Police to take on street racers
Houston police officers will compete against local drivers in a race Saturday after arresting some of those same drivers for allegedly racing on Houston streets last week.
The Houston Police Officers Union accepted an invitation to have officers join Saturday’s race at 105 Speedway in Cleveland after the union was “trolling (racers) pretty hard” on their Facebook page, according to Randy Seals, who was arrested early in the morning of March 16. Court records show Seals was charged with misdemeanor racing on the highway.
Seals, 43, said he challenged the union to join a dirt track race he and his friends were planning after he got home from jail and saw that the union had posted pictures and videos of the arrests on their Facebook page.
“When I first got out I thought ‘oh my goodness this is so embarrassing ...’ but then I figured the only way to deal with it was to roll with it, so I got on their Facebook and said ‘we’re having a race ... if you want to show us how tough you are then come out and have the same energy you had when you were throwing us in the back,’ ” Seals said.
He was surprised when the union promptly accepted his challenge, and he received a call from union president Douglas Griffith. Seals and his friends are now in the process of refurbishing two Crown Victoria cruisers for the officers to use.
“I talked to him for about an hour, they’re all nice guys. We were just doing what we ain’t supposed to be doing,” Seals said.
The union has been heavily promoting Saturday’s race on their Facebook page, teasing other racers and documenting the construction of their cars, which have been customized with decals of bacon, donuts and phrases like “stop resisting” — often used by officers using
force to make arrests, including in some incidents of police brutality.
Griffith, the police union president, did not immediately return a request for comment. The union is positioning the showdown on Facebook as an example of “community policing.”
“Randy is setting a good example for everyone involved and represents the Houston area with honor. We’re happy to participate with and promote legal racing in our community. We’re excited to meet everyone and build more bridges not barriers,” the union wrote in a Facebook comment on Seals’s profile.
A Houston Police Department spokesman declined to comment on Saturday’s race, saying it was a union affair.
Scores of people, including Seals, were arrested during illegal races following TX2K23 events at the Houston Speedway last week. TX2K is a legal racing series which draws thousands of motorsports enthusiasts to the Baytown racetrack each year, often leading to other, unsanctioned races in the area.
Fifty-three people were charged with racing, 43 were charged with evading arrest, 47 were charged with reckless driving and 11 were charged with deadly conduct over the course of the event, according to the union.
Seals said Griffith promised to approach Mayor Sylvester Turner to discuss the possibility of hosting legal street races in Houston. Street racers currently travel to other municipalities for sanctioned races, Seals said, where authorities block off the streets and have medical services on hand in exchange for a boost to their revenue.
Turner’s office did not immediately respond to a question about whether that would be something the mayor would consider.