Kenney says plan would make wreckers tow the line

COUNCILMAN Jim Kenney yesterday called for a suspension of the city's tow-truck rotation until the licensing status of the 96 companies on the list, including two involved in violence last week, can be reviewed.

"There's been a falloff with a lot of oversight regarding this industry," Kenney said at a news conference. "There needs to be a real overhaul of how we're approaching this, and it took a Wild West shootout to get us where we are."

Kenney said that 19 companies on the list have numerous complaints or violations against them and that some companies made the list with just a business-privilege license and not the required tow licenses.

Ownership of the companies was difficult to determine in many cases, he said, because some companies have changed names after losing their licenses.

"People say, 'Oh, this isn't the most important thing the city is dealing with,' but I think it is," he said.

Two years ago, the city created a list of tow opearators that would be contacted on a rotating basis to respond to accident scenes, but towers often bypass the list by showing up before police get there.

Kenney suggested that until the list can be overhauled, the city should use the nine "vetted" tow-truck companies with which the Police Department has contracts to recover stolen vehicles.

The city's Department of Licenses and Inspections, which regulates towing companies, may be "overwhelmed" and not have the ability or staff to enforce towing laws, Kenney said, but he hopes to sit down with those in charge and figure out an enforcement plan.

He said he "wasn't at liberty" to discuss what agency could better enforce tow companies but noted that the solution might be a combination of L&I, police and the Philadelphia Parking Authority, which he called "the most relentless enforcement agency mankind has ever known."

Spokesmen for L&I and the mayor's office did not return repeated requests for comment on Kenney's proposal yesterday.

The towing, or wreck-chasing, business came under renewed scrutiny last week when a driver from J & Son's Towing allegedly shot one from Mystical Complete Auto Service because the former thought the other was trying to swoop in on a job, police said.

Two days later, 13 cars on the J & Son's lot were torched and Mystical's offices were riddled with six bullets.

In the wake of the violence, the Police Department decided to issue calls for auto accidents over laptop computers in police cruisers instead of over police radio, which many wreck-chasers listened to in order to track accidents.

Jack Gaittens, deputy commissioner of organizational support services, who oversees the police radio room, said yesterday that he's had no complaints about the new system, but that he's heard rumors that wreck-chasers are now monitoring Fire Department radio bands for rescue or medical units to be dispatched to accidents.