When the Lathrop Police Department was first established in 2022, the City of Ripon was contracted to provide dispatch duties that also included towing services as needed.

Because of that, Lathrop police did not adopt a Tow Rotation Program or enter into contracts with the various tow services providers.

At a recent session, the Lathrop City Council announced wishes to formalize a Tow Rotation Program and establish contractual agreements with multiple tow services providers – up to five such providers at any time.

“Occasionally, tow services are required during the course of law enforcement services. These services are requested by Lathrop police staff through the City of Ripon dispatch, utilizing a tow rotation that includes multiple tow service providers,” staff said.

As part of the Two Rotation Program, Lathrop police can establish program rules and regulations for tow service providers under this policy.

The City of Lathrop could contract with up to five service providers at any given time while formalizing a tow rotation list to be utilized by Ripon police dispatchers.

The intention of this program would be to establish clear guidelines and requirements for tow service providers while eliminating any uncertainty of responsibility and reducing the potential for the City of Lathrop to be liable for actions of those tow service companies in providing such services on behalf of the Lathrop Police Department.

Lathrop police, in addition, could opt to recover some of the administrative and procedural costs associated with this program – an example of that is the annual participation fee, which would be $300 annually per tow service company and a one-time tow truck driver fee of $100 per driver background.

As for savings, the tow rotation polices consisting of towing services for city-owned vehicles at no cost to the City of Lathrop could come up to approximately $9,000 per fiscal year.