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Politics & Government

Das Boot: Police Could Begin Immobilizing Vehicles with Unpaid Red Light Tickets

Village is allegedly owed millions in unpaid parking and municipal fines.

Orland Park Police could soon have more and less reasons to put a boot on vehicle tires — neither of which are favorable to the blown red light driver.

On Monday the village’s Public Safety Committee voted in favor of an ordinance that would allow police to immobilize a car or motorcycle whose registered driver hasn't paid several tickets for red light violations. In the past, unpaid red light violations were not among reasons police would boot a vehicle in Orland Park.

As it stands, according to Orland Park Police Chief Tim McCarthy, a driver must rack up five unpaid vehicle tickets before police can act. To be “more consistent with surrounding suburbs,” McCarthy said, the same ordinance endorsed on Monday would reduce that number to three tickets, including red light violations.

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The issue goes before the full board of trustees in two weeks.

McCarthy said it is not the policy of the village to impound vehicles under most circumstances. In early spring, . They include adults ticketed for public indecency; adults who abandon their car at the scene of an accident involving death, injury or car damage; and minors who were caught drinking and driving. The impound fee is $500.

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A new collection agency, Municipal Collections of America (MCA), was also hired on Monday to retrieve unpaid police and municipal tickets.

If a parking or red light ticket isn’t paid within 30 days, the fine increases to $250. After 60 days, a debt collection letter is sent to the vehicle’s owner. As of May 31, Orland Park is owed approximately $4.2 million in parking fines and another $1.2 million in municipal fines, according to a statement from the village.

“We certainly won’t be able to grab all of it, but we think we can make a good dent in it,” Orland Park Village Manager Paul Grimes said.

For a short time between collection agencies, Grimes said the village was performing debt collection in-house, without the proper time and staff to focus on the problem.

“We need to strengthen the teeth,” Grimes advised. As a matter of perspective, he noted, Chicago will immobilize a vehicle on only the second parking ticket.

Moreover, McCarthy said MCA is in the process of forming a coalition with the approximately 70 departments it represents, so they can share information and collect ticket revenue for one another. For its services, MCA is entitled to 35 percent of the money it brings in.

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