The Tucson Police Department is cracking down on illegal street racing and dangerous driving in response to hundreds of complaints from the community, officials said.
“We’re going to be increasing enforcement involving our motor officers and patrol officers, including late at night,” said Chief Chris Magnus at a news conference Thursday. “Our entire patrol command structure has made it clear that this is a priority, even if it requires rescheduling personnel or the use of overtime.”
The police crackdown was announced days after the Pima County Sheriff’s Department made a number of arrests at a large gathering of illegal racers just outside city limits during the weekend.
Police patrol officers will be assisted by the air unit to help track vehicles involved in illegal racing.
“We’ll also explore legislative options to toughen the consequences for this dangerous behavior,” Magnus said. “Our intention is to make this absolutely as expensive as possible for people. Because the rest of us are having to pay for their selfishness.”
Some of the difficulties of enforcing street racing were attributed to it occurring during the department’s busiest times of the week handling other calls for service, typically Fridays, Saturdays and late at night.
Penalties can range from civil fines to felony charges. From 2019 to 2020, citations for racing — which are misdemeanors — rose from seven to 17. This month citations have already surpassed the mark set in all of 2019.
“Over the last two years, 169 individuals have lost their lives on our streets, 40% of that is related to speed,” said Capt. James Scott, head of the traffic safety division. Currently, the department does not specify if illegal street racing was the cause of fatalities, only that speed was a factor.
“My traffic investigators are going out 1½ to two times a week to pick up the pieces, and it’s carnage, it’s horrific. Then after that, they go knock on someone’s door and tell them their loved one has lost their life — needless. Too many lives are being lost,” Scott said.
Video courtesy Pima County Sheriff's Department
In one case mentioned during the news conference, officers stopped a driver after catching him traveling at 133 mph northbound on South Kolb Road near East Valencia Road. The man was not only street racing with other individuals, but officers found the driver was under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
This problem has pushed the department to reach out to different agencies, including Pima County Sheriff’s Department to explore ways to combat the problem.
Last week, deputies arrested nearly 50 people on suspicion of participating in illegal drag races south of the Tucson city limits.
“We’re working with (our) divisions all across the city. We’re also working with our regional partners and coordinating efforts with the sheriff’s department, for example, this past weekend we did a deployment,” said Capt. Colin King, who works in the department’s patrol services bureau.
The police department is also calling for the public to assist them in their efforts, according to King. He said many drivers involved in the illegal activities congregate on private property or parking lots.
“We’re coordinating with those business owners, the property owners to make sure that they are aware of what’s happening, also to make sure that they know there’s potential liability if they don’t help us in the effort and something happens on their property,” King said.
Some ways property owners can help is blocking access to their parking lots making them inaccessible late at night, as well as adding trespassing and other signage to mark areas as off limits.
“Really it’s a group effort and we’re trying to engage all of our partners, not only law enforcement, like the chief says, prosecutors, other agencies, business owners and community members,” King said.
Community members can also report their findings in the department’s Safe Streets Initiative survey at bit.ly/39rLKLv to potentially help point police resources in the right direction.
Through the survey tool, community members can report on the location of the illegal events, behavior observed, and other useful information such as the identity of drivers and spectators involved.
Users can voluntarily provide contact email to allow the department to follow up.
The department also pushed the use of 88-CRIME, an anonymous tipster line, that will assist officers in stopping the illegal activity.
“We know it happens at some of the busiest hours, but please still call because it alerts our personnel who are working so that they can help address this public safety issue,” said Capt. Monica Prieto, who works in the department’s patrol services bureau.
