The wreck-chasers have been using the scanners to circumvent what is supposed to be fair assigning of registered towing operators to disabled vehicles.
(Emphasis on "supposed to." Exhibit A: In the two years that AAA-MidAtlantic has had towing operators on the city's joke of a rotation list, it said that
it has received just one call from police for a tow - and that's out of 4,392 accidents in 2009 alone. A free pizza to anyone who can explain that corrupt math.)
The change was suggested by Councilman Frank Rizzo, who told the Inquirer, "This pulls the plug on their ability to get information."
This is where Granma Veronica, if she were alive, might break into song. Because Rizzo made the same suggestion eight years ago, when he worked with police in Northwest Philly to break up wreck-chaser wars there.
The embargo, limited to the Northwest, worked while it was in place, he told me yesterday. But it was eventually abandoned, during a change in police leadership.
"I think there might have been pressure from owners of auto- body shops," he says.
Nothing like caving in to those who make a living exploiting the bloodied and vulnerable.
This time around, the accident-news blackout is citywide and has the support of Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey, who approved the idea within hours of Rizzo's suggesting it to Deputy Police Commissioner Jack Gaittens, Rizzo says.
"This should take care of the problem," says the councilman.
Until, of course, some enterprising cop or dispatcher alerts tow-truck buddies, for a fee, of a juicy new wreck in need of an expensive tow. Because - c'mon - this is Philly.
But God bless Rizzo for trying. When it comes to towing reforms, the poor man has pounded his head against the wall so often, he could sell it for cheap as a scratch-and-dent.
