BALTIMORE — New concerns over how Baltimore City processes towed vehicles.
A Biennial Performance Audit from fiscal years 2022 and 2023 found potential wasteful spending due to disorganization.
Auditors evaluated how Baltimore Police and the Department of Transportation handle the process.
Police often use tows to carry out investigations.
When ordering a tow, officers are required to do so through dispatch.
The City contracts out various tow companies and specific rates for services around the clock.
One condition of the agreement is that tow trucks are to respond to a scene upon request within 20 minutes time.
The audit revealed tow companies haven't been complying with the rule, while police aren't enforcing it. In turn officers end up spending more time waiting which technically costs the City money and resources.
Police regularly have vehicles towed to their districts or headquarters for processing.
In this case, the police department is responsible for processing towing invoices.
The audit found police do not consistently maintain documentation for those invoices.
"The Department of Audits’ review indicated that BPD was not able to provide towing bills to substantiate five out of 11 invoices (or 45 percent) totaling $19,176," auditors wrote in their report.
Baltimore Police responded to the report blaming low staffing and a lack of available tow trucks.
In the event a car is towed to the City impound lot, the Department of Transportation is in charge of invoices.
They too weren't always on top of things.
"The DOT does not clearly and completely communicate critical information to vehicle owners to claim their vehicles in an efficient manner, which may result in delays in releasing vehicles to owners efficiently," the audit says.
Auditors tried reviewing 26 notification letters to owners whose vehicles were headed for auction, but the Department of Transportation was unable to provide receipts that those letters were actually sent.
Some of the receipts the department did have lacked important information such as proof of ownership and owner identification, and way the car can be reclaimed.
"We have identified that there are some slight filing challenges due to the Towing Division’s displacement from the Administration Building," the Department responded. "This has been addressed and corrected by creating storage space and a labelling system. Additionally, the newly rehabilitated administration building will be furnished with large card filing cabinets that will incorporate complete property numbers allowing the cards to be arranged properly."
There were also issues with keeping track of where impounded vehicles were being stored.
"75 out of 165 vehicles, or 45 percent were found to be in a different location than what was recorded on the inventory list," auditors noted.
The Department of Transportation said the issues raised have been addressed.
"We have identified and changed the vehicle entry process thus addressing the vehicle location error concerns."
Read the full audit here.
