CITY POLICE Car impounded? Get there before 4

The lack of clerks and an inability to use cops in their place caused the change.
YOUNGSTOWN -- Beginning Monday, if your vehicle is towed and impounded in the city because of a traffic-related matter or your arrest, you'll have to negotiate its release between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. weekdays only.
Police Chief Robert E. Bush Jr. said he's pulling the plug on round-the-clock car releases and wants to get the word out. The chief said limited staffing -- a shortage of civilian clerks -- has caused the change.
Budget cuts nearly two years ago led to the layoff of 10 clerks, only one of whom was called back to fill a job that opened up when a clerk quit, Bush said. Vacant shifts have been filled by clerks working overtime or the use of police officers.
Bush said the staffing shortage worsened recently when an arbiter ruled that officers could not be assigned to work the police-clerk desk or index. Police clerks generate reports, answer the phone and perform a variety of other tasks. The index operator provides officers on the road with warrant and vehicle information.
Contract provision
Patrolman Kevin Bokesch, Youngstown Police Association president, said the arbiter didn't want officers to do another union's work. He said the clerks, represented by American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, have in their contract a provision that prohibits their work being done by officers.
Bokesch said there have been times when three officers have been taken off the road to work the desk (manned by two clerks) and index (manned by one).
"I wasn't tested on my typing skills when I got hired as officer," Bokesch said of the clerical positions that do require such tests. "If a clerk called off sick, there were times an officer would have his day off canceled and have to work index or the desk."
Bokesch said "the maximum number of officers" are needed on the road. He said a grievance will be filed because this past weekend an officer was assigned to work index.
Lt. Robin Lees said time-consuming paperwork is required before a car that has been towed and impounded can be released. Documents, such as license, registration and so forth, must be verified before computer-generated releases can be handed out. Sometimes, a release requires a court order.
An impound lot will not relinquish a vehicle without a police department release.
Detective Sgt. Rick Hart, second in command at the traffic bureau, said the round-the-clock release of vehicles has been more or less a courtesy to the public.
Hours
The traffic bureau clerk, who does the majority of dayturn vehicle releases, works 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. He said the idea of changing her shift to 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. is being discussed.
He said that for the time being, beginning Monday, releases in the final hour, 3 to 4 p.m., will be done by a police-desk clerk.
Hart didn't have an estimate of the number of vehicles released from impound each day but said most involve drivers whose cars were towed because their licenses are under suspension. He said if they bring in a licensed driver, the car can be released.
Cars found illegally parked or abandoned are also towed to an impound lot, as are stolen cars found in the city. Drivers who are stopped for a traffic violation and arrested on warrants or for some other crime, such as drugs or guns in the car, also temporarily lose their car to an impound lot.
Hart said cars involved in accidents are usually taken by private towing companies and do not require a release by the police department.