Anchorage proposal aims to make it easier to retrieve belongings from vehicles impounded by police

A proposed ordinance would solidify in Anchorage city code a rule that allows owners of impounded vehicles one-time free access to their vehicle after towing, in order to retrieve their belongings.

Assembly member Felix Rivera proposed the code change after an investigation last year by the Anchorage Ombudsman’s Office found that the police department’s towing contractor denied a person access to their impounded vehicle without first a paying a $125 fee. The person could not afford the fee and the vehicles and the belongings inside of it were later sold at auction.

The Ombudsman’s office determined that it is “unfair and unreasonable” to charge the owners $125 to get their belongings when a vehicle is impounded under public safety laws — especially because, under another part of city code, one-time free access to impounded vehicles is required when they’re towed by the city for other reasons or when they are towed by private entities.

For example, when a business has an illegally-parked vehicle towed from its property, the vehicle owner is allowed to retrieve their belongings free of charge, Rivera said. Rivera said that the ordinance aims to fix the disparity between private party impounds and those initiated by the police.

“We want them to be treated the same way. There’s no reason they should be treated differently. So this ordinance seeks to do that,” Rivera said.

A 2014 rewrite of the municipality’s towing rules was intended to enable “every vehicle owner free one-time access to their impounded vehicles to retrieve their personal belongings, regardless of the reason for impounding” except for vehicles that are impounded as evidence for criminal cases, according to the ombudsman’s report.

Charging owners a fee to access vehicles impounded for traffic offenses, when other owners aren’t charged, could be construed as punishing people for traffic offenses that haven’t been adjudicated yet, the report also said.

Deputy Ombudsman May Ramirez-Xiong recommended that the Assembly further revise city code to clarify the access requirement when vehicles are impounded for traffic offenses via the police department’s rotational contracts with tow operators.

Rivera said he is expecting the Assembly will vote on the ordinance at its upcoming Tuesday meeting.