A Portland investigation revealed that police officers routinely bypass the city's towing rate caps by ordering private tows — which are not subject to regulated pricing — for approximately one-third of all towing requests, according to KGW. The report found that officers prefer private tows because they require less paperwork.
Operator takeaway
One-third of police-ordered tows bypassing the rate cap is not a loophole, it is the default — if your city's rate structure has a similar carve-out, the cap is not protecting anyone.