Police Prepare to Impound Autos With Unpaid Tickets

Students who fall to pay Cambridge parking tickets may now find their cars towed away under a new system announced Saturday by Patrick F. Ready, Cambridge Police Chief. At the same time he charged that the University's "uncooperative attitude" is a principal source of parking trouble around the Square.

Ready blamed a large part of the congestion of streets around the University on student automobiles. "Since the University has refused to ban student cars, we will have to take strong action to keep the streets clear," he stated.

"Officers will be given lists of students who have ignored their parking tickets," he explained. "If they find those cars on their beat, they will be towed away." The charge for towing a car is seven dollars plus storage, he pointed out.

No special legislation for towing away cars is needed, Ready added. "We presume a car is abandoned if its owner ignores parking tickets. Naturally we feel it our duty to haul it away for safe-keeping," he said.

Meanwhile, Matthew J. Toohy, chief of the University Police, said that his department would be forced to cooperate with city police in enforcing parking regulations.

Toohy said that under a "gentleman's agreement" with the city, there is no discrimination against student drivers. "We ticket the students, and the city police ticket everyone else," he explained. "This, however, does not prevent city police from ticketing the students if they don't comply with parking regulations," Toohy admitted.

"Although the University has refused to prohibit students from bringing cars to Cambridge, it has agreed to enforce parking ordinances against students," Toohy said. "We have no choice but to tighten up if the Cambridge Police decide it is necessary," he added