Some Metro Detroit Municipalities Are Charging for Police Accident Report Callouts

[Gistok]

OK, I got into an accident in Eastpointe on Dec. 22. Someone went thru a red light and I swerved to get out of the way and hit a street sign.

Although the vehicle damage was more than I thought it would be [[was a pretty strong street sign)... I was able to drive to the Eastpointes police station on 9 Mile & Gratiot... and filed a police report [[the other vehicle didn't stop).

Anyway I wasn't in there more than 15 minutes... they wrote down what I had to say, and then came into the police parking lot to spend 30 seconds to look at my car.

Several weeks later AAA [[my insurer) sent me a letter saying that Eastpointe Police requested that they [[the insurer) pay $327.00 for police time. AAA told them to bug off... that it was part of their job.

So all of a sudden 2 1/2 months later I get a bill from an out of state collections agency for the $327!!

On the bill it states that the police department came to the scene of the accident for an hour to handle the report, and also other clerical fees.

Well no one came out... I went to them... and spent only about 15 minutes with 1 officer.

I was fuming on Friday, and went down to the Eastpointe station and talked to the officer involved. He said that yeah he remembered me coming to the station... and that I should write a letter to the Police Chief explaining the situation.

Great I thought... that will go nowhere... but on Monday I will hand deliver a letter including a copy [[that I paid $10 for) of the police report... and mention that their department didn't send anyone out to handle the trouble... but that I went there. I already know that this will lead me nowhere... since the collection agency will likely send out another letter demanding payment.

The funny thing is that the street mentioned on the accident report doesn't even exist in Eastpointe... so that proves no one was at the site.

So now what do I do... do I contact the State Attorney General's offiice and say that Eastpointe is committing fraud? Or?

The irony is that I went to the police station to file a report so that my $250 AAA deductible would be waived [[which it was)... only to get a bill from Eastpointe for $327!

Also, I was told by the officer that only people NOT living in Eastpointe will be charged for accident police reports there.

Beware people...

[Richard]

It is Common in other cites to charge for fire truck,ems,and police to respond to accidents, that is allot of resources tied up for a couple of hours,but they also use volunteer community resource officers for the fender benders,or non injury stuff at no charge.

But they also take hit and run very seriously.

[1KielsonDrive]

You see, this is the flip side of TAX CUTS. It's called FEE INCREASES. Don't ever believe a politician when they tell you they're going to cut your taxes. They're going to shift the burden and use a euphemism to explain it.

[Gistok]

I agree 1KielsonDrive... but they only spent 15 minutes [[at the station) on my police report.

If this had been a commercial business... it would be known as FRAUD.... I bet that I won't get anywhere with either the local police department or with the State Attorney General's office... which is where I'm headed next, if the city persists.

And [[even though I'm a resident of SCS)... I'll make sure to make a stink at the next Eastpointe City Council meeting... as well as bring it up at the next SCS City Council meeting that Eastpointe is scamming their [[SCS) residents.

... the gloves are off....

[NorthEndere]

This is something common across the country. I think there was a story, in fact, about New York City raising its fees for accident reporting and locking keys in cars, and such.

[JohnnyFreddy]

It appalls me as well, that these officers [[or their depts.) are charging
for these services, especially this case which they did literally nothing,
as we, the Tax Payers, are already paying them their salaries.
Then further pay these entities AGAIN....for the same services.
Yeah, where is their reasoning coming from?
If politicians spent as much time just doing their jobs, as they do concentrating
their efforts on shifting costs from one area to the next, or getting their own
salaries increased [[keeping parallel w/cost of living) while the rest of us have to take concessions, and decreases in insurance coverage....their golden junkets,
like 'Retreating' Up-North to Mackinac Island....for 'Conferences'.
Yeah right.
Why not cut these 'perks' just a little people, so our children can have extracurricular activities in school [[all important by the way), or new books,
or keeping schools open, or at least, if you're going to consolidate...build
them new, state of the art schools, and give the good teachers decent wages,
[[maybe on par with politicians'...or maybe BETTER)..and figure modern, forward
thinking practices of teaching larger class sizes. This stuff is already being done in other countries people. We just need to catch-up!!!
And our municipalities sit around figuring ways to charge us for services,
like filling out Police reports, and EMS, and Fire Protection.
...My God.

[lilpup]

If they are only charging non-residents then they aren't charging their local taxpayers.

[noggin]

Why do you think the number of traffic tickets are going up? It has absolutely nothing to do with public safety and everything to do with enhancing city income.

Btw stay out of St. Clair Shores.

[1KielsonDrive]

I agree 1KielsonDrive... but they only spent 15 minutes [[at the station) on my police report.

If this had been a commercial business... it would be known as FRAUD.... I bet that I won't get anywhere with either the local police department or with the State Attorney General's office... which is where I'm headed next, if the city persists.

And [[even though I'm a resident of SCS)... I'll make sure to make a stink at the next Eastpointe City Council meeting... as well as bring it up at the next SCS City Council meeting that Eastpointe is scamming their [[SCS) residents.

... the gloves are off....

I agree with your sentiments. The fraud extends to speed traps, selective enforcement, home invasions and property seizures as well. This is not to say our PD's don't have their hands full and don't do a good job in most ways. Just that they're being squeezed as much as anyone. Your actions are exactly the actions I'd take. But....warning to you.....you may be labeled a 'curmudgeon'.

[Gistok]

Au contraire...

I am good at public speaking [[and writing)... and can avoid letting my emotions take over... I know all 40+ fallacies of debating... I'm not worried about it. Getting angry or getting other people angry does not solve problems... I'm well aware of those pitfalls.

I just have to be careful about not coming across as a smartass...

[1KielsonDrive]

Au contraire...

I am good at public speaking [[and writing)... and can avoid letting my emotions take over... I know all 40+ fallacies of debating... I'm not worried about it. Getting angry or getting other people angry does not solve problems... I'm well aware of those pitfalls.

I just have to be careful about not coming across as a smartass...

And pretty smug too.

[CLAUDE G]

I don't think they can legally charge you. I think for them to charge you to write up a police report, reguardless if they dispatched or not they would have to disclose to you beforehand that there would be a charge.

That would be like walking into a business and asking for a price quote, and the business handing you a bill at the end for the time it took to give you a price quote eventhough you did not buy.

One could then argue that by imposing a fee, it would then make it less likely for someone to report a crime.

If I where you, I would not pay the fee. Here is what I would do...

#1 Write a certified letter to the collection agency disputing the debt. This puts the collection on hold, until they come up with some reason that its valid.

#2 If the collection continues, get the address of the collection agency and write a letter to the attorney general complaining about Eastpointe and a second letter complaining about the collection agency.

From there, you got the BBB, Department of Justice, Fox 2 Problem solvers, and all the other piss ant goverment agencys for consumer protection. The idea here is you create enough problems with all these other agencys for the city and the collection agency, they end up dropping the matter all together to make the problem go away.

Finally, I would file a lawsuit in small claims court. Usually the next step will be that someone in East Points Legal Department will contact you in a few weeks or right before the court date, and offer to drop the charges if you drop your lawsuit.

Usually Small Claims court will work, and I ended up suing Stub Hub over some bad tickets I purchased from them, and it worked out in my favor exactly as I described above.

I tried the same thing with Chase Bank, and they wanted to be assholes and bump it to district court to force me to hire an attorney. What they didn't figure was that I was an even bigger asshole, and instead of dropping the case, I actually hired an attorney and eventually got them to settle out of court and cost them several thousand dollars in legal fees from their high priced attorneys. I would have been cheaper if they would have settled with me before going to district court.

[GUSHI]

call fox 2 problem solvers

[Gistok]

call fox 2 problem solvers

Thanks Gushi.... I had that in the back of my mind...

[Gistok]

And pretty smug too.

I am not smug... I just cannot abide people who think they are better than everyone else... it makes it so much harder for those of us who really are!!

[[LOL...)

[Gistok]

I don't think they can legally charge you. I think for them to charge you to write up a police report, reguardless if they dispatched or not they would have to disclose to you beforehand that there would be a charge.

That would be like walking into a business and asking for a price quote, and the business handing you a bill at the end for the time it took to give you a price quote eventhough you did not buy.

One could then argue that by imposing a fee, it would then make it less likely for someone to report a crime.

If I where you, I would not pay the fee. Here is what I would do...

#1 Write a certified letter to the collection agency disputing the debt. This puts the collection on hold, until they come up with some reason that its valid.

#2 If the collection continues, get the address of the collection agency and write a letter to the attorney general complaining about Eastpointe and a second letter complaining about the collection agency.

From there, you got the BBB, Department of Justice, Fox 2 Problem solvers, and all the other piss ant goverment agencys for consumer protection. The idea here is you create enough problems with all these other agencys for the city and the collection agency, they end up dropping the matter all together to make the problem go away.

Finally, I would file a lawsuit in small claims court. Usually the next step will be that someone in East Points Legal Department will contact you in a few weeks or right before the court date, and offer to drop the charges if you drop your lawsuit.

Usually Small Claims court will work, and I ended up suing Stub Hub over some bad tickets I purchased from them, and it worked out in my favor exactly as I described above.

I tried the same thing with Chase Bank, and they wanted to be assholes and bump it to district court to force me to hire an attorney. What they didn't figure was that I was an even bigger asshole, and instead of dropping the case, I actually hired an attorney and eventually got them to settle out of court and cost them several thousand dollars in legal fees from their high priced attorneys. I would have been cheaper if they would have settled with me before going to district court.

Wow... Thanks for the sage advice Claude!

Also making a mental note to self.... never cross Claude G....

[Gistok]

I didn't want to open a separate thread about this....

At 12:30AM Thrusday.... I was driving Eastbound on I-94 and between 8 and 9 Mile I suddenly saw a bright light, as well as all the cars in front of me slowing down or pulling over.

In the westbound I-94 lanes about 1/3 mile south of 9 Mile Rd, where I-94 starts its sharp "S" curve towards 8 Mile... a sedan had gone up the grassy embankment almost to the top [[there are 12 ft. tall brick walls along that stretch) and plowed into an unfortunate tree [[about 15 ft. tall). The car had burst into flames and flames were shooting about 20 ft. into the air....

Eastpointe and St. Clair Shores policemen had closed the westbound I-94 at 9 Mile, and I spotted a scout car preventing westbound onramp traffic.

I had never seen such a sight in my life... there were likely the entire 3rd shift of both SCS and Eastpointe police in the area [[at least a dozen squad cars), 2 fire trucks [[didn't yet have their hoses out)... and 2 ambulances.

Many folks going I-94 Eastbound just pulled off the road just to watch the spectacular blaze, knowing full well that the police were busy with the westbound traffic.

I certainly hope the person[[s) in the vehicle made it out OK... but I hate to see the "municipal services" BILL that they're going to get in the mail.....

Anyone taking I-94 into the city Thursday morning... check out the charred remains of at least the tree and grassy area of the former inferno... although the completely burned out hulk of a vehicle will likely be towed away by then.

[Pam]

I certainly hope the person[[s) in the vehicle made it out OK...

No, they didn't.

http://www.freep.com/article/2011031...text|FRONTPAGE

[Gistok]

Wow, thanks Pam... I got there 5 minutes after the crash.... it was a horrific scene...

The irony here is that the tree wasn't that big... only about 12-15 ft. tall. It just shows how in the name of getting better fuel efficiency the bumpers of cars are little more than plastic and styrofoam [[as I found out in my above accident)... and do little to protect you from an impact. That article even mentions why the tree looked like it was in the "middle" of the burning vehicle. Bummer....

But any vehicle that made it all the way up nearly to the top of the I-94 embankment... had to be traveling at a truly high rate of speed...

[maxx]

Hey, in Republican-land, you can have all the healthcare you need, all the police protection, all the education for your kids, as long as you can pay well for it.

Freedom's just another word for money in your pocket. hmm hmm hmm

[Gistok]

http://www.detnews.com/article/20110331/METRO/103310421

[DetroitDad]

http://www.detnews.com/article/20110331/METRO/103310421

The higher fees reflect some of the real costs of the mass motoring system. I'm sorry you took a hit here, Gistok. However, these fees should be much higher than $327.00.

[9mile&seneca]

"I just have to be careful about not coming across as a smartass..." Why? That's what I aspire to be.

[lilpup]

It just shows how in the name of getting better fuel efficiency the bumpers of cars are little more than plastic and styrofoam

Not true - there's a steel bar underneath the filler and bumper cover. The filler and bumper cover can handle low speed hits, sometimes with no visible damage at all, while not jolting the passenger as badly as if the hit was directly on steel.

[gnome]

http://www.detnews.com/article/20110331/METRO/103310421

Good article, Gistok. Your entire situation with the Eastpointe PD is facepalm inducing. Seems that whenever a bureaucrat gets involved commonsense flies out the window.