Controversial Police Fees Plan Killed in Anaheim

Stung by a loud public outcry, the Anaheim City Council on Tuesday night reversed itself and killed a proposed ordinance that could have forced people who were arrested to pay for their investigation and prosecution even if they later were found innocent.

“It’s one of those things that shouldn’t have happened,” Mayor pro tem Irv Pickler said after the vote. “We wish we would have caught it. I got so many calls . . . and the mayor did too.”

During public discussion, Anaheim resident Catherine Davison chastised the council for allowing the matter to be considered in the first place.

“You have made the city of Anaheim a laughingstock. I’m very upset,” Davison said to the applause of many in an audience of about 60.

Some Charge Drunk Drivers

More than a dozen Orange County cities, including Anaheim, already charge motorists convicted of drunk driving for their arrests and the costs of the accidents they cause. And on Tuesday, the city of Fullerton took the first step toward becoming the 15th city in the county to adopt such a law.

But Anaheim’s latest proposal--to charge fees of anyone arrested on suspicion of a crime, whether or not they were convicted--was much broader than any other ordinance in the county or state, prompting some legal authorities to question the law’s constitutionality.

The hastily prepared plan won preliminary approval last week on a 5-0 council vote, but few had studied the matter closely, city officials admitted. Even Police Chief Joseph T. Molloy apparently was unaware of the proposal until it was first placed on the agenda last week, one city official said.

Nor had the city attorney’s office calculated how much money could be raised if the ordinance became law, although its aim was to recover money from criminals and deter lawbreakers.

Under the proposed ordinance, a person found not guilty in a criminal trial could still be sued by the city in civil court for the costs associated with his or her arrest and prosecution.

City Atty. Jack L. White had argued that, in some cases, a person found innocent in a criminal trial could be proved guilty in a civil trial where the burden of proof is lower.

Calls Voice Worries

The city’s switchboard lit up after the first vote and subsequent newspaper articles. Citizens worried, for example, that they might be charged just for being a bystander at a demonstration, said one city official who asked not to be identified.

“We just weren’t prepared,” the official said. “We should have presented more information and public discussion.”

White, whose office drafted the ordinance, tried to explain in the ensuing uproar that the proposal was primarily aimed at drug traffickers and white-collar criminals.

Moments before the measure failed on a second reading Tuesday, Mayor Ben Bay delivered a short civics lecture to the news media, saying that reports of the council’s preliminary approval inaccurately characterized the earlier vote as a formal consideration of the plan.

“In my opinion (there has been) media coverage on an issue that wasn’t an issue yet,” Bay said, contending that a proposed ordinance is not formally considered by the council until its final reading.

None of the council members initially voiced objections to the proposed measure last week when it received preliminary approval on the 5-0 vote, nor was it discussed. On Tuesday, none would call for its support.

“Therefore, it dies,” Bay said.

Pickler and Councilman Fred Hunter said Tuesday that their major objections to the proposal were constitutional questions.

While no other city has such an ordinance on the books, many have laws that charge drunk drivers for their arrest costs, and a handful charge fees if police are called to quiet a loud party.

On Tuesday, the Fullerton City Council voted 4-0, with Mayor Richard Ackerman absent, to give preliminary approval to an ordinance allowing the city to recover costs from drunk motorists, boaters and even private pilots. (Fullerton is one of the few cities in Orange County with its own municipal airport.)

Under the proposal, based on a 1985 state law, Fullerton could charge up to $1,000 to anyone found legally drunk and responsible for causing an accident. To become law, the ordinance must win final approval by the City Council on a second reading Oct. 18.