Baltimore's towing process needs "serious" improvements in several areas, audit report shows

BALTIMORE - Baltimore City's towing process has several areas needing "serious" improvements, according to a recently published audit.

The Department of Audits published a report on Wednesday that involves two agencies, the Baltimore Police Department and the City Department of Transportation. The two agencies are in charge of jumpstarting the towing process from collisions to abandoned cars to no parking zones.

Examining the towing process

The Department of Audits put the towing process under a microscope to examine effectiveness during fiscal years 2022 to 2023.

The audit found that the Baltimore Police Department did not keep track of how well tow truck companies were performing and did not always keep necessary documents. 

The City's DOT customer service to vehicle owners also needs improvements, the audit stated. 

The report revealed, in one instance, 29 out of 55 towed car notification letters mailed to residents were not sent on time.

The Department of Audits suggested the Department of Transportation consider creating an electronic filing system to better locate records and for the police department to reinstate a policy that was put on the back burner during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, which required tow companies to arrive at a scene within 20 minutes after being requested.

"The whole thing was a big inconvenience, two and a half, three hours," resident Mark Hughes said. "Then you so you're out of like $300 plus the time, so it's like wow. It's like they're preying on citizens and that's not fair."

Comptroller Bill Henry asked the agencies to return in six months to show what improvements have been made based on these recommendations.