FDL City Police Adopting New Policy For Gas Drive Off Complaints

The Fond du Lac Police Department will be adopting a new policy for responding to gas drive off complaints. Chief Bill Lamb will review the policy for the City Council tonight. In a memo to City Manager Joe Moore, Chief Lamb says local gas station owners are reluctant to institute a pre-pay or pay at the pump policy on their own or support such a city ordinance. Lamb says Oshkosh, Appleton and Green Bay Police Departments have adopted a policy that puts the onus on gas station operators. Under the policy they would have to determine if the incident is intentional, obtain the license plate number and driver description, complete a gas drive off report, and obtain a Department of Transportation registration information request. They would also have to send a letter to the owner’s last known address requesting payment and allow two weeks for a response. Finally they would have to agree to produce the employee who witnessed the incident in the event the matter is contested in court. Lamb says they invited gas station owners to two meetings about the new policy and representatives of the four Kwik Trip stations attended the first and no one attended the second.