The registered owner of any vehicle that flees or eludes Naperville police during a traffic stop will get hit with a $900 fee to cover the administrative costs it takes to track down the driver.
The Naperville City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved a change to municipal code to allow the police department to recoup the hours spent reviewing video, preparing police reports, and conducting interviews and internal administrative reviews to identify the driver of a fleeing vehicle.
Police Chief Jason Arres said staff analysis determined it costs his department no less than $900 per incident.
Without a positive identification, Arres said the city cannot build a prosecutable criminal case and hold the driver accountable.
Absent a positive identification of a driver, the registered owner is in the best position to know who is operating the motor vehicle as well as prevent it from being used to flee police, he said.
The fine is being assessed because of the sharp increase in the number of incidents in which a driver has sped away after police tried to pull a vehicle over or where the driver turned off the vehicle’s lights to elude police, Arres said.
In 2016 and 2017, Naperville reported 15 and 16 fleeing and eluding cases, respectively, police records show. In 2018 and 2019, cases rose to 22 and 25.
In 2020, the number doubled to 55 and nearly doubled again in 2021 to 101.
Police records show 2022 is on track to beat that record with 68 incidents already in the first six months of the year.
Traffic stops are misdemeanors, and chasing after a vehicle for a misdemeanor charge puts public safety in jeopardy, Arres said, particularly when the drivers already are disregarding traffic laws, such as disobeying stop signs or traffic signals, speeding or making dangerous lane changes.
When the city averaged less than 20 occurrences per year, absorbing the investigative cost was manageable, the chief said.
But with almost 10 a month in 2022, the incidents are placing an unreasonable strain on police resources, he said.
While the goal is to recoup police costs, Arres said a secondary benefit would be that registered owners will be more cautious who borrows any vehicle.
Naperville’s ordinance will allow the $900 fee be transferred to the driver if an owner provides an affidavit stating who was driving when the vehicle fled police, he said.
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A registered owner also can dispute the fee through the police department’s administrative hearing process.