Over 5,000 parking tickets have been passed out by police officers in the Harvard Square area during the past two weeks, a spokesman for the Cambridge police said yesterday.

Traffic Lieut. Breen said that so many tickets were used that "the press ran dry and we had to order additional ones." "We have an adequate supply at present," he added.

Breen said that the police were ticketing all illegally parked cars but were especially concerned about cars parked overnight. "When it gets so that the fire and street departments can't perform their duties, we have to step in," Breen said.

The Lieutenant denied that the present rash of parking tickets is aimed at Summer School students or that it is the result of pressure from the city. "We are not acting on orders from anyone," Breen said, "we are just enforcing the law." Breen's stand contradicted rumors that the City Council has ordered a parking drive.

Warning summer school students who are not familiar with the Cambridge parking regulations, Breen said that "persistent violators and those who do not respond to traffic tickets can expect to have their cars towed away." He also pointed out that the police kept the license numbers of out-of-state violators on file "for future reference."

Violators, after a trip to the police station, are assessed up to $7.50 in towing charges, to which garage storage costs are added if the vehicle is not called for immediately.