NYPD detectives claim a police tow truck unit unfairly picks up their unmarked cars while ignoring illegally parked squad cars—a policy the detectives say allows tow truck operators to reach their quotas without shaming the force by hauling away patrol cars. "The department wants us to reduce crime, solve our cases and make arrests, and sometimes that requires us to park illegally," said Michael Palladino, head of the Detectives' Endowment Association. "If the practice continues, escapes and injuries are inevitable."
Palladino told the Daily News that detectives are struggling to do police work because an Internal Affairs Bureau traffic unit regularly tows their vehicles. In an effort to reach its quota of 20 summonses and four tows per day, Palladino claims the towing unit has hauled 180 detectives' cars—most of them he says were either parked legally or were not blocking traffic. Detectives have allegedly had their cars towed while:
- meeting with the district attorney to discuss a hit-and-run that seriously injured a Mayor's Office staffer.
- arresting a murder suspect in the Bronx.
- bringing a "frightened witness" to the scene of a Brooklyn killing.
- telling a family that a relative had been murdered.
- arresting a burglary suspect, "who laughed when the detectives realized their car was gone."
"It's embarrassing," said Palladino. "It takes our detectives four to six hours, often on overtime, to get the car back. In the meantime, another detective has to be called to come pick up the detectives who are stranded, or that third detective has to drive to court, or wherever, with the other two detectives and wait in the car." The towing comes after City Hall began going after NYPD parking placard abuse in 2008. A police spokesman justified the towing by noting that the parking placards issued to detectives don't permit parking "in front of hydrants or in bus stops and crosswalks."
