Police Initiate Auto Tagging Next Monday

The period of grace for night-parkers ends on Monday.

Captain Patrick J. McCarthy, acting Chief of Police, revealed last night that a squad of policemen will begin next Monday to tag automobiles parked illegally in the Harvard aread between midnight and 8 a.m.

"We hate to do it," McCarthy said, "but complaints of many Cambridge residents have forced us to start to move." The complaints were lodged mainly against cars parked in front of driveways, but included protests from people who "just thought students made too much noise."

According to McCarthy, Monday will not open an all out campaign, but just a type of tagging like the sporadic outbursts of last year.

McCarthy said earlier this year that the police would not tag at all during weekends, "because we realize the unfortunate situation that visitors are confronted with." The new move will not change this decision, he said.

As Captain of the City, McCarthy is in charge of all night tagging. "We know what the students are up against," he said, "but there's nothing we can do. If they give us a break, we'll try to give them one."

The exact nature of the connection between the University automobile registration and Cambridge police is unknown, University records will be available to the police.