Seizure fee piling on

We've applauded the initiative Police Chief Greg Graham brought to town since being hired last year. Graham's push to expand community policing led to a new substation in a troubled neighborhood in southeast Cedar Rapids and actions by police not only to step up enforcement but develop better relationships with residents.

He has beaten the drum for citizens to become more engaged in their neighborhoods.

He's worked to root out solutions to problem tenants and landlords, with the city poised to implement strategies similar to those that have largely succeeded in Davenport.

We've even given our tentative support to the new red-light/speeding cameras about to be placed at several key intersections - as long as the system proves itself to be effective and fair.

Chief Graham has been a busy, direct and effective leader.

But his support and the city council's approval of a new $500 vehicle-seizure fee that took effect this month looks like piling on for at least some of the people who will be affected.

The new ordinance requires owners of vehicles involved in drunken-driving cases, drug and weapons crimes, and arrests for not having liability insurance or valid licenses to pay a $500 fee to get their vehicles back. Even if a friend or someone else using the vehicle, the owner is liable for the fee.

Graham insists the new ordinance isn't about raising revenue. “This is about holding people accountable for their actions and reducing crime.”

We agree with holding violators accountable.

But especially for the violations of drunken driving or failure to have insurance coverage or a valid license, we see plenty of deterrents already in place. A first-time OWI offense brings several thousands of dollars in fines and court costs. The owner's insurance rates jump. Having no insurance coverage draws a hefty fine.

Adding another $500 fee to such cases, we suspect, would not be so much a deterrent for many people as it would be a heavy-handed add-on during an economic recession - and flood recovery period - that is hurting many low and middle-income people.

Consider that arrests for drunken driving and driving without legal licenses or insurance are far more common than those for drugs and weapons. They account for one-fourth of the roughly 10,000 arrests Cedar Rapids police make annually.

The city certainly needs to recover towing and a reasonable impound fee. But we expect that sticking an additional $500 on the bill will strike many residents as being mostly a money-grab.

The council and the chief may prove us wrong. But if, after the first year of enforcement, this new ordinance raises revenue without a corresponding reduction in violations, let's dump it.