Policechangetactics tofightstreetracing

Proactive action quickly yields 202 citations as concerns for safety grow.

APD’s proactiveapproach quicklyyields202citationsfor recklessdrivingandother traffic offffffenses as safetyconcernsrise.

TheAtlanta PoliceDepartment changed its tactics to combat street racing over the weekend, top offifficials said, a step aimed at addressing growing concerns fromresidents andbusinessowners about safety and noise on the city’s streets.

Inapresentation tomembersof the Atlanta City Council onMonday afternoon, interim ChiefRodney Bryant said offifficers issued 202 citations for reckless driving, laying drag and other traffific offffffffffffenses. That’s double what the department gave out the previous weekend, though many cases are not moving forward while the city’s court is closed due to the pandemic.

“Our strategy has changed some as of this week,” Bryant said to the Council’s public safety committee. Rather than wait for a neighbor or bystander to call 911, police are taking amore proactive approach. “What we’re doing now is going into areas that we clearly recognize are the favorite spots for some of these drag racers and some of these speedsters.”

“Street racing,” a catch- all term that often involves drivers loudly driving in tight circles amidst a cheering crowd, has been a concern among Atlanta’s residents and offifficials for years, but it saw an uptick this year. They are largely coordinated through socialmedia, drawing spectators and others to video the stunts.

Over the summer and into the fall, many residents — especially in Buckhead, Midtown and Old Fourth Ward — have grown increasingly fed up andworried about their safety on the roads.

At the start of the committee meeting Monday, councilmembers heard over an hour and a half of comments fromresidents who urged the city to do more to stop the street racing. Words like “unsafe,” frightening” and “lawlessness” came up multiple times.

“We are so afraid someone