History of police towing in Los Angeles
How towing for the police in Los Angeles grew from LAPD-designated garages into today's Official Police Garage contracts, with the court rulings, state laws and City decisions along the way. Every entry links to its source.
How to read this timeline. Entries are in date order. Most rest on a court opinion, a law or a City record. Entries marked "Not yet verified" rest on one secondary or self-reported source, and entries marked "From a news report" rest on news coverage. Events in other LA County cities are marked and kept for context. We leave out private people's names and accusations against companies that have no published outcome.
Before contracts: LAPD-designated garages (1930s to 1995)
One of today's police tow yards, Swanney & McDonald, says it opened as a repair garage in 1934, began towing for the City in 1949, and was named an Official Police Garage in 1951.
Not yet verified The company's own account. We have not found a City record of these dates.
Source: Swanney & McDonald website
California enacts the modern Vehicle Code. It is the base for the removal, impound and lien rules still in use.
Not yet verified Which towing sections date back to 1959 is not confirmed.
Source: Senate Public Safety Committee analysis of AB 1407 (2019), list of prior laws
Hollywood Tow Service says it has been an Official Police Garage since 1961.
Not yet verified The company's own account.
Source: Hollywood Tow Service website
The start date the City Controller lists for the Police Commission's two tow permits: the Towing Operation permit and the Tow Unit Operator (driver) permit (Los Angeles Municipal Code sections 103.204 and 103.204.1).
Source: 2017 Controller audit of police permits, appendix table
A federal appeals court describes the police tow system of the time: LAPD named one Official Police Garage for each area with no contract, sent it all police tows in that area, and set its maximum rates, truck colors and uniforms.
A California Court of Appeal case confirms that the Board of Police Commissioners named Official Police Garages under its own rules.
The City Administrative Officer recommends choosing police tow yards through competition. Nothing changes for more than ten years.
Source: 2008 Controller audit, page 7
After a series of motions on abandoned cars, the City Council asks LADOT to form a task force, with a tow yard representative, on whether abandoned-car towing should be handled apart from the police tow yards.
Source: Council File 89-0357
A Council motion proposes a City "vehicle release fee" on police impounds to cover the City's costs. The file is closed in June 1995.
Source: Council File 92-1383
The Police Commission last revises its "Rules Governing Official Police Garages" before a long pause. They stay the same until March 2016.
State law adds the 30-day impound for drivers who are unlicensed or whose license is suspended (Vehicle Code section 14602.6).
Not yet verified The bill number is not confirmed.
Source: Senate Public Safety Committee analysis of AB 1407 (2019); 2016-17 LA County Civil Grand Jury final report, "Tows and Impounds Part A"
The move to competitive contracts (1995 to 2006)
The Mayor sends the Council a plan to award police tow "franchises" by competitive bidding and to recover the City's costs.
Source: Council File 95-2019
The Council orders bidding rules drafted: five-year franchises with one five-year renewal, a 7% fee on gross receipts, yearly rate changes tied to a cost index, at most two areas per operator, and no ties to body shops, dismantlers or used-car lots.
Source: Council File 95-2019
Ordinance 171104 adds Municipal Code section 80.77.4, which makes police tow service contract-based.
Source: 2008 Controller audit, page 7
A federal appeals court upholds the dismissal of an antitrust and civil-rights suit that a tow company outside the system brought against the City and 16 police tow yards.
Source: Metro Towing, Inc. v. City of Los Angeles, 86 F.3d 1162 (9th Cir. 1996) (unpublished)
The Council approves a request for proposals for the first four areas. Only one contract results.
Source: 2008 Controller audit, page 7
The first police tow yard contract awarded by competition (C-99317, Hollenbeck area) is approved.
A request for proposals goes out for the remaining areas.
Source: 2008 Controller audit, page 7
A federal appeals court rules that a driver whose car LADOT towed in 1998, and who waited 27 days for a hearing, was owed a much faster hearing.
Source: David v. City of Los Angeles, 307 F.3d 1143 (9th Cir. 2002)
The U.S. Supreme Court reverses: a 27-day wait for a hearing on a $134.50 tow did not violate due process. It is the only Supreme Court towing case from Los Angeles.
The Council approves a standard ("prototype") police tow yard contract. About 20 contracts are signed on it, area by area, from March 2004 to January 2006.
The Police Commission forwards the tow yards' association proposal for a public "Vehicle Impound Information Center" website. It is the origin of today's VIIC car lookup.
Source: Council File 04-2386
AB 2210 rewrites the state's private-property tow rules (Vehicle Code section 22658). Among other changes, a car that has not left the property must be released on request.
Police tow yards impound about 175,000 cars for the City (about 113,000 for LAPD and 62,000 for LADOT) and pay the City about $14 million.
Source: 2008 Controller audit, pages 8-9
An audit, contract extensions and the 30-day impound fight (2007 to 2014)
Board-approved police tow rates: $101.50 per hour of towing, $31.50 a day of storage, a 10% parking tax on storage, and a $48 City release fee.
The state Attorney General investigates the Maywood police department and finds its stops and impounds unlawful (about 17,773 cars impounded from 2002 to 2007). A court-ordered reform judgment follows in 2009.
LA County, outside the City
Source: Attorney General press release; Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse case summary
City Controller audit of the police tow yard contracts: service met contract standards, but most yards left lien fees out of the receipts they reported, shorting the City about $1 million in fees, and no one checked the money they paid in.
The Board of Police Commissioners responds to the audit.
Source: Board response (City Clerk PDF)
Several LA County cities run frequent checkpoints that impound many unlicensed drivers' cars. The County grand jury later describes this as a period when impounds became a source of city revenue.
LA County, outside the City
Source: 2016-17 LA County Civil Grand Jury final report, "Tows and Impounds Part A"
Amendments extend most of the 2004-2005 police tow yard contracts by five years, to 2014 and 2015.
Source: City Clerk contract record C-106370 (Newton area), example: amendment of June 8, 2010
AB 519 creates the statewide "Towing and Storage Fees and Access Notice" that every tow yard must post (Vehicle Code section 22651.07).
City Controller Wendy Greuel faults LADOT for not booting or towing enough cars of repeat parking-ticket offenders, citing a possible $5.4 million loss.
From a news report We have not found the Controller's report itself.
Source: CBS Los Angeles report
AB 353: no impound at a sobriety checkpoint when driving without a license is the only offense.
A Council motion asks LAPD to hold off on changing its 30-day impound practice for unlicensed drivers.
Source: Council File 11-2009, motion
The Police Commission approves Special Order 7, which lets many unlicensed drivers with ID and insurance avoid the 30-day hold. It takes effect April 22, 2012.
Source: Los Angeles Police Protective League v. City of Los Angeles (Cal. Ct. App. B251796)
First federal appeals ruling in a tow industry challenge to San Francisco's tow permit rules, on whether federal law overrides local tow permits.
Source: California Tow Truck Ass'n v. City and County of San Francisco, 693 F.3d 847
A Los Angeles Superior Court judge moves to strike down Special Order 7 in a suit brought by the police union and a taxpayer.
From a news report
Source: CBS Los Angeles report; ACLU of Southern California press release
New requests for proposals for police tow yards go out on an updated (2013) standard contract.
Source: 2013 request for proposals (City Clerk PDF); Council File 13-1672
A public records request, then a lawsuit, seek the tow yards' association impound database (VIIC) and scanned impound forms from the City.
Source: City of Los Angeles v. Superior Court, 9 Cal.App.5th 272 (2017)
A California appeals court rules that a city may require tow permits only of tow companies and drivers based in that city. This matters for private tow companies from outside LA that tow in LA.
Source: California Tow Truck Ass'n v. City and County of San Francisco, 225 Cal.App.4th 846
A federal appeals court strikes down LA's ban on living in vehicles (Municipal Code section 85.02) as too vague. It is background for later RV and 72-hour parking enforcement.
The Court of Appeal reverses: Special Order 7 stands, because the people who challenged it had no standing to sue.
Source: Los Angeles Police Protective League v. City of Los Angeles (B251796)
A second round of contracts, fights over data, and calls for reform (2015 to 2021)
The Council acts on the first batch of new police tow yard contracts. Awards follow area by area through January 2018.
Source: Council File 13-1672
A federal appeals court upholds most of San Francisco's tow permit rules under the federal safety exception.
Source: California Tow Truck Ass'n v. City and County of San Francisco, 807 F.3d 1008
The standard police tow rate is $122.50 for the first hour, if paid by credit card.
Not yet verified From a rate chart released under the Public Records Act; not yet checked against a second source.
Source: Our rate table (Board rate chart, public records copy)
The Police Commission changes its tow yard rules for the first time since 1994. One change: cars worth up to $4,000 (up from $2,500) must be kept at the main yard.
In the VIIC records case, the Court of Appeal rules that the usual rules for pretrial evidence-gathering apply in public records lawsuits.
Source: City of Los Angeles v. Superior Court, 9 Cal.App.5th 272
City Controller audit of police permits: the Police Commission's own investigators rate tow permits high-risk, but complaints are kept in a form that cannot be analyzed, and permits cannot be looked up online.
Source: Audit of Business Permits Issued by the Police Commission (PDF)
A consultant for the LA County Civil Grand Jury reports on towing in 12 county cities (not the City of Los Angeles). Many could not say how many cars they impounded or sold.
LA County, outside the City
Source: Towing and Impound Management Practices in Select Los Angeles County Cities (PDF)
A federal appeals court rules that when LAPD keeps a car for the full 30 days after the owner shows up licensed and ready to pay, that is a seizure that needs its own legal justification.
A standard amendment to the police tow yard contracts adds tow truck classes and City payment for some unsold house cars and mobile homes.
Source: Council File 17-0643
The U.S. Supreme Court declines to hear the City's appeal in the Brewster case.
The Council adopts a motion on overflow lots for impounded cars.
Source: Council File 17-1405
AB 2392 creates a statewide list of tow and storage charges presumed unreasonable, such as some administrative and gate fees (Vehicle Code section 22524.5).
The Court of Appeal rules that the tow yards' association impound database (VIIC) is not a City public record, because the City does not hold or control it. This is one reason LA towing data is hard to get.
Source: Anderson-Barker v. Superior Court, 31 Cal.App.5th 528
Legal aid and civil rights groups publish Towed Into Debt. For LA it reports about 100,000 City tows a year, and 9,400 tows and 2,500 lien sales in one month.
A nonprofit report, not a government record.
Source: Towed Into Debt (Western Center on Law & Poverty PDF)
AB 516, which would have limited "poverty tows" for unpaid tickets and expired registration, passes the Assembly but dies in the Senate. The City of Los Angeles is listed among its opponents.
Source: Senate Public Safety Committee analysis of AB 516; AB 516 bill status
During COVID, LADOT relaxes tickets and tows for street sweeping, 72-hour and abandoned cars, expired registration and more.
Source: LADOT report, September 17, 2020 (Council File 20-0147-S7)
A federal appeals court applies the Constitution's ban on excessive fines to LA parking fines. The $63 fine stands; the late penalty is sent back for review.
LADOT proposes restarting those tows, with tows for unpaid tickets to restart January 1, 2021.
Source: LADOT report, September 17, 2020
Each second-round police tow yard contract gets its one five-year renewal. Some areas are bid again, including a citywide heavy-duty contract in 2022.
The U.S. Justice Department settles with an LA police tow yard over the auction of a Marine's car without the protections federal law gives servicemembers: $22,000 to her and a $5,000 penalty.
From a news report The Justice Department's own release blocks automated checks; we link the news report.
Source: Military Times report
Fitzpatrick v. City of Los Angeles is filed in federal court, challenging tows of legally parked cars for unpaid tickets.
Source: Court docket (CourtListener)
A Council motion addresses overflow storage at police tow yards for unclaimed oversized vehicles such as RVs.
Source: Council File 21-1468
Ticket tows suspended, new fee laws, and new contracts (2022 to 2026)
The standard police tow rate is $145.50 for the first hour and $45 a day for storage, if paid by credit card.
Not yet verified From a rate chart released under the Public Records Act; not yet checked against a second source.
Source: Our rate table (Board rate chart, public records copy)
In Fitzpatrick, the federal judge refuses to dismiss the case: a legally parked car cannot be towed just for five or more unpaid tickets without a separate safety or caretaking need.
From a news report We link the news report; the ruling itself is on the court docket.
Source: NBC Los Angeles report
LADOT suspends tows and boots of legally parked cars for unpaid tickets.
Source: LADOT report, October 7, 2025 (Council File 22-0177)
A Council motion asks for closed-session legal advice on the ruling.
Source: Council File 22-0177, motion
AB 2174 changes what a private-property tow notice must contain. In effect January 1, 2023.
The Council directs LADOT to report on the cost of the suspension and on other options.
A California appeals court rules, in a San Francisco case, that towing a car without a warrant only because of unpaid parking tickets is unconstitutional.
Source: Coalition on Homelessness v. City and County of San Francisco (A164180)
Fitzpatrick ends in a $99,999 judgment against the City for the named plaintiffs, under a federal rule for accepted settlement offers.
Not yet verified From our company-records database; we have not yet read the judgment on the docket.
Source: Court docket (CourtListener)
The Police Commission recommends approving the sale of the Service Area 6 police tow yard (Hollywood Tow Service) to the owner of the Service Area 13 yard (U.S. Tow).
Source: Council File 24-1278
The Board sets 2025 police tow rates: $195 for the first hour and $60 a day for storage.
New City contracts move from the City Clerk's site to RAMP LA.
Source: RAMP LA contracts
The Board's new request for proposals for police tow yards goes to the Council, which adopts it on August 20, 2025.
Source: Board report 25-103 (City Clerk PDF); Council File 25-0621
The Council adopts a motion on waiving police tow and storage fees for people detained by federal immigration agents.
Source: Council File 25-0887
The Police Commission approves its reply: instead of a waiver, it suggests quick payment by a family member, with possible reimbursement from a Council office.
Source: Board report (City Clerk PDF)
AB 987 is signed. From January 1, 2026, it adds limits on holiday, after-hours and emergency-clearance charges, on storage for days a yard refused a paid release, and on storage for cars picked up within 4 hours.
LADOT reports that the list of cars eligible for ticket tows grew from about 27,000 owing $40 million (February 2022) to more than 70,000 owing about $128.5 million.
Source: LADOT report (City Clerk PDF)
The Board sets 2026 police tow rates: $220 for the first hour and $68 a day for storage.
Source: Board of Police Commissioners agenda, December 9, 2025
A 2026 request for proposals for police tow yards is adopted by the Council.
Source: Council File 26-0258
The federal appeals court affirms in Fitzpatrick (an unpublished decision).
Source: Ninth Circuit memorandum (PDF)
The Service Area 2 (Rampart) police tow yard stops working as a police tow yard. A replacement is recommended.
Source: Council File 26-0873
The Council approves new police tow yard contracts for Service Areas 6, 14, 16 and 18.
Source: Council File 26-0692
The Police Commission's new Towing Operations & Policy Standards (TOPS) manual takes effect, with reissued rules for tow companies and new rules for police tow yards.
Source: TOPS manual (Board of Police Commissioners); What changed
The Council adopts a new standard contract for future police tow yard contracts.
Source: Council File 26-0838
AB 2437 is signed: starting January 1, 2027, tow yards must take bank debit cards. The same day, SB 1029, on leftover lien-sale money, is vetoed.
Source: AB 2437 bill status; SB 1029 bill history
For the rates in each year, see police tow yard rates, 2007 to 2026. For what changed most recently, see What changed. Know a record that belongs here? Email corrections@towedinla.org.
Last checked .