

Re: Philly pays $30K to two 'courtesy' tow victims, but class-action suit continues

#39
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They could do vastly better than the status quo But why should they have to? It’s 2022, get a LoJack or AirTag for your private property that you leave lying around illegally in public space.

The cars are towed away from legal spots.

I think the article misstates this. They’re normally legal spots, but at the time of the special event, they’re not legal.(Usually temporary signs are placed a day or two in advance.)

Re: Philly pays $30K to two 'courtesy' tow victims, but class-action suit continues

#40

> That’s the Philly euphemism for what is formally known as “relocation towing” — when the police department, Philadelphia Parking Authority, or a private towing company moves vehicles from legal parking spots for special events, construction or emergencies. I can see needing to move a vehicle in an emergency, but for special events and construction this shouldn't be needed in most cases. The city knows months in adv…

That’s what happens in my area. Signs go up a week or so in advance saying you’ll be towed if parked there past date X.
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