Beneath not too long ago handed laws, police stings just like the one at this northwest Atlanta Kroger in late February may lead to larger penalties for individuals arrested on road racing-related prices. However critics query whether or not the brand new statewide measure will curtail the criminal activity, and fear it can disproportionately goal individuals of shade.
State lawmakers handed the road racing invoice on the finish of this yr’s legislative session, with bipartisan help within the Home and Senate. It additionally has the endorsement of Gov. Brian Kemp, who publicly backed the invoice throughout a February press convention, although he has not stated when he may signal it into legislation. The governor’s workplace stated Wednesday it’s reviewing the invoice.
The brand new measure follows makes an attempt by police departments and metropolis governments in metro Atlanta to crack down on “road racing,” a catch-all time period that includes harmful driving in parking heaps or on roads, or doing stunts in entrance of a cheering crowd. Authorities say the exercise, which noticed an uptick in 2020 because the pandemic emptied parking heaps and streets, endangers drivers and pedestrians and the noise is a nuisance for close by residents.
The measure, House Bill 534, permits authorities to droop the licenses of some violators for as much as a yr and requires penalties as excessive as $5,000. It creates the offense of “reckless stunt driving” and permits authorities to grab automobiles which might be concerned. Repeat offenders might be charged with a felony and face extra jail time.
A automobile is impounded within the metropolis of South Fulton following what authorities stated was a road racing bust.
“What it does is it actually targets the people who find themselves immune to stopping,” Atlanta interim police Chief Rodney Bryant stated concerning the new legislation. “I feel that it will likely be very useful in deterring this kind of exercise.”
Atlanta is one in every of a number of cities throughout metro Atlanta which have handed legal guidelines to extend penalties for road racing, although the brand new state legislation will seemingly supersede most of the native ordinances. The Atlanta Metropolis Council handed a measure in August that levied fines of as much as $1,000 in opposition to individuals who attend to observe a road racing-related occasion, even when they’re not in a automobile. Atlanta additionally requires individuals arrested for road racing to see a decide before they can be released on bond, often inside 24 to 48 hours of their arrest.
Police departments have additionally poured extra assets into enforcement, as evidenced by Atlanta’s deployment of a police helicopter to trace suspected road racers. Some current stings have gone a lot additional. In Clayton County, authorities arrested 102 individuals in mid-March after getting stories that automobiles had been doing doughnuts in a Sam’s Membership car parking zone. A couple of quarter of these arrested had been juveniles, some as young as 11.
Final weekend in South Fulton, over 80 people were arrested and 45 cars were impounded in what police stated was a road racing bust.
Critics of the state’s new invoice embrace civil rights advocates and people in Atlanta’s automobile scene. They’re skeptical new legal guidelines shall be efficient in truly stopping individuals from road racing and fear enhanced punishments will solely result in extra younger auto lovers having prison information.
“I don’t assume it can deter individuals,” stated Devin Barrington-Ward, an ally of the “automobile fanatic” neighborhood in Atlanta. “It’s a revolving door and nothing has modified.”
He acknowledged laying drag or racing on public streets might be harmful, however stated meetups amongst automobile followers principally contain individuals parked in rather a lot and displaying off their rides. He worries concerning the attainable unintended penalties if police crack down on such occasions, the place Barrington-Ward stated reckless, unsafe driving is comparatively uncommon.
“It’s additionally a problem of race,” stated Barrington-Ward, an Atlanta resident and the founding father of the Black Futurists Group, a social justice group. “We all know nearly all of those that are within the automobile fanatic neighborhood are Black and brown.”
An Atlanta Journal-Structure evaluation of Atlanta police information exhibits how the division has ramped up enforcement during the last 5 months. It additionally suggests the exercise has not died down following the winter months — even after the Atlanta Metropolis Council heightened penalties.
Road racing enforcement in Atlanta
The variety of road racing-related visitors stops, citations, arrests and impounds each weekend for the final 5 months in Atlanta
Supply: Atlanta Police Division
The variety of road racing citations and arrests elevated in late February into March; over one three-day span in early March, the weekend Atlanta hosted the NBA All-Star Sport, Atlanta police made 36 road racing-related arrests and issued over 300 citations.
The brand new legislation can be much like Georgia’s DUI statutes and contains punishments for anybody who “promotes or organizes” drag racing occasions, stated state Sen. Emanuel Jones, a Democrat whose district contains components of DeKalb and Henry counties. The invoice doesn’t embrace penalties for merely watching a drag racing occasion.
“The invoice units up not simply the takedown of these which might be racing, however can be set as much as take down the group as nicely,” Jones stated, including that he’s hopeful the automobile seizure and license suspension provisions shall be efficient in stopping repeat offenders.
In Midtown Atlanta, Courtney Smith has grown pissed off by the noise and attainable hazard posed by road racing. The president of the Midtown Neighbors’ Affiliation, she welcomes the passage of the statewide invoice however urged courts to pursue the upgraded punishments.
“The police can cite offenders all day lengthy,” Smith stated, “however till guilt is confirmed and punishment is utilized to the crime, there isn’t a deterrent.”
However advocates like Barrington-Ward and Marissa Dodson, the general public coverage director on the Southern Heart for Human Rights, have urged lawmakers to work with automobile lovers as an alternative of simply ramping up enforcement. They fear seizing automobiles might be dangerous to these arrested and their households, and have instructed metro Atlanta governments discover methods to permit drivers to assemble and do stunts legally and safely.
That might include its personal authorized and logistical points, although comparable packages have been instituted across the nation. Police departments from Florida to California have hosted occasions during which the general public can race officers on a drag strip. And police within the Detroit space have shut down a portion of a road for a popular legal street racing event yearly.
“Being as punitive and harsh as you’ll be able to doesn’t truly assist the scenario,” Dodson stated, “as a result of the problems are a lot deeper than that.”
