LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- The L.A. Police Commission voted on Tuesday to amend the LAPD's impound policy for unlicensed drivers.
The commission voted 4-to-1 in favor of the change, which will help unlicensed drivers avoid having their cars impounded.
Under current laws, if officers stop an unlicensed driver, they tow the vehicle and impound it for 30 days.
But with the new policy, drivers can get their cars back the next day with valid identification, registration and proof of insurance, even if they don't have a driver's license.
Drivers who have a suspended or revoked license, or who cause an accident, would not be eligible for a shorter impound.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Police Chief Charlie Beck favored changing the policy, offering leniency to unlicensed drivers.
"The difference is that we incentivize drivers to comply with the things they can comply with... have insurance, have identification," Beck explained.
"If you do that, your vehicle will likely still be impounded, but we won't hold it for the entire 30 days. So it is an incentive toward positive behavior."
Many immigrant rights groups support the change in policy.
They believe people in the U.S. illegally are unfairly targeted because they cannot obtain driver's licenses.
After their vehicles are impounded, they face stiff fines and can't get to work.
Critics, including the LAPD police union, say the change rewards lawbreakers, and puts politics above safety.
They say people without licenses should not be on the road at all.
One person who has opposed changes is Don Rosenberg, whose 25-year-old son Andrew was killed in an accident involving an unlicensed driver in 2010.
Rosenberg said he thinks the city should maintain a tough policy on unlicensed drivers.
"The car should be confiscated and the driver should be arrested, and if they are caught again, then just keep jacking up the penalty until this stops," Rosenberg said.
"There's over a million unlicensed drivers in California, and they're killing people every day."
Rosenberg was one of a few hundred people who attended a community forum hosted by the Los Angeles Police Commission in Northridge last month.
The residents' opinions were resoundingly negative. Nearly everyone inside the packed meeting was upset over the proposed changes.
"It doesn't matter if you're legal or illegal. If you're an unlicensed driver, you should not be driving," one man told the commission.
Rosenberg received a resounding applause from the crowd when he spoke.
"The man who killed by son would have been considered a first-time offender by your policy. He was caught, got his car out less than a day later and he continued to drive," Rosenberg said, addressing Beck and the commission.
"If you think it's fair, you come down the road and come meet my son in his cemetery and you tell him that this is fair," Rosenberg said.
Copyright 2012 - KTLA-TV, Los Angeles
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
