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Last year in Houston, an estimated 135,000 cars were towed in non-consent scenarios such as law enforcement tows or private property tows and were ultimately stored in more than 65 storage lots. 

Editor’s Note: The opinions Smith expresses do not necessarily reflect those of the Badge & Gun.

Last year in Houston, an estimated 135,000 cars were towed in non-consent scenarios such as law enforcement tows or private property tows and were ultimately stored in more than 65 storage lots.  

Coupled with the reality that the Houston metropolitan area has more than 30 law enforcement agencies residing in overlapping and adjacent jurisdictions and thousands of private property owners, locating a towed car in Houston can be a daunting, costly and time-consuming task.

With the national average for recovering a towed car estimated at five to seven days and with national vehicle abandonment rates greater than 25 percent (20 percent locally), many are never recovered because they cannot be found or the storage bill outweighs the value of the car.

The result is that the vehicle owner often walks. Houston is not alone. Nationally, more than 30,000 cars are towed each day under the same conditions and with the same outcome.

Why? Stakeholders in the towing lifecycle do not or cannot share data about towed cars.
 
Towing Lifecycle Challenges
   
Although the process of vehicle towing, storage and recovery seems straightforward, it is wrought with complications. Many of these challenges come from the antiquated manner in which data is collected, processed and disseminated. Here are just of few examples:

• Inadequate Ordinances - Non-consent towing ordinances cover only police-initiated towing and do not require the reporting or oversight of private property impounds and lien holder repossession towing. As a result, the majority of negative media headlines and citizen complaints involving predatory towing or billing abuses are focused in these two areas.
• Paper-based Reporting - Most aspects of the process, from the initial tow slip to the reporting of inventories by storage lots, are recorded on paper and subsequently transcribed into record management systems at a later date. These manual processes are inefficient, error-prone and inaccessible.
• Different Motivations - All parties involved in the towing lifecycle are not motivated for the same reasons or are interested in achieving the same results. Law enforcement agencies are interested in improving operations and reducing resource and manpower constraints. The storage lots must balance profitability with the cost of meeting regulatory mandates. Politicians are focused on improving services delivered without levying additional taxes on voters. And citizens, well, they just want to locate their vehicles in a timely, cost-effective manner.
• Jurisdiction View - For a given locale, multiple governmental agencies may possess the authority to authorize non-consent tows. For metropolitan areas, information sharing generally does not occur between jurisdictions and there are few coordinated efforts when it comes to vehicle recovery.

Multiple-Agency Approach

The Answer:  A Multi-jurisdictional Towing Repository 

A single, electronic source of non-consent towing information for all stakeholders across the towing lifecycle is the key to improving management and oversight. Creation of an authoritative repository would enable effective communication and tracking by a "connect-the-dots" approach that enables sharing information within a discrete towing operation as well as among surrounding cities and counties. 

The collaborative benefits that can be achieved through intra- or multi-jurisdictional data-sharing are many. Some of them include a welcome relief to overburdened law enforcement officials, a cost-effective and compliant operations for the towing and storage industry, a positive image for state and local governments, and - most important - a single source that an owner can access to find his or her towed car.

• Law Enforcement - A single authoritative repository removes the barriers in today's information technology (IT) systems and/or manual processes so that officers can manage the entire non-consent towing situation and gain the necessary visibility to ensure proper, cost-effective industry oversight, ensure public safety and answer vehicle owners' towing inquiries. Such a repository can mitigate erroneous stolen vehicle reports, thus enabling highly skilled law enforcement personnel to focus their efforts on police work - not paperwork.
• Storage and Towing Industry - A single authoritative repository can lower operational costs, increase inventory turnover and improve customer service. It can eliminate the need for arbitrary compliance reports and provide a simple method for reporting private property impounds.
• Cities/Municipalities - Cities and counties can benefit by providing better services to their constituents by reducing the financial burden and emotional stress related to towing and storage fees. An authoritative, multi-jurisdictional repository improves collaboration and promotes cooperation between local, regional and state law enforcement agencies and governmental bodies.
• Citizens - Private citizens would spend less money and less time associated with recovering their towed vehicle by accessing the repository from a single Web site and phone number regardless of where or by whom the vehicle was towed.

The Time is Ripe

The collaborative benefits achieved through intra- or multi-jurisdictional data-sharing are clear. Cities and counties across the country are rewriting ordinances that cover non-consent towing rules, towing fees and private property reporting. In just the last six months, Houston, San Diego, Baltimore County and Detroit have announced publicly that they are looking to either create new towing management systems or outsource all non-consent towing operations completely. 

These changes, coupled with the implementation of more robust municipal IT infrastructures, set the stage for much needed improvements to the management and oversight of the entire on-consent towing process.

Ron Smith is vice president of marketing for Compiled Logic (www.compiledlogic.com), a provider of towing management solutions that is based in Bellaire. Smith can be reached at rsmith@compiledlogic.com or 281-451-0766.