Generic Immobilizations

Modified on Fri, 23 Feb 2024 at 03:54 PM

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Overview

Passport uses the term “generic boot” to refer to an immobilization where a city provides its own boot devices. Note: Some of the documentation refers to steps that originate when a city uses Genetec as its LPR solution.  

Passport’s Boot/Tow process is intertwined with the scofflaw process, since a vehicle becomes Boot/Tow eligible only after it has been added to the scofflaw list.

To automate this type of immobilization process, Passport has designated statuses based on two factors: actions that officers take in the field (e.g., issuing a boot citation) and actions offenders take that cause them to be added to the scofflaw list (e.g., not paying citations within the designated timeframe).

Passport provides operators with access to a list of which LPNs are eligible to receive a boot and which of those vehicles have been notified about their scofflaw status. Once an officer creates a boot violation (in other words, once they select a boot-eligible status), the back-end will update the LPN’s status to “Booted.” Additional settings will then determine when the vehicle becomes tow eligible, boot-release eligible, or released from the scofflaw list.

Once an immobilization record has been created, the citations associated with the immobilization are the only citations that will be associated with the immobilization while the immobilization is active. In other words, once an immobilization record has been created and is active, no more citations will be added to the immobilization record. An easy way to think of this is that once the immobilization record has been created, consider it to be “locked” so no more citations can be added or removed. 

If the Operator has checked “Use Scofflaw” in the Immobilization Configuration setup, then all scofflaw citations will associate to the immobilization record at the time it is created. If any other citations age to be on scofflaw while there is an active boot immobilization, those citations WILL NOT be added to the currently active immobilization record. 

If the Operator does not check “Use Scofflaw” in the Immobilization Configuration setup, then all unpaid citations will be associated with the immobilization record at the time it is created. If any other citations are issued to the vehicle while the vehicle is booted (which is unlikely), then they WILL NOT be added to the currently active immobilization record. 

Immobilization Statuses

Passport offers five (5) default immobilization status options. 

  • Booted
  • Release Eligible
  • Released
  • Tow Eligible
  • Towed

Overview

To view which LPNs have a particular status applied:

  1. Select Enforcement > Scofflaw and Boot/Tow
  2. Enter search criteria (e.g., LPN), select the desired status from the Status drop-down menu, then select Search

To export the scofflaw list:

  1. Select Enforcement > Scofflaw and Boot/Tow
  2. Select the [] action menu, then select Export Scofflaw

Booted 

Some cities allow an officer to issue a Boot Fee citation that changes a vehicle status from Boot Eligible to Booted. This feature also associates all citations with that new immobilization record.

If this feature is not enabled, an officer must go to portal and manually update the vehicle status to Booted

This status will be applied in one of two ways: 

  • After an admin manually creates a boot record
  • After an officer issues a Boot Fee citation to the LPN

Scenario

An offender comes to their vehicle and sees that a boot has been attached. The offender would go to their RMCPay site, where all citations related to the immobilization record would be tagged. The offender would pay off those citations. The vehicle status would immediately be updated to Release Eligible.

At that point, an officer would be dispatched to the vehicle and would release boot. Finally, the officer would manually update the vehicle status to Released.

Release Eligible 

Instructions

  1. Select Enforcement > Scofflaw and Boot/Tow
  2. Enter search criteria (e.g., LPN), then select Search
  3. Select the [] action button, then select Update Boot/Tow Status

This status will be applied after the offender has paid all citations associated with this immobilization.

Note: If the immobilization status was manually updated after being Booted to Release Eligible, the admin will have the option to select a reason and/or enter a note. 

Note: If the balance is not $0, admins should not update a vehicle’s status from Release Eligible to Released unless there is a strong reason to do so.

Released 

This status will be applied after the status has been updated to “Released.”

The citations once associated with this immobilization record will still display. 

Note: An admin can still create a boot/tow record from within Passport’s portal. 

Tow Eligible 

This status will be applied when citations issued to that LPN reach the threshold set in your operator settings.

Example: If a vehicle has been booted for 72 hours AND if the citations have not been paid, the vehicle status would automatically update to Tow Eligible. The portal administrator would then dispatch a tow truck.

If the offender pays citations after a vehicle has become Tow Eligible, the vehicle status will automatically change to Release Eligible.

Towed

This status will be applied after an admin manually creates the tow record or after an officer issues a tow citation to the LPN.

Notice Eligible (Optional Status)

Some cities require that, before an offender can be booted, the offender must first be sent a notice by mail that alerts them to their risk for booting. At this point, the offender can opt to pay the entirety of their unpaid citations in order to remove their name from the scofflaw list.

LPNs with this status will not display on the on the Scofflaw and Boot/Tow page because this is not technically an immobilization status. To locate LPNs with this status, use the Reporting tool instead.

An LPN will become eligible for this status when citations issued to that LPN reach the threshold set in your operator settings.

If registered owner exists, the owner will be sent a letter and the vehicle will automatically be marked as “Noticed” in portal. In several cases, a vehicle could be eligible to receive a notice but the offender might not receive the letter:

  • If no registered owner information exists, the offender would be unknown so no letter would be sent 
  • If the offender was sent a Scofflaw/Boot Eligible Letter, but the letter was returned
  • If an admin removed the primary offender or marked the address as Invalid
  • If a Bad Address was returned

Note: This feature must be enabled by the Passport Support team. Create a Support Ticket to enable this feature.

Reporting 

The Boot/Tow Summary Report will display the number of boots issued, number of tows completed, number of vehicles that became Release Eligible, number of boots released, number of boots cancelled, number of boots cancelled with an admin release, number of boots damaged, number of boots stolen, number of boots escaped, number of vehicle that became tow eligible, number of tows issued for the date range selected. 

Additional Notes

  • If the officer is offline when they are update a status from Notice Eligible to Noticed or Release Eligible to Released, they will receive a message letting them know that the update will take place once they connect to the internet. This update will not be made in the back office or on OMM until the officer regains service. 
  • Boot Statuses on the Scofflaw and Boot/Tow page will begin to display starting with the “Booted” Status. The statuses Notice Eligible, Noticed, and Boot Eligible will not display on the on the Scofflaw and Boot/Tow page because these are not technically immobilization statuses. Instead, these statuses can be located using the Reporting tool. Vehicles that are Boot Eligible will display when searched on the Scofflaw and Boot/Tow page because the citations are now on the scofflaw list, but they will not display with the Boot Eligible status because of the reason previously mentioned. 
  • Passport has enabled a feature that requires offenders to pay for citations in person after their vehicle has been towed or booted.
    • Note: This feature must be enabled by the Passport Support team. Create a Support Ticket to enable this feature.

Optional Device ID

To help keep track of immobilization devices, an administrator can add an optional Device ID. The Device ID, which can be shared with the offender, can be added when a boot record is created or updated.

The Device ID number will display:

  • In the window that appears when a user selects View Details from an immobilization record on the Scofflaw and Boot/Tow page
  • On the Citation Details page in the Vehicle Details card

 


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