Rental Car Loophole Closed Thanks to Consalvo

will now have immediate access to information on who rented a car when a crime has occurred, thus closing a public safety loophole.

Noting the loophole, filed legislation to close it, then led a meeting with the BPD, and representatives of the major rental car companies in Boston in early December. The companies, BPD, and Consalvo, came to an agreement to give the BPD immediate access to necessary information when rental cars are used in the commission of a crime.  

Consalvo said rental cars are specifically rented in Boston to be used in committing illegal activities such as drug dealing, shootings, gang-related activity and prostitution because the name of the renter of the vehicle is hard to trace quickly.

In many police investigatory cases, a witness to a crime gives police officers a license plate number of a rental vehicle that may have been associated with a crime, and the immediate investigation of the license plate number reveals that the car is a rental car, and only the name of the rental company is accessible to officers. Now the BPD will be able to have the name of the person who rented the car. Said Consalvo, "Police officers should have the information on who rented the vehicle in real time to ensure the quickest investigation possible."

Under the new agreement, the BPD will have immediate access to the actual name of the person who rented the car. Consalvo said having that information immediately will save precious investigation time and allow patrol officers to know exactly who rented the car used in the commission of the crime. 

“I would like to thank Councilor Consalvo for his leadership on this issue and efforts to assist the Boston Police Department in solving this problem” said Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis. “The BPD is also appreciative to the rental car companies for working in a cooperative manner to improve investigations and ultimately public safety in Boston.”