Brewed Fresh Daily

If you're thinking about running up a lot of parking fines and not paying them, better stay out of Cleveland. Police there are trying out a new system for catching scofflaws. Armed with a camera, a computer and some special software, cops are cruising the streets in a van photographing license plates. If a plate matches one in a scofflaw database, the computer registers it immediately (it gives a "bong" sound and the word "hit" appears on the screen). The cops call for a tow truck, and when the owner shows up, he pays a $100 towing charge in addition to the overdue tickets. If the system works, Cleveland plans to invest $100,000 in these scofflaw van patrols. Why? Because the city has a monumental problem with scofflaws; a third of those who get citations don't pay them, and there are now 10,000 people with $250 or more in unpaid tickets. "We want our money," says one city official. "Other cities are tougher than Cleveland has been about collecting." And this is big money indeed. Last year Cleveland collected $6.6 million in parking fines, and that's with a collection rate of only two-thirds. The pilot program (so far the city has only one scofflaw van) has already shown officials how to improve things. For one thing, they need a faster way of summoning tow trucks; cops are wasting too much time waiting after they locate a scofflaw. And some would like the city to be able to take ownership of impounded cars when their owners refuse to pay the fines. That way, says one official, "we could get the fines by auctioning the cars." Footnote: Thinking of paying those overdue parking tickets in Cleveland? Relax. If you show up with a third of what's owned, the city will let you pay the other two-thirds over an eight-month period.