SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah State Legislature has passed a bill in response to more than 1,000 complaints filed against Utah police departments.
Lawmakers say officers across the state violated state law by failing to fill out paperwork that is supposed to help people find their cars after a tow.
In some cases, fines rack up to thousands of dollars before people find their vehicles. Some drivers described a "scavenger hunt" for their own cars, calling tow companies until they got lucky.
The FOX 13 Investigates team first began to reveal details surrounding the issue in July 2023. We have now found 1,009 cases from October 2022 through February 2024 in which a complaint was filed with the Utah State Tax Commission against police, usually by a tow company.
"There is no excuse. Everybody should know where their vehicle goes," said driver Anthony Sanchez, who was involved in a crash and transported to a hospital by ambulance prior to his car being towed in 2023. "(I got) no letters in the mail saying, 'Hey, here’s where your vehicle’s been towed.'"
In response to our reporting, Rep. Matthew Gwynn (R-Farr West) pleaded with law enforcement agencies across the state to follow the current law and as he worked on a new bill to make things easier on law enforcement.
“I was actually very appreciative when I heard the story was coming out, because I had no idea this was going on behind the scenes,” Gwynn said in August. “It’s unfortunate that it got to the point where it had to come to you... Just do the right thing, stay out of the media attention, and we’ll get it resolved."
Gwynn followed through on his promise with a bill that will ease the burn on police officers. It passed with unanimous support.
In most cases, the original form — which was about half a page — will no longer need to be filled out. Instead, officers will simply be required to provide a case number to the tow company.
"Vehicle owners should be made aware of where their vehicles are going," Gwynn said. "Just give them a card with the case number. We’re doing that anyway... and if they’re not doing it? Then yeah, it’s going to seem as if it’s intentional."
While most agencies have zero complaints, more than half of all cases lead back to the same three police departments: West Valley City PD, Salt Lake City PD, and Ogden PD.
The new bill does not go into effect until July 1, 2024 — which means Gwynn's message to law enforcement remains the same, especially those agencies intentionally disregarding the law.
“This is so antagonistic. It is patently inappropriate. It just tarnishes those who try to do the right thing,” Gwynn said. “I’m asking police departments to follow the law.”
Lawmakers credited FOX 13 News for bringing the issue to light.
"Your reporting, I think, really made a difference," said Sen. Mike McKell, R-Spanish Fork, who also sponsored the bill. "Laws need to be followed. That's why we have laws."
FOX 13 News asked if lawmakers were worried about sending the wrong message by making it easier for police who refused to fill out the required paperwork.
"No, I don't think it sends the wrong message," McKell said. "Making it easier for (police) is always what we've wanted to do... I expect the law to be followed. I think it will be followed. I'm optimistic, but we'll see."
"If we haven't fixed the issue? That's really going to bother me."
Both Gwynn and McKell promised they will hold police accountable with another bill if the issues continue. Gwynn described this bill as the "carrot," but the next bill "could be the stick."
Since July 28, 2023 — after the original FOX 13 News story — approximately 83% of law enforcement agencies facing complaints saw at least a slight reduction in cases per day including WVCPD, SLCPD, and Ogden PD.
"The story produced instant improvements," said Allan Shinney, senior director of enforcement for the Utah State Tax Commission. "We did not see any setbacks until some agencies started to get the word about a pending law change."
Prior to our story, Utah's Motor Vehicle Enforcement Division (MVED) saw approximately 2.48 cases filed against police per day. After our story, the MVED saw approximately 1.46 cases per day.
Eight agencies had substantially fewer complaints after the story.
- Bluffdale PD, from 9 cases to 0 cases.
- Lehi PD, from 18 cases to 0 cases.
- Murray PD, from 35 cases to 0 cases.
- Ogden PD, from 72 cases to 18 cases.
- Saratoga Springs PD, from 16 cases to 0 cases.
- South Salt Lake PD, from 16 cases to 2 cases.
- Taylorsville PD, from 12 cases to 0 cases.
- Unified PD, from 41 cases to 0 cases.
"The Ogden City Police Department is committed to continuous training and adaptation, particularly in response to new legislation," said Lt. Will Farr. "Our focus remains on improving our services through comprehensive training for our employees, ensuring compliance, and delivering quality service to the community."
"When the towing amendments first came out, there was some confusion with a handful of our officers on when the TC-540 form was required," said Murray PD spokesperson Kristin Reardon. "We did additional training to ensure our entire department handled these accordingly, and that is how we resolved the problem."
"We should follow the law," said Lt. Shane Manwaring of Unified PD. "We created a PowerPoint presentation on how to do it."
Two agencies had substantially more complaints after the story.
- Hurricane PD, from 0 cases to 15 cases.
- Salt Lake City Compliance/ Parking Enforcement, from 1 case to 18 cases.
"We have not received any complaints from the State Tax Commission or private citizens regarding their vehicles being towed and them not having been provided information," wrote Sgt. Dan Raddatz of Hurricane PD. "My best guess is that everyone has become more educated on the process and what is expected now, and so more reports/complaints are being made by tow companies. We specifically have taken time during training days to address our towing protocol to ensure that this form is being completed by officers each time they call for a tow truck for a vehicle... As with any time laws are changed or new laws are implemented, the transition is not always perfect, but we are doing our best to correct any problems that are brought to our attention."
SLCPD and WVCPD continue to face the majority of complaints. Representatives for both agencies declined to comment.
Joe McBride, the president of SLC's police union, blamed administration.
"This is a department issue, not an officer issue," McBride said. "It typically is the officers that deal with the brunt of this. They're the ones painted as the bad guy when the real issue is with leadership."