| 7/20/2023 | 0 |
PUBLIC SAFETY AND HEALTH COMMITTEE
| HELD TO CALL OF THE CHAIR
Minutes note: Appearing:
Sponsor Ald. Coggs
Heather Hough - chief of Staff MPD
Naomi Gehling - Deputy F&PC Director
Added sponsors: Dimitrijevic and Westmorland
There were no objections
| Pass | 5:0 |
Action details
|
Meeting details
|
Video
|
| 6/28/2023 | 0 |
PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE
| REFERRED WITHOUT RECOMMENDATION AND ASSIGNED TO
Minutes note: Ald. Coggs and Ald. Chambers appeared.
Danielle Rodriguez, Peter Knox and Tom Wozniak from DPW.
Ald. Coggs said that a similar situation happened few years ago and that back then, they had communication files where DPW told them about the changes that they were going to make to ensure that never occurred again. She also said that she was surprised when she saw it on the news and that she wants to hear directly from DPW how this happened again.
Ald. Chambers explained that he would like to bring this item to the Public Safety committee because it involves MPD and that he knows that tow lot were the ones who discovered the body days later. He also said that he would like to know some of the context.
Ald. Chambers said that this was the case of a stolen vehicle that ran into a tree (Fond du Lac Av and 91st St) and that some individuals abandoned the vehicle and that the death body was tucked in behind the seat.
Peter Knox (Tow Lot Manager) said that 4 years ago, a child was discover alive in the car and that this time the body of a deceased individual was found in the back seat. He said that the tow lot was paper driven before the incident from 4 years ago and that they have embraced technology ever since. He added that we have one of the most sophisticated tow lots in the United States, that other cities have come to copy what we do. He said that after the incident from 4 years ago, they have gone paperless, that every vehicle that is towed, is on camera on real time from the minute that is picked up by the tow company to the minute that is released to the tow lot. He explained that they do Uber style dispatching to the tow companies operating zones. He said that the driver of the tow truck is required to take a video all the way around the car before doing the process of hooking it up. Mr. Knox said that when the car comes in the tow lot, the staff also film the car all the way around and they do the visual inspection, also for pets and/or people and after the intake is completed, the vehicle is taken to a parking spot where its filmed again. He explained that before a vehicle is towed, MPD has their own policies when they are on scene and to clear the vehicle before it gets towed. He added that they have limitations because vehicles are compromised specially when they are MPD tows (about 10,000 vehicles/yr) and that there are safety issues because there are cars that are totally smashed in, you can not open the doors, the windows are extremely tinted with the airbags deployed which was the case for this particular vehicle. He said that they do visual inspections inside the vehicles when they are unlocked and they seem safe enough but that the problem with accident cars is that, there are safety issues around them like car malfunctions, they start on fire, that there is a big fear for fentanyl and that they try to do their best still. He also said that they are talking to the technology provider to embrace technology to test thermal cameras or x-ray mechanisms.
Mr. Knox said that he cannot guarantee Ald. Coggs that this won't happen again because they cannot break into a car and that most of the cars that come into the lot are locked. He also said that he and his staff are very sad that this happened, that they know that technology works, that there can be policies and procedures in place but that it is not guarantee that individuals by themselves, do the right thing. He added that he has been brainstorming with technology about what can be done.
Mr. Knox invited the committee members to come to the tow lot to see what they do and to show them about 50 cars that are not safe to go into.
The members accepted the invitation and Ald. Chambers requested that the file be referred over to the Public Safety and Health Committee.
| Pass | 5:0 |
Action details
|
Meeting details
|
Video
|