Hertz faces lawsuit from 47 customers claiming false arrests

https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/15/business/hertz-rental-arrests/index.html

by onemoresoop • 4 years ago

66 43 4 years ago

pavlov• 4 years ago

To me, this is the most American dystopia: an indifferent corporation feeding false data to the state violence machine because everyone in the chain can afford false positives that wreck somebody’s life.

SturgeonsLaw• 4 years ago

Yep, and the people most affected are the ones who can't withstand this sort of event. An example given in the article was people renting cars to work rideshare gig jobs, after rent and fuel they will be making so little money (an income which stops completely once they are arrested) that even a few days in jail can be enough to make them short of rent, lose their house, CPS takes their kids away, etc. Heartbreaking that Hertz's incompetence at setting or following processes can have such cold, real world results.

paulpauper• 4 years ago

They should have just pretended to be antifa

but in seriousness, this is false arrest. the police department is as much to blame.

colburnmh• 4 years ago

No, the police bear no responsibility for someone issue a false report. That's a crime for a reason. If you report your car stolen, the police don't first investigate you to be sure you are telling the truth, they just work to find the car.

The police do, however, bear responsibility for not allowing those arrested to have access to medication, maintain their jails to appropriate health standards, or prevent assaults--all of which were also reported in the article.

Further, if a person is constantly falsely reporting their car stolen, they should be arrested for filing a false report. But in this case, there is no central authority that would be in a position to track that because there is no centralized control of the police and these all probably happened in different police districts.

Mistakes do happen, but this sounds like a pattern of egregious behavior that is likely (and rightly if the facts in the article stand up) going to result in large fines, mandated oversight, legal restraint, and removal of a number of people at Hertz. It's not like any of that is going to be helpful to a company that is struggling to stay alive.

sebastien_b5• 4 years ago

It's not like any of that is going to be helpful to a company that is struggling to stay alive.

I’d say it’s reason enough for it to justifiably go under (though still wish top brass of the company be liable).

sebastien_b5• 4 years ago

This is like SWATting yourself.

more_corn3• 4 years ago

Not yourself

effingwewt• 4 years ago

OP is saying that the act of renting a car from hertz is akin to swatting yourself.

We really need jail time for CEOs

14u2c• 4 years ago

Interesting to see that people are renting cars just to drive them for Uber and Lyft.

prepend• 4 years ago

Seems like a good idea. You can rent a car for $50 and easily make more than that in a day.

valleyer2• 4 years ago

One plaintiff, Bianca DeLoach, described being swarmed by police with their guns drawn at a gas station in March 2021 while her children watched from inside the rental she’d paid for.
When he opened the door at least 4 officers had guns pointed at him.
Darnay Taper spent two nights in jail last year after being pulled over in March 2021 by eight police cars while during a Hertz rental and held at gunpoint, according to the complaint.

Why are guns such a reflex for cops in scenarios that clearly do not warrant them? Can't we find some better cops?

sebastien_b5• 4 years ago

Can't we find some better cops?

I feel like cops in the U.S. are just bitter Army rejects that didn’t make the cut due to their overly unhinged behaviour.

Clubber• 4 years ago

They're trained to be afraid by watching videos of cops getting shot, then they're trained to react instinctively at a perceived threat.

sebastien_b5• 4 years ago

I see I’ve hit a nerve there - helps to confirm my suspicions.

cmeacham98• 4 years ago

Police in the US (broadly speaking, of course there is variance from department to department) are trained this way.

Here's an article about a particularly controversial training program: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/08/11/police-trai...

metadat• 4 years ago

Historically they haven't suffered much negative consequences when they shoot and kill suspects. And they have no personal liability.

happyopossum• 4 years ago

Largely because officers don't know what situations will warrant them. and over 2,500 cops are assaulted with firearms, with 250+ of those resulting in the cop being shot each year in the US, and this often happens during routine traffic stops.

[1] https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1745-9133.12... [2] https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/dallas/news/pre...

valleyer2• 4 years ago

This is a good point that I thought about but clearly don't appreciate enough. Thanks for the stats.

GekkePrutser• 4 years ago

But in the case with the lady with 4 kids? Sounds a bit overblown for the situation indeed.

But here in Europe cops rarely even draw their guns (and in some countries don't even carry them)

pb72• 4 years ago

Police isn't even in the top 20 most dangerous jobs. Crossing guards get killed more per capita. Crossing guards.

lgats• 4 years ago

I suspect if the officer believes the vehicle to be stolen, it's likely to be a dangerous scenario

more_corn3• 4 years ago

That’s why what Hertz is doing is so dangerous. Every false report is a life threatening situation. Their own lax inventory controls are the problem and they’re putting their customers’ lives at risk. Don’t ever rent from them.

wl• 4 years ago

Grand theft auto is a felony. Drawn guns is standard procedure for “felony stops.”

Your quarrel in this case is with the training, not the cops.

witheld• 4 years ago

The cops are a system- it comprises both its rules and those who enact them. The quarrel is with the cops.

more_corn3• 4 years ago

If someone pulls a gun on me my quarrel is with them.

curmudgeon22• 4 years ago

That's pretty ridiculous. I wonder if this happens to any extent with other rental companies. Googling didn't turn up anything but the Hertz stories and the articles I skimmed didn't mention it.

phendrenad23• 4 years ago

It's enough that I've decided to never rent a car from a large rental company again. Other rental companies should be loudly decrying Hertz, but they're not, making me think that they have similarly buggy automated systems.

puffoflogic• 4 years ago

Oh boy, courts are gonna have to get out their big wrist-slapper for this one! /s

Hertz faces lawsuit from 47 customers claiming false arrests

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