Mayor Bloomberg says NYPD detectives should start parking their cars legally instead of complaining about an Internal Affairs Bureau tow truck unit that has been towing their unmarked vehicles. "They can tell it to the judge or tell it to their precinct commander, and they'll work it out," Bloomberg told the Daily News. "The law should apply to everyone."
Detectives claim they are unfairly targeted by tow trucks working under Internal Affairs Bureau orders to haul at least four police vehicles per day. Members of the Detectives Endowment Association say the tow trucks go after their vehicles—in some cases when they are actually making arrests—while ignoring illegally parked squad cars because it would be too embarrassing for the police department if patrol cars were spotted being towed to the impound lot.
"I'm not complaining about our cars being towed that are blocking pumps, bus stops or impeding vehicular traffic," said detectives union president Michael Palladino. "I am complaining about quotas and selective enforcement ... The current program jeopardizes the safety of cops and of prisoners." Tow truck drivers say they don't want to go after detectives—they're just following orders. "We're doing what we're told to do," tow truck drivers union vice president Marvin Robbins told the tabloid. "We're caught in the middle."
