Name: Norris Baker, 38
Occupation: Chicago Police Department auto-pound aide
Background: Baker, a Chicago native, began working as a police aide when he returned from Vietnam. His duties included a two-year stint at the Central Auto Pound at 300 E. Randolph St. He lives on Chicago`s South Side and now works at Pound No. 3 at 3201 S. Western Ave.
Years in present position: 17
Working at the auto pound is anything but glamorous. You work out of a trailer with no running water, your uniform covered with dirt from going in and out of abandoned cars, and then you have to deal with a general public that isn`t too happy to see you in the first place.
It`s human nature to be belligerent when your car is towed. There are three things you don`t mess with-a person`s money, his car and his woman. And right off the bat we`re messing with two of them. This is especially hard on a police aide because while we perform the same duties as pound patrolmen, we don`t have a gun or a badge to make a dude think twice before doing something foolish.
People think we`re heartless because we won`t give them their car without proper identification or because we won`t make change or accept checks. They don`t understand that we can`t do those things because they`re against pound policy.
Let me tell you something: One day an old man on general assistance came in to get his car. The thing was 12 years old and couldn`t hardly be driven. It wasn`t even worth the $50 towing fee. But it was all the man had in the world. So before I took his money, I called one of my supervisors. When I told the old man he could have his car back for nothing, he started to cry.
Another time a woman came in and refused to leave without her husband`s car. She`d been in a motel with her boyfriend and parked in a tow zone. She knew her husband would find out if we didn`t let her have the car. We let her have the car.
We`re allowed a certain amount of discretion in cases like that, but we still have to clear it with our supervisors. Unfortunately, a lot of people don`t understand that. Especially at Central Pound.
Every pound is different, but the other pounds have more in common with each other than with Central. Most of the cars at the other pounds are either abandoned or stolen, and our job involves keeping inventory, checking to see what`s missing from the cars, maintaining the yard, shipping cars for destruction, setting up sales and auctions and other clerical duties. Typically, we don`t have to deal with a lot of towed cars.
Not so at Central. Because it covers the downtown area, most of our
”customers” are there to reclaim illegally parked cars. I`m not saying no one ever gets towed outside of the Loop, but the cars that get towed to other pounds usually belong to working-class individuals, and their attitude is entirely different from that of the doctors, lawyers and politicians who come through Central Pound demanding to know how we could tow their Porsche just because they parked in a tow zone during happy hour.
My favorite is when they tell me, ”I pay your salary”-and the guy comes from Schaumburg! That`s what I hated most about working at Central: these rich guys from the suburbs coming in drunk and saying things they wouldn`t dare say in front of their own suburban police. You`re in a junkyard, your office looks like a junkyard and you`re dressed like you work in a junkyard, so they assume you`re a bum.
The same thing goes for the big shots from the city who think they`re too important to follow the rules. I`ve been threatened by aldermen, commissioners, federal and local judges. But I`ve never given back a car without permission from my superiors. Still, it`s a no-win situation because those kinds of people can get you into a whole lot of trouble. That`s basically why I left Central: It isn`t worth the hassle.
In general, though, pound work agrees with me. I don`t mind the duties, and the people I work with are the best. They`re a fun-loving, nutty group who take their job seriously, and we like to hang out together after work.
The first thing we do when a car comes in is to inventory the car and its contents. If the doors are open, we`ll check the interior and take out anything we feel is worth over $100 and send it to Evidence and Recovered Property for storage. Next we punch the car into the computer and run a check to see if it`s stolen, mark it in our books and place it in the yard. Then 1121 (police headquarters at 11th and State) checks with Springfield for the last registered owner and sends a certified letter to his last known address. When a person comes in to claim a car, he must produce the car`s registration, title or bill of sale. Now, most people say, ”What about a driver`s license?” That allows you to drive in the State of Illinois, but it doesn`t tell me that you own this particular car. They say, ”Okay, run a check to Springfield.” Sure, I can run a check to Springfield, on the last registered owner, but Springfield has a 6-to-8-week delay. So if we went by Springfield, you could sell me a car today and walk into the pound and claim my car six weeks later. I`ve seen people try it.
As far as pound policy goes, the one thing I`d like to see changed is our ”no change” rule. People sometimes get very upset about this. I`ve had people come back with $50 in pennies! Problem is, we can`t accept that either because while it is ”exact change,” it won`t fit into the skinny little plastic envelope that has to fit into the skinny little slot where we have to deposit the money.
As for demanding proper ID, that`s for their own protection-people do come in here trying to claim other people`s cars. One young woman came in here with the car`s title and her father`s death certificate. The car was in her father`s name, but since she had proof that he was dead, we let her have it. Two hours later the ”dead” man walks in looking for his car! What could we say? It wasn`t our fault-the death certificate was legit, complete with county seal and all. I guess his daughter had someone at the county coroner`s office forge it. The whole situation left the deceased highly upset.
Another common problem we face is the ”drive-out.” That`s when someone tries to drive a car out without paying. Normally we try to avoid arresting anyone, but if we don`t catch them before they get away, we have to put out an APB. One time this pregnant woman showed up demanding her car. She didn`t have a driver`s license, valid license plates, a city sticker and, of course, no money. There was no way we were going to give her the car, but when she asked if she could get her things out, we said, ”Sure.”
The next thing you know she`s trying to drive her car out of the lot. When she can`t get through the gate, she stays in her car pouting for two hours, then comes into the office and makes a nuisance of herself until her husband arrives two hours later. The guy comes in here screaming about how could we do that to a pregnant woman.
But as crazy as people get when their cars are towed, some of the funniest things I`ve seen had nothing to do with that. One lady came into the pound to claim a $26,000 Lincoln Continental that had been stolen and stripped bare despite the vehicle`s $1,000 alarm system. There was hardly anything left but the trunk. So naturally it`s the first thing she goes to. And . . . well, you guessed it-the second she opens it, the alarm goes off!
Another time we were out in the yard crushing cars when we noticed the flattened car on the forklift had an arm waving out of it! We open the door, and out rolls this bum who waves at us with a big grin and goes off on his merry way.
This job can be dangerous. Occasionally someone will try to take their car out by force. They`ve even threatened to hit me if I got in their way. I`m 6 foot 6, so that doesn`t happen too often, but when it does, I tell them,
”Look, you may outrun me, but you can`t outrun Motorola.” Then I show them my police radio. I may not be a policeman, but I`m always just a radio call away from one.
But when I really have to worry is when I`m off duty. The people who come here, they can remember you. You`re not gonna recognize them, what with all the people you see every day, but they might not forget your face so easily. I got surprised one night by some guy who came up to me in a bar and wanted to break my face. I don`t sit with my back to the door anymore.
