Allan Appel photo / Thomas Breen photo
Asst. Chief Jacobson, left, and Serfilippi at Thursday’s meeting. Below: The wreckage of a May dirt bike crash downtown.
City police plan to increase the fine for illegally riding a dirt bike or ATV in city streets to $1,000 for a first-time offense. Then to $1,500 for a second-time offense. Then to $2,000 for a third-time offense.
Top brass discussed that proposal, along with many others, Thursday night at a community meeting dedicated to how local law enforcement hopes to curb illegal dirt bike riding in town.
The meeting took place at the municipal office building at 200 Orange St., and was hosted by Our New Haven founder and Westville Democratic alder candidate Denis Serfilippi.
Newly minted Assistant Police Chief Karl Jacobson previewed the draft legislation for a crowd of around 20 concerned New Haveners. He said the police, the mayor’s office, and the alders are currently working on adding the proposed fine update, as well as several other measures, to an amended city dirt bike ordinance designed to address the chronic and dangerous problem of dirt bike and ATV riders speeding through city streets. He said the proposed updates are modeled largely off of a similar ordinance recently implemented in New London.
The ”>current city ordinance imposes a fine of up to $99 for people illegally operating dirt bikes, and a fine of up to $50 for passengers on illegally operating dirt bikes.
Meeting attendees, librarians Sharon Lovett-Graff and Seth Godfrey.
In addition to the increased fines, Jacobson said the amended ordinance would requiring all gas stations in the city as well as vehicle sellers to post signs that riding ATVs and dirt bikes on city roads is illegal, to deny selling them gas, and to fine a seller or service station who doesn’t comply $100 for each lapse. He said the police also hope to more rapidly ticket bikes with civil violations, which requires a much lower burden of proof than criminal violations, and could lead to getting more bikes off the streets faster.
“The state says you can’t seize a bike unless it is subject to a criminal violation,” Jacobson told a concerned and supportive audience. “This ordinance gives us more teeth than the state law. This gives us an option to not criminally charge, but a fine that is a real hit.”
While officers under the proposed changes could still charge offenders criminally, shifting the enforcement focus to civil violations would enable officers to write a ticket, for example, based on evidence like a photograph or a video, and then hit the offender — or his parents if the offender is under age, for example, and the vehicle owner is the parent — with a serious monetary fine.
“It’s better than the court system,” said Jacobson, with creative opportunities for deterrence, such as more seriously involving parents of young riders.
The object, said city police Det. Christian Bruckhart, who accompanied Jacobson Thursday night, is “not to arrest but to remove the bikes from the road.”
Bruckhart and Jacobson, at the meeting’s outset.
Jacobson said the legislative changes, which are working their way through Corporation Counsel and the aldermanic process, will also be accompanied by some technological initiatives.
While he did not want to discuss them yet, Jacobson did say, with more than whimsy, “When I see a drone buzzing through Edgewood Park, I’ll be happy.
For his part, Bruckhart has written comments, over the years, in the Independent’s comments section on the deployment of drones in police work.
Most of the hour-and-a-half conversation focused on the changes in the law being proposed. At a March meeting that Serfilippi had convened, concern was expressed that changes shouldn’t target young, minority riders.
Although the research the department has shows that the riders are of all backgrounds and range generally in age from 18 to 35, Jacobson said, the assistant chief returned with draft legislation that does not “criminalize it, but we want to make sure they stop riding.”
Audience members supported the deterrent efforts but had questions, for example, about how a gas station owner could respond if a whole mass of riders show up.
With Edgewood Ave resident Marc Samuel
“How can a gas station enforce it — with one attendant?” asked Westvillian Sharon Lovett-Graff.
“He has to turn on the gas,” said Jacobson.
The assistant chief was also at pains to say the roll out would engage the gas station owners and support them. “We’ll put our cameras on the gas station, there are seven people there, that’s $700,” he said.
“I’ve talked to a gas station on Whalley,” said Serfilippi, “and they don’t want to serve [when a crowd of ATV riders shows up].”
“Now this [approach] gives [the gas station owner] incentive. This is a fix everyone can get behind,” said Jacobson.
A resident from across the city — she did not want to identify herself but said she lives near the bird sanctuary in the Bishop Woods section of town — said she has been dealing with ATV riders plaguing her dead-end street for two decades. “And kids and their parents do quads together,” she said.
Jacobson was familiar with her and her corner of the problem. “We came there, we yelled at them,” he said, of enforcement efforts from years gone by.
“There is no perfect fix,” she said, incredulous that parents would buy these vehicles for their kids and also ride along with them.
“This may help you. We can go up there and write a ticket for $1,000. This may be the fix for them. I’ll tell Lt. Rentkowicz [the district manager of the area] to write tickets. The burden of proof is less,” Jacobson added.
“I live near Edewood Park. Could signs be posted?” asked Lovett-Graff.
“Yes,” replied Jacobson.
“What about riding in parks and on sidewalks?” Lovett-Graff said.
Yes, Jacobson said, reading from a draft of the bill’s language changes, “Yes, schools, parks, sidewalks. But the kicker is ‘knowingly permit’ someone, which means you can get to the parents. We could write parents tickets. This allows us to be creative.”
Bruckhart said he grew up in New Haven and there have always been dirt bikes. They were manageable because the groups were small. However, social media allows meet-ups, leading to larger groups, and ways to conceal and mask identities from the authorities.
“If you start seizing [and fining], New Haven gets the reputation. If bikes get seized, they will go [elsewhere.} If we roll this out and it doesn’t work, we’ll keep trying. If this [even just] prevents mass rides, that’s a win,” Bruckhart added.
It’s too late for the bill, assuming it becomes law, to have an effect this summer. But it will be available and the basis for new deterrence for next summer, Jacobson said.