New LAPD impound policy in effect at DUI checkpoints

LOS ANGELES - Los Angeles police said they will conduct a routine checkpoint for drunken and illegal drivers on the city's Southside tonight, one day after they changed police polices in response to complaints they had unfairly impounded vehicles driven by sober Latinos who did not have licenses or insurance.

Tonight's checkpoint will be in a heavily-Latino neighborhood, on Manchester Avenue under the Harbor (110) Freeway overpass. Police routinely issue such announcements in advance, including the location, in order to discourage drunken driving across the city.�

Under the new LAPD policy, drivers of vehicles who do not have licenses or insurance will be allowed to call a legal driver to retrieve the vehicle, rather then towing the wheels to an impound yard where storage and tow fees quickly amass.�

Thousands of cars are auctioned off across California annually, leaving already-poor families without transport.�

Latino groups have protested that legal and illegal immigrants are particularly hard-hit by such policies, because they cannot afford to reclaim their transport.�

Vehicles driven by alleged drunks, or by persons whose licenses have been suspended for drunken driving, will still be towed and impounded, the LAPD said.�

"If the registered owner is unlicensed, the owner may authorize release of the vehicle to a licensed driver at the scene, and the unlicensed driver will be issued a citation," LAPD spokesman Richard French said Friday. "When the vehicle cannot be released to a licensed driver, the vehicle will be impounded."�

A spokesman for the anti-drunken driving group MADD criticized any interruption of drunken driving checkpoints, but said the LAPD policy shift on impounding vehicles is acceptable.�

"Our focus is not on the issue of impounding vehicles, it is on arresting the impaired driver and those driving on a suspended or revoked license," said MADD affiliate executive director Tina Pasco. "LAPD has assured us that will not change," she told City News Service.�

An immigrant rights group claims it disrupted a drunken driving checkpoint on Feb. 20 by waving handmade warning signs on nearby streets. But that checkpoint was suddenly moved to the Manchester Avenue underpass beneath the 110 Freeway, as police decided to use the lengthy underpass as shelter from that night's rain and hail.�

"We're happy a change has been made. It's a step in the right direction," said Ron Gochez, an organizer with the Southern California Immigrants Coalition. "To be honest with you, as community activists, we tend to get our butts kicked. This is a rare, concrete victory for us."�

Immigrants had challenged the checkpoints because car owners were unable to retrieve Gochez argued that suspected drunken drivers were able to recover their vehicles within a couple days while those cited for having no license, or an invalid one, cannot afford to pay impound, towing or storage fees, which he said can easily come to about $1,000.

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