NEW HAVEN, Conn. — As summer inches closer, many may have noticed they are once again in the company of illegal guests on the roadways: illegal ATV's, dirt bikes, and drag racers. It's a problem all across Connecticut, and one New Haven leaders are trying to crack down on.
"The message here is, don't do this activity in New Haven, if you've done it before and haven't gotten caught, our goal is to catch you," said New Haven Mayor, Justin Elicker.
Elicker said police catch people illegally riding dirt bikes, ATVs, and drag racing on a regular basis.
"And this is really important for us to respond to because people are losing their lives. In addition to it being very disruptive and dangerous, last year, we had someone lose their life on Sargent Drive because of drag racing," Elicker said.
Elicker and other city leaders recently passed an ordinance, allowing police to ticket bad actors, and take their vehicles away from them. The first offense will cost someone $1,000, the second, $1,500, and on the third offense, they'd be hit with a $2,000 fine. The city can also fine gas stations for selling fuel to illegal riders.
"My sense is a lot of people that are riding dirt bikes and ATVs and drag racing, part of the joy of it is violating the law. And we need to be clear that you're disrupting our neighborhood, neighborhoods around the city, you're disrupting people that are just trying to live in peace, and you're making it very very dangerous for people," Elicker said.
Elicker said they're also working on infrastructure changes to make it "not fun" to drag race on city streets. In the coming month, Elicker said people can expect to see more speed tables on Sargant Dr.
"We do have technology. We have a lot of cameras set up, we have units that can follow them covertly," said Chief Karl Jacobson with the New Haven Police Department.
Jacobson said the department recently purchased five or six drones, which they will be using to track illegal riders. Jacobson said many of them are coming from out of state, using New Haven as their playground. Many of them getting together in massive groups and going on a joy ride.
"We've had several people killed on bikes. We've had other people injured. They come in and shut down intersections, it's something that we need to work on and we will work on," Jacobson said.
The police department also has a detail of officers, who focus on this problem at least once a week.
"It takes a lot of officers. To do it safely, it's got to be over ten officers. which is very personnel intensive," Jacobson said.
The problem is not exclusive to New Haven. It's happening all over the state. And now, lawmakers are trying to help out. They've introduced a new bill to create a state-wide task force.
"We need to do something. We can't continue to let this go on, because I know eventually, someone is going to get hurt," said State Rep. Gary Turco, representing Newington and New Britain.
Rep. Turco is a sponsor of the bill, as he has seen the issue first-hand while driving on the Berlin Turnpike. He said he was surrounded by a swarm of ATVs.
"It's not just, okay I have 100 vehicles going down the road together, it's that they are disobeying all of the traffic laws," Rep. Turco said.
The new bill would bring together state and local police. They would be focused solely on this issue in the greater Hartford area. It's something Rep. Turco realizes could take some time, and hundreds of thousands of dollars, but he thinks it's worth it.
"The public deserves to be able to walk and drive and bike in these communities, and not in the fear of these illegal convoys," Rep. Turco said.
In the meantime, though the task force won't be focused on New Haven, Chief Jacobson said he's in favor of the bill.
"We have task forces that work together for the violent crime, why not have one for ATV's? I totally support that. And then, I would give them a couple of people, and if everybody gave a couple of people, we'd have enough people to do it right," Jacobson said.
Right now, the bill is sitting in the Senate for further action. The money from it would go toward additional state police troopers, new officers for Hartford, and additional money for overtime, totaling about half a million dollars.
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