City of Baldwin Park Worst Offender in Tow Scandal According to Civil Grand Jury

Royal Coaches is Baldwin Park's Hired Tow Company

The Los Angeles Civil Grand jury released a report this week that has found Baldwin Park the worst offender in Los Angeles County of an ongoing police-tow scandal. The news is relevant, especially given You can find the report here. Abridged Civil Grand Jury Report.

The towing scam worked like this. The Baldwin Park Police would target undocumented drivers at DUI checkpoints. They would then tow and impound the car for 30 days. The fees would be in the thousands of dollars, and the owner would lose the car at auction.

According to the report, Baldwin Park failed Due Process by not notifying those it impounded cars from, charged extraordinary administrative fees, and towed the most cars of any city, raking in millions for Royal Coaches and the Baldwin Park Police.

On June 21, 2017, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal also held that cities can no longer hold a car for 30 days, unless it has probable cause (a fancy way of saying there needs to be some evidence) that releasing the car would cause danger to the public. Holding a car any longer than necessary violated the rights of the owner of the vehicle, under our Fourth Amendment Right to be free from an unreasonable seizure.

What the report didn't say, because the City Council fought the court order to release records is that over a 5 year period, Baldwin Park towed 15,247 cars, making $12 million between the City and the tow company. The City essentially used the police department to steal all that property to enrich certain members. Who are they? How come they don't tell us?

Since Manny Carrillo, the Director of Parks and Recreation tried to shut down the boxing club, I've been pointing out how corrupt this city is. Now, even the courts have come to find the same conclusion. (The problem, however, has been that nobody wants to prosecute these people making these decisions and hold them accountable.)

The city officials and administrators, like the Mayor and Council Members, are professional thieves that add no value to our City. Instead, they just take, and many of them don't even live here, like the Mayor. In my mind, it really makes me wonder why we need to be taxed and why we even need a city council. (A small percentage of our taxes are going to services, and it seems like most of it is getting laundered to corrupt players.) I think our lives are just fine without having a city council.

The residents of this City are poor. The last thing they need is for oppressive city officials and an oppressive police force to make their lives harder than it needs to be.

Remember, "Justice is conscience, not a personal conscience but the conscience of the whole of humanity. Those who clearly recognize the voice of their own conscience usually recognize also the voice of justice." -Aleksander Solzhenitsyn