Atlanta Police Crack Down on Street Racing

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Atlanta police impounded 29 vehicles over the weekend as they look to put an end to street racing.

The Atlanta Police Department took a big step forward in their efforts to stop street racing and reckless driving in Atlanta. The department, with help from several state and local law enforcement agencies, completed a weekend-long operation that resulted in the arrest of 44 people for activities related to street racing.

Led by its Contingency Operations Division, APD carried out a comprehensive strategy for tracking illegal driving activities that leveraged the department’s intelligence, technology and personnel capabilities. In addition to the arrests, officers issued 114 citations, impounded 29 vehicles, and recovered four firearms, including a semi-automatic refile.

In a statement, police Chief Erika Shields pledged that APD will continue to deal with speeders and reckless drivers who have shown a complete disregard for the safety of others with their dangerous antics.

“This weekend, with the help of our law enforcement partners, we made inroads. We will continue to impound, arrest and seek costly fines for those individuals who choose Atlanta for this senseless behavior,” Shields said.

Police made arrests and issued citations at several locations throughout the city that have been hotspots for such activity in the past, including interstates and Spring Street in Midtown. Some of the traffic offenses include laying drag, speeding, reckless driving, DUI, drinking in public and marijuana possession.

Officers and investigators from several different APD departments worked with zone patrol officers to intercept and address illegal activity by street racers as they gathered over the weekend in a variety of locations. During their operation, APD received assistance from the Georgia State Patrol, Clayton and Fulton County sheriff's offices and the city of Atlanta Department of Corrections.

“We could not have done this without the assistance of these agencies, and our ability to work together toward our common goal to stop these behaviors on local streets and highways,” said Deputy Chief Terrell Griffin, commander of the Contingency Operations Division. “It truly was a team effort.”