Description
ATVs and dirt bikes roaring up and down Front St this afternoon, an unfortunate rite of spring despite even state legislative attempts to crack down. Any word from the new Fair Haven sub-station sargenton efforts to confiscate the bikes so far this year. Seems a thin harvest so far judging by today's activity.
32 Comments
Anon (Guest)
i LITERALLY just hit one of them with my car. Thankfully it was only a clip with my sideview mirror, but I could have killed the kid! He decided I wasn't moving fast enough (WHILE TAKING A RIGHT TURN INTO A GAS STATION) and so he went up on the sidewalk to pass me on the right WHILE I WAS TAKING A RIGHT TURN!!!
I know its probably insanely hard for police officers to catch these guys. They have the ability to move a lot more quickly and get away and there's no real identifying features on their bikes, but this is ridiculous!
FairHavener (Guest)
FairHavener (Guest)
Westville mom (Guest)
Willy (Guest)
L'occitane (Guest)
Willy (Guest)
Miguel (Guest)
Artman (Registered User)
Neighbor (Registered User)
Easthavenrunner (Registered User)
I did... I wasn't going to wait around for an officer to come by, the cops are busy as hell today and the kid was LONG GONE.
I called the police to let them know what happened and the direction they were moving in, etc.
This is REALLY scary. I mean, they were going really @#$% fast!!!!
Easthavenrunner (Registered User)
Sure, calling helps make sure the officers are aware of it, but honestly, it's a VERY difficult thing for them to stop since these people are so brazen as to drive down the wrong side of the road. An officer isn't going to want to create a highspeed chase with these idiots. It just sucks.
The best bet is to follow them from a distance and try and find where they hang out as a group, but a police officer will have to do that because if they're just sitting around they can't arrest or stop them without having an actual reason.
Artman (Registered User)
Easthavenrunner (Registered User)
I don't think that the police officers are sitting back laughing about it and completely ignoring it because they don't care. It's a REALLY difficult situation. What are they supposed to do? Are they going to chase them through downtown traffic creating a potential fatal accident not only for the riders but for an innocent motorist?
The ONLY thing you can do is require registration which would allow police officers to stop people who are NOT moving and ask for registration and if no registration, they get ticketed, etc. That said, I think this is a state thing and not a city thing (petitioning for requirement of registration of these small vehicles).
Registration and plates would be the #1 best case scenario, so instead of inundating the insanely overworked police officers, lets petition the law makers. It's the ONLY way this will get done.
Did you know that the police force is short about 20 officers and each graduating class/ retiring period is loosing MORE! The officers themselves are doing the best they can.
Easthavenrunner (Registered User)
ronny (Registered User)
Guest (Registered User)
NewHavenJude (Registered User)
Easthavenrunner (Registered User)
ronny (Registered User)
Easthavenrunner (Registered User)
I'm not a cop. I have friends who are police officers though. LOGIC should show how hard it would be for a police officer in a car to actually chase down and catch a kid on a speeding dirt bike who has no fear of weaving in and out of traffic.
it's protocol for police officers to give up a chase if the chase means that someone (including the person being chased) can get hurt. Period.
If you want to complain about what your tax dollars are getting, do it. But don't blame the few police officers who are actually busting their own @#$% in the streets. It's not them. its the @#$% budget that is making it more and more difficult to police this town.
FairHavener (Registered User)
rscinto (Registered User)
The situation puts police between a rock and a hard place because they aren't allowed to chase, which means that evidence against riders has to be gathered in the form of surveillance and then a warrant comes out later.
http://www.nhregister.com/general-news/20130607/total-of-9-arrested-in-new-haven-crackdown-on-illegal-atv-off-road-riding
Chief Esserman said that he would be putting the same resources into play to nab the illegal riders.
I'm writing a story for the Register about the issue and was hoping to talk to some concerned residents. My email is rscinto@nhregister.com
Easthavenrunner (Registered User)
@FairHavener - that's an interesting article. Kind of made me worried in a sense for the kids who do just happen to have dirt bikes that AREN'T being @#$% with them. I have friends that ride bikes on actual courses that are meant for them but they aren't registered (because they don't go on the street). If they got pulled over, would their bikes get confiscated while trailing it?
The whole thing is a cluster @#$% and boils down to responsibility and a level of respect and passion for one's own neighborhood. These kids CLEARLY have zero respect or pride for their neighborhoods, so maybe the easier answer is - how do we create a place where they can have pride in their neighborhoods?
Would a town managed motor bike park be a fix? MAYBE. Yes, they would still need to get their bikes to and from the park which means they might be on the streets, but the fact that they are on the streets isn't REALLY the issue. It's the fact that they are riding the streets dangerously, and they are riding dangerously because they don't give a @#$% about their neighborhood and neighbors. Something that these kids can call their own could help cultivate that. Hunting them down with police officers is certainly NOT doing it.
Boy.. i'm definitely torn on this issue now.
I think that overall Fair Haven needs a rash of positivity and pride. With that comes nothing but good things. The younger kids need something to do, somewhere to go.
If we have a park, it will put all of those kids in one place where ONE officer can oversee without having to chase them through the streets. Seems more efficient to me.
Trumbull, CT has done VERY VERY well in getting kids (motor bike riders and BMXers off their streets and public property and into official courses)
FairHavener (Registered User)
Easthavenrunner (Registered User)
Sure, of course. HOWEVER if you are stopping people who are not currently riding and have done nothing wrong that anyone has seen, you can STILL be stopped and asked for regstration. IE: The news story showed that a police officer pulled over a guy who had his dirt bike in the back of his pickup truck just because he had a dirt bike. Now sure, it was stolen ultimately, but thats' basically assuming everyone who is driving around New Haven with a dirt bike legally in the trunk of their truck is guilty of at LEAST looking guilty/ being pulled over. It's basically a "stop and frisk" method for dirt bikes. If you LOOK like you might be doing something wrong, we're going to stop you. In my opinion, that's only going to hurt the people who already feel dejected from their community so much so that they don't give a @#$% about ruining it with their bikes. Making them hate the police officers and their neighbors more isn't going to help.
I think my point is that if there WAS a legal place to ride in New Haven (or close by for those kids who don't have trucks / parents to drive them) then we could probably remove a LOT of those kids from the road. They only ride through the roads like that because they're looking for a thrill.. Lets give them a legal thrill. They are, after all, still just kids. ALL of the ones i've seen on those bikes are at the most High School age.
It's just some food for thought.. because chasing them down is NOT an option. Asking everyone who is at a stand still with a dirt bike is borderline "stop and frisk" territory.. and NONE of those options fix the underlying issue of a blatant disrespect for one's own community.
Catherine (Registered User)
Artman (Registered User)
City of New Haven (Verified Official)
Edgewood Villager (Registered User)
If you know where dirt bikes, quads and ATVs are garaged, report it to the New Haven Police ATV hotline at (203) 946-6098. Or, call your NHPD district manager. By reporting where these cars ATV and dirt bikes are stored, your district manager can build a case for getting a search warrant and eventually they will be able to confiscate the machines. But, first they need to build a case. They need to gather evidence.
For example, in the Edgewood/Dwight Neighborhood it is Sgt. Steve Torquati at (203) 946-7597. In the Whalley, Edgewood, Beaver Hills (WEB) Neighborhood it is Lt. Makiem Miller at (203) 589-3318 or mmiller@newhavenct.net. They will investigate and can confiscate the vehicles.
You can also contact your LCI neighborhood specialist. In Edgewood/Dwight, contact Tracy Claxton at (203) 946-2857 or TClaxton@newhavenct.net.
Then, contact your alderman to put pressure on the city to make this issue a priority for the police. The Edgewood ward is ward 24: call Evette Hamilton at (203) 508-5426 orWard24@newhavenct.net.
Edgewood Villager (Registered User)
If you know where dirt bikes, quads and ATVs are garaged, report it to the New Haven Police Criminal Intel Unit. The officer in charge is:
Sergeant Karl Jacobson
New Haven Police Department
Criminal Intel Unit/Narcotics
One Union Ave, New Haven CT
phone: (203) 946-6098
Fax: (203) 946-6293
e-mail: kjacobson@newhavenct.net
He will respond to emails and calls. If you report a known ATV or dirt bike location to him, he will investigate and confiscate the machines.
Closed Manager of Operations, Process Improvement - Transportation, Traffic, & Parking (Verified Official)
For information on storage locations of ATVs and other illegal vehicles, please call (203)946-6098 (reports can be made anonymously). Community members are always welcome to notify their respective District Manager; however, it’s important that people don’t telephone their District Manager to report an incident which is currently taking place, but instead telephone the incident into the non-emergency line to have officers dispatched. We appreciate your concern and help in addressing this matter.