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F_T_N_32 t1_ix2418b wrote

Brooklyn cop here. Part of my assignment is dealing with exactly these types of complaints. I respond to these calls daily directly as they come into the system or following up a few days after they are closed. The problem I’m facing is that people are leaving cars parked for extended periods of time with no plate and the vin obstructed. We cannot issue a summons to a car without a vin or a plate so we cannot summons tow it through the department. When I try to have these vehicles towed via rotation tow the tow companies either tell us that the yards are filled to capacity or that they don’t have a tow available (both of these scenarios are likely bullshit but either way they refuse to come out). As for blatantly derelict vehicles sanitation absolutely refuses to tow and dispose of cars. Not sure what has changed on their end but they pretty much just defer the derelict vehicle back to the precinct for rotation tow and rotation tow is not available or refuses to come out. The fake plate issue is out of control. The long story made short for fake plates is that the DA will not prosecute forged/fraudulent instrument cases unless the defendant straight up admits to creating and displaying the plate on his/her car. We went heavy on enforcing them a few years ago and most cops have since stopped due to the risk of lawsuits when the DA inevitably drops the case. I don’t even know what to say about the cops calling complainants and harassing them besides fuck them.

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brownoarsman t1_ix25tmx wrote

First, thank you for following up on these.

Second, wow, that's a crazy loophole - obstruct all identifying information (plate, VIN) and you're basically safe as long as no private party tow is available? Bonkers but I guess I understand it.

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rightanglerecording t1_ix2bhkz wrote

I appreciate the detailed answer, sincerely.

And I appreciate you trying your best at this, also sincerely.

But man that is just a hugely exploitable situation.

Any thoughts as to why Rotation Tow + Sanitation both refuse to handle it? I know what my best guess is, but I'm hoping there's a less cynical alternative explanation.

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F_T_N_32 t1_ix3g2w3 wrote

Rotation tow are private tow companies. They are trying to run a business and the only way that business makes money is if people come and retrieve their towed cars. Abandoned cars and cars with fugazi tags are less likely to get picked up.

I have no idea what’s going on with sanitation lately. Pre-Covid they were great with removing abandoned vehicles. I haven’t seen them remove a single car from my precinct this year.

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RolandDeepson t1_ix3lg9b wrote

>the only way that business makes money is if people come and retrieve their towed cars.

False. If the vehicle goes unclaimed, the tow operator exercises a mechanic lien and then owns the car. They sell it to boneyards for parts and scrap.

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F_T_N_32 t1_ix3ode0 wrote

True, but they would rather not deal with the time constraints and whatever else goes into that process. They don’t want to come out for a car that’s going to sit in the lot taking up space. We are not allowed to tell them what kind of car they are getting. So from the tow operators point of view they could be getting a 30 year old piece of junk which it likely is if PD is calling.

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GeoBk t1_ix2lekf wrote

So basically obey the law and register you car and pay a penalty or forge the plates and you get free parking.

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F_T_N_32 t1_ix3g6yo wrote

Don’t forget that all those cars with fraudulent plates are uninsured. So people who obey the law also pay a higher premium in insurance.

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GeoBk t1_ix49swd wrote

You can be insured and not have plates. You can’t have plates and be not insured. They don’t insure the license plate they insure the car. Like when I purchased a car out of state I had insurance on it with paper plates and then registered it with DMV through the dealership. In between that time of getting my NY plates I could have had an accident and it would be covered by insurance.

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F_T_N_32 t1_ix4chcr wrote

I have never seen a car with forged plates that is insured.

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GeoBk t1_ix86d2y wrote

Well now you know and knowing is half the battle.

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At1l t1_ix6p6kw wrote

These scofflaws aren’t getting insurance like you did. Guarantee it

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GeoBk t1_ix87ojm wrote

Agreed but if you have a nice car they are. The license plate at this point is just a way to get a ticket. Most of the plates are in the trunk. I don’t blame them. The speed camera tickets are bad. Get 4 or 5 and they can impound you. So what’s the benefit of displaying your plates?

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At1l t1_ix907wd wrote

Our society is in a broken place where having morals, following the laws, and doing the right thing isn’t always rewarded. When you do the opposite you may not even have to pay for it if you’re caught.

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GeoBk t1_ix9ac5q wrote

Dude you said it right. The city isn’t doing shit about quality of life. If you go to 3rd avenue from 20th street up in Brooklyn it’s all RVs parked under the BQE that have been there for months.

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wefarrell t1_ix28vd7 wrote

Sounds like shenanigans. What do you think is going on?

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F_T_N_32 t1_ix3glpw wrote

Too many organizations/business/conflicting policies dealing with the same problem. Like everything else city government is deferring a massive problem to the NYPD without providing the tools necessary to fix it.

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saucehoee t1_ix3gle6 wrote

Wow thank you for this. Our block went pretty hard trying to get the abandoned cars (14 at one point) on our block removed, and they retaliated by sending sanitation to give us all citations from garbage caused by the vehicles not being moved for street sweeping.

I gotta ask…do you have any unethical pro life tips on getting these cars removed? Hahaha (but seriously?)

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RolandDeepson t1_ix3m3gg wrote

Yes. Get a decently strong SUV with 4wd, a few chains, and 2 or 3 people who genuinely know what they're doing so they don't literally kill somebody by accident.

Wrap chains around a frame member of the junk car. Securely and sensibly attach the other end of the chains to the SUV (this is NOT necessarily an intuitive process, and if done incorrectly, can severely damage the SUV.) Drag the junker into the street, as cockeyed an angle as possible, to obstruct as many lanes of travel as possible. Once the vehicle obstructs traffic, it'll disappear within 48 hours.

Rinse and repeat.

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drecklia t1_ix3r190 wrote

I think at this point those cars should be considered the block's anger venting cars and take a sledge hammer whenever someone needs to vent.

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RolandDeepson t1_ix3l9xx wrote

Any comment on the trend of false instrument toll evasion by your brother and sister cops?

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kstarkwasp t1_ix44wkf wrote

Lol give them a raise to drive in the expensive city? I dunno what you want him to say payaso conio. Nypd is 5 years workout a contract and can't even fill an academy class with the number of people leaving.

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