police departments and towing companies

What our city here does is receive bids for towing service and go from there, just like with any other big ticket item.

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What our city here does is receive bids for towing service and go from there, just like with any other big ticket item.

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But the police department wouldn't be the ones paying to have it towed right? The owner of the car would pay that when they went to retrieve their car?

Depends. Some places contract for towing services when the governmental body is footing the bill - which would be the case for a city vehicle or a private vehicle being towed as part of a criminal investigation.

Around here, for towing vehicles involved in wrecks or otherwise interfering with traffic, they 911 center has a rotation list of towing services that ask to be on it. They simply work down the list as the need arises.

Here is the succinct and accurate answer to your question OP.

Municipalities and county and state governments (Highway Patrol) are required, all over the country, to work from a rotating pool.

Typically, for a towing company to get into a pool they must:

1 - Have a minimum of three trucks in service and being willing to send all three to a scene at any one time.

2 - Must meet all insurance requirements.

3 - Must have a clean service record.

4 - Must be current on all city, county, state and federal taxes including withholding taxes.

5 - Available 24/7/365 including holidays and during emergencies (hurricanes, etc).

6 - Agree to set fees for city/county/state tows.

Once they meet all the requirements and sign all the paperwork and get passed by the governing body they go into the pool and are rotated by the dispatcher.