Thomas Breen Photo
Illegal bikes seized this year by police.
Alders advanced an ordinance that would increase the maximum fine for speeding dirt bikers by a factor of more than 20 in hopes of offering relief to neighbors across town plagued by loud, dangerous riding.
The ordinance, which came before the Legislative Committee of the Board of Alders on Tuesday night, would raise the highest possible fine for riding a dirt bike, ATV, or other illegal motorized vehicle on New Haven streets from $99 to $2,000.
The committee voted to approve the measure, which will now come before the full Board of Alders for a “first read” and then a vote two weeks later, while suggested tweaks are explored.
Assistant Police Chief Karl Jacobson and Chief Administrative Officer Scott Jackson pitched the draft legislation as a pivot away from arresting dirt bikers — and a shift towards deterrence methods that have worked in other Connecticut cities.
The New Haven Police Department has argued that it would expand the scope of alternative tools outside of the criminal justice system.
The ordinance also allows police officers to confiscate bikes in the moment, rather than going through a judge. And it institutes a fine of $100 for gas stations that repeatedly sell fuel to dirt bikers.
Alders generally praised the premise of shifting from arrests to harsh fines. But they raised concerns about the discretion that the draft ordinance affords police officers who would be enforcing it.
They voted unanimously to recommend the ordinance while committing to refining certain phrases before the full Board of Alders takes a final vote.
Jacobson, who submitted the ordinance, said the new law is meant to address a persistent, wide-reaching concern that New Haveners have voiced over loud, sometimes reckless dirt bikers who often travel in groups of 25 to 50 riders.
The combination of steep fines and penalties for gas stations that sell to bikers was inspired by similar policies in New London and Hartford. According to the police departments of those cities, Jacobson said, those policies have been effective in radically reducing dirt bike rates.
Dixwell Alder Jeanette Morrison and East Rock/Fair Haven Alder Charles Decker pressed Jacobson to send specific data on the efficacy of these deterrence methods.
Under the new ordinance, police would be able to issue fines of up to $1,000 for a first violation, up to $1,500 for a second violation, and up to $2,000 for further violations.
Part of the equation is that, according to police, a majority of the dirt bikers that ride in New Haven’s streets come from out of town. The thought behind making New Haven a less dirt-bike-friendly place is to encourage non-residents to find a different place to ride.
“If you’re a rider from out of town and you’re gonna get a fine, and you’re not gonna be able to get gas, then you’re not gonna come to New Haven to ride,” Jacobson said.
The New Haven Police Department currently has a no-chase policy regarding the bikers, premised on the notion that driving after a dirt bike group poses the risk of a potentially deadly accident. This policy won’t change with the ordinance, Jacobson clarified.
The no-chase rule makes it difficult for police to track down every single dirt biker in a given group, according to Jacobson. But officers are sometimes able to photograph a few bikers, or follow them home, and make after-the-fact arrests. Out of a group of 50 bikers, Jacobson suggested as an example, the police might be able to arrest four.
“That’s why I believe [the fine] has to be so high,” Jacobson said. The few individuals whom the police do catch up with need to be impacted enough to send a message to their fellow bikers, he argued.
“I know the thousand dollar fine is high, but I think it’s a better alternative,” Jacobson added. “We can’t solve this problem through arrests.”
Tuesday night’s Legislation Committee convened on Zoom.
Dwight Alder Frank Douglass said he isn’t so sure that the steep fines are necessary. “I believe it’s implementing a harsh fine, and it promotes a negative attitude towards our citizens,” Douglass said. He asked whether the police department had tried engaging the bikers in community conversations.
Jacobson said that he has attended public forums about the issue of dirt biking, but hasn’t seen more than a few riders at any given event.
“I think there’s very few riders in New Haven that will get that ticket and ride again in New Haven,” he argued. “I kind of struggled with [the increased fine] myself, but in talking to New London and Hartford, they said ‘Yeah, we have to go there.’”
Fair Haven Heights Alder Rosa Ferraro-Santana asked whether the city has considered carving out a designated park or trail for dirt bikers to ride safely, away from others.
Jacobson responded that he didn’t believe insurance companies would be willing to cover such a project.
He also expressed doubt as to whether providing a legal space to ride would deter bikers from using public streets. “I think part of the thrill is riding down main street, popping wheelies, and going by the police,” he said.
Dixwell Alder Jeanette Morrison voiced her support for the intention behind the law, stressing the urgency of the matter. A relative of hers was killed in a dirt bike accident, she said.
“Hopefully, this will send a message to say, ‘Cut it out,’” she said. “We just don’t want anyone to get hurt, we don’t want the people who are riding these dirt bikes to get hurt and we don’t want anyone to get hurt because they happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Thomas Breen Photo
The scene of a 2019 dirt bike crash that hospitalized both parties involved.
Digging into the particularities of the proposal, Westville Alder Richard Furlow raised concerns about unclear wording, naming a host of specific phrases that left too much up to interpretation.
For one, he noted, the law states that an imposed fine could be “up to” $1,000 for first-time offenders. This wording leaves a vast range of fines that any given rider could be charged.
He also pointed out that it was unclear whether gas stations that serve dirt bikers would face fines of $100 per bike or per group of bikers.
Jacobson did not give a definitive clarification to this second concern, but he suggested that it would make sense to fine the gas stations per group of bikers. “We’re gonna fine appropriately and respectfully,” he said. “It’s not to make money for the city.”
Morrison agreed that these parts of the ordinance that were left to the “discretion of the police officer” should be clarified, in order to ensure a fair and unbiased enforcement of the law.
Not everyone might be inclined toward a generous interpretation of the ordinance, she said. “You might catch a police officer nice and early in the morning with a good attitude … [or you] might catch a police officer late at night with a bad attitude.”
Furlow also took issue with part of the ordinance that outlines the process through which dirt bike owners could challenge the seizure of their vehicles. The draft places “Chief of Police or his/her designee” in charge of the hearings.
“I’m just a little concerned that there’s not a third party,” Furlow said. “If I get a ticket from a police officer, I’m not gonna go to a police officer for the hearing. It doesn’t make sense to me.”
CAO Jackson replied that the hearing officers would be separate from the arresting officers.
Later in the meeting, as alders discussed the ordinance, Furlow suggested that the wording should specify this distinction.
“I don’t think the Chief of Police is the right one to hear any kind of grievance,” he said.
After alders voted to recommend the ordinance, Furlow and Decker said they will work with Jacobson to amend the proposal before it comes up for a final vote.