8/1/2010: A10: IMPOUNDED: Roger Miller with American Tow Service prepares a car to be towed away on Petaluma Boulevard North during the second of two DUI/driver's license checkpoints that Petaluma police set up the night of July 23.PC: Roger Miller with American Tow Service prepares a car to be towed away during the second DUI /Drivers License checkpoint Petaluma Police set up on Petaluma Blvd North near Gossage Avenue, Friday July 23, 2010.

Car impound debate revs up

JULIE JOHNSON AND MARTIN ESPINOZA
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Sonoma County's law enforcement leaders are moving to unite policies that direct officers when to impound the vehicles of people whose only offense is driving without a license for the first time.

The change has reignited debate about how police can promote traffic safety while thousands of undocumented immigrants who live and work in the county are driving, even though they are barred from taking driving tests and getting licenses.

Without the deterrent effect of 30-day impounds, "I'm worried that we make (the roads) less safe," said Petaluma Police Sgt. Ken Savano, who runs the agency's traffic unit and the countywide "Avoid the 13" DUI Task Force.

"But until we take a look at crash data, we're at a wait-and-see approach," he said.

The prohibition banning undocumented workers from receiving driver's licenses went into effect in 1993, and the next year the Santa Rosa Police Department was the first agency in California to begin the practice of 30-day vehicle impoundments.

Since then, immigrants' rights groups have argued that it unfairly targets undocumented workers.

The department is now taking the lead in Sonoma County to stop impounding vehicles when it's a person's first time being cited for driving without a license.

"This is fantastic that it is happening," said Stella Agudelo of west Santa Rosa's Resurrection Church, which has a significant number of Latino parishioners.

Sebastopol police officers adopted a similar policy this month and the Petaluma Police Department and Sonoma County Sheriff's Office, which also runs the Sonoma and Windsor police departments, will finalize their plans in the next few weeks.

The California Highway Patrol, which has responsibility for the North Coast's rural roads and freeways, gives officers substantial flexibility in what they do with the car, taking into account the driver's previous history. The vehicle may be impounded in more serious cases, CHP Officer John Sloat said.

The CHP, which follows state directives, regularly meets with Sonoma County law enforcement leaders on setting enforcement guidelines.

"This is an issue that's been on our agenda for some time," said the Rev. Chris Bell of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Santa Rosa. "I think it addresses our public safety concerns while being more fair to real working families here in Sonoma County."

Bell and Agudelo belong to the North Bay Sponsoring Committee, which is made up of nine religious congregations in Santa Rosa and Petaluma and has been pushing for leniency.

The cost of a 30-day impound can exceed $2,000, and many owners lose their cars as a result.

Unlicensed drivers will still face citations to appear in court and fines. The change involves what happens to the car during their arrest or citation.

The vehicle could be towed to a storage facility where a licensed driver with permission or a registered owner could pay a fine to retrieve it the next business day. A car also could be released to a passenger with a valid drivers license. Or, if legally parked, the vehicle could be left at the scene.

Sheriff's deputies also will check the history of the vehicle and opt to impound it if the car has been used by another driver caught without a license.

The intent of the state's impound law was to deter those who don't have licenses from driving, said Chris Cochran, a spokesman for the state office of traffic safety.

One out of every 16 fatal crashes involved an unlicensed driver between 2001 and 2005, according to the AAA Foundation's most recent analysis of nationwide traffic data.

Cochran said that while a there has been an increase in the number of law enforcement jurisdictions that have eased their impound rules, most of the state's 450 police departments still use the 30-day impound option.

California Police Chiefs Association Executive Director Leslie McGill said that among the state's police departments, "it's literally a city-by-city issue."

"We had a couple agencies that had revised their policies. It continues to be a topic of discussion," McGill said. "We have a meeting at our conference next week regarding a new court case on the topic."

Cloverdale Police Chief Mark Tuma said his officers have never impounded vehicles during his five years as chief.

"My opinion is that storing cars as punishment is not a police function," Tuma said.

Appeals court decisions increasingly suggest that impoundment can't be used as a crime prevention tool.

Officers may impound a vehicle for 30 days when a driver has no license or one that's been suspended, revoked or otherwise disabled, according to California's vehicle code.

However, officers may not impound vehicles solely to prevent illegal activity, according to a 2005 ruling in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that is one of two main cases prompting police departments to change their policies.

The 9th Circuit case began in 2003 in Cornelius, Ore., about 20 miles west of Portland. A police officer impounded a licensed driver's Ford Aerostar van, which was parked in his driveway, after the officer saw the man teaching his unlicensed wife how to drive.

Attorneys representing the Cornelius Police Department said it acted under what's commonly called the "community caretaker doctrine." They argued that police officers playing such a role may seize or search without a warrant when they're protecting people or their property.

The appeals court rejected the police department's argument and cited the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution, which protects people from warrantless searches or seizures.

"The purpose of the community caretaking function is to remove vehicles that are presently impeding traffic or creating a hazard," the court said. "The need to deter a driver's unlawful conduct is by itself insufficient to justify a tow under the &‘caretaker' rationale."

A year later, judges in the 2nd District California Court of Appeal also found that the community caretaking doctrine wasn't always enough to justify impounding a vehicle.

Emerging analysis of those rulings prompted Sebastopol Police Chief Jeff Weaver earlier this month to direct his officers to stop impounding unlicensed drivers cited on their first such offense.

Since then, one driver cited without a license who would have had his car impounded instead had the car towed and stored overnight, he said.

"I'm personally torn because I do believe in the value of ensuring people on the roadway are licensed, and I do think the 30-day tow has been helpful," Weaver said. "But there's case law that suggests that we need to modify what we're doing. We need to honor that."

The relaxed rules for first-time offenders aren't as lenient as advocates would like.

"At least speaking for myself, if everybody were eligible to get a driver's license, regardless of their immigration status, we would be able to ensure we have safe drivers on the road," Bell said.

The committee will meet with Santa Rosa Police Chief Tom Schwedhelm on April 4 at Santa Rosa's Resurrection Church on Stony Point Road to learn more about the change in policy.

Rabbi George Gittleman of Congregation Shomrei Torah in Santa Rosa, also a committee member, said "the rule of law" has broken down around immigration in the United States and that law enforcement officials are "caught between a rock and a hard place."

Jim Judd, a Rohnert Park businessman who unsuccessfully challenged Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Petaluma, for Congress last year, said the debate around illegal immigrants and driver's licenses was a product of the federal government's failure to enforce immigration laws.

"It's becoming a very divisive issue and is hurting us economically," Judd said. "It's creating victims out of not only Americans but also the illegals."

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