Q. Can a tow company tow away cars without police officers at the scene?

A. It depends on the circumstances.

For example, police do not need to be called to have cars on private property towed if the property owner has clearly posted a sign that includes information about which private company will tow the vehicles.

But if a vehicle is illegally parked on public property, a citation must be issued before the car can be towed.

Q. I live in Kailua and have noticed that people are parking within a car's length of a stop sign. I'm wondering if there's some type of law regarding parking before a stop sign.

A. Yes, there is. Cars need to be parked at least 30 feet away from stop signs.

If you want to report a vehicle parked too close to the stop sign, call 911.

Q. On Oct. 18 you told a reader to call 911 to report a noisy tow truck so the police can follow up with the registered owner. Isn't that a misuse of 911? I thought 911 was to be used to report emergencies, not complaints. This is not the first time that I have read or heard someone say to call 911 for non-emergency reasons. Is there a police non-emergency number that could be used instead?

A. You're right. A lot of times, people are told to call 911 to report violations that are not necessarily emergencies.

Currently, however, if you're reporting something you want police to respond to, then 911 is the number to call, whether you're reporting a life-threatening situation or someone parking too close to a stop sign.

You're not the only one who's concerned.

In his state of the city address this year, Mayor Mufi Hannemann reiterated a long-standing request for state funding to create a 311 call center, to take reports on problems like parking violations and barking dogs.

He said the city fields more than 1 million 911 calls a year and more than half are non-emergencies. While the Neighbor Islands have seven-digit non-emergency lines to call, on O'ahu there is only 911 to handle all calls for police, fire and emergency medical services.

As you mentioned, this can overload the system and can result in delays in responding to "real" emergencies.

Although this issue has been coming up in the Legislature since 2003, a bill that would allow the state to tack a surcharge on land and wireless phone lines to pay for a 311 system did not get a hearing in committee.

For this issue, I suggest calling your state lawmakers.