Police to Warn Sq. Jaywalkers

Frequent jaywalkers at Harvard Square may soon find themselves on the receiving end of a police lecture.

An order passed unanimously Monday by the City Council directs the city manager, the chief of police, and the traffic director to confer on ways to gain stricter adherence to "Walk" and "Don't Walk" signs now located in the Square.

City Councillor Cornelia B. Wheeler, who introduced the order, said she only wished to have police officers speak to the jaywalkers. She claimed that the situation in the Square is so serious that it might lead to fatalities or injury.

The oral persuasion, if and when it gets started, will only be a prelude to more formal and stricter enforcement. After June 1, the city will be empowered to fine jaywalkers.

Under a Massachusetts law that the City Council approved last summer, pedestrians within 300 feet of a crosswalk will be forced to use that walk, in addition to obeying traffic signals.

Square the Worst

Jaywalkers in the Square will presumably be prime targets for the $1 fines. Manuel Amaral, administrative assistant in the City's traffic department, said yesterday that the Square "definitely had the worst jaywalking problem in the city."

The installation of the "Walk" and "Don't Walk" signs in the Square this summer has helped the situation, he said.

A mass education program will begin here soon to prepare citizens for the new law. Posters, radio and television broadcasts, and newspaper advertisements will be used in the campaign.