O.C. Sheriff’s Dept. Moves to Speed Up Tow Trucks

Though a few kinks need to be worked out, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department is moving ahead with a new software program that will streamline communications handling tow truck dispatches.

It was developed and marketed by a familiar name in law enforcement: former county Sheriff Brad Gates.

An 18-month pilot program was approved unanimously last week by the Board of Supervisors to test the product, developed by Dispatch and Tracking Solutions, a limited partnership in Newport Beach that employs Gates. Under the contract, the company will earn at least $60,000 and a maximum of $118,500, depending on the number of tows during the 18-month period. The county gets use of the product free of charge.

The software will enable a dispatcher to order a tow truck, log the company’s name and give the truck’s estimated arrival time, all with a few keystrokes, said Sheriff’s Capt. Ron Wilkerson.

By contrast, when deputies make an arrest now or want an abandoned vehicle removed, the dispatcher first must find which tow firm to use based on a rotation system, then telephone the company to give the location.

Typically, the deputy ends up waiting at the scene, losing valuable time while wondering when and if the truck will arrive. Deputies usually make a second call to the dispatcher asking for an update, requiring more of the dispatcher’s time, Wilkerson said.

“All that goes away, and that’s a savings in operational efficiency,” Wilkerson said. He added that if successful, the computer program could free for other duty three sheriff’s employees who now dispatch and log more than 10,000 tows a year.

In addition, the software will eliminate time-consuming paperwork for field deputies, who now have to identify vehicles in multiple forms, and it does away with the need for an office clerk to input the same information into the sheriff’s computer system, he said.

Firms that contract with the Sheriff’s Department now charge vehicle owners $78 to tow small cars and $180 for larger vehicles. Additionally, storage fees are $21 a day for cars and $31 for trucks.

Dispatch and Tracking Solutions is providing the program at no cost to the department, but a $6 fee per tow will be passed on to owners of towed vehicles. The system is expected to be in use in January.

Gates, who retired in 1999 after 24 years in office and 36 with the department, has told associates of his involvement in developing the software system.

He is chairman of the company’s advisory board. He did not respond to requests for an interview.