NEW HAVEN, CT – Today, Mayor Justin Elicker, Police Chief Karl Jacobson, and Corporation Counsel Patricia King provided testimony before the Connecticut General Assembly’s Public Safety and Security Committee in support of S.B. 337, An Act Concerning Street Takeovers and the Illegal Use of Certain Vehicles.

The proposed legislation was jointly spearheaded by the City of New Haven, other municipal partners, and the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities (CCM). It would amend state statute to strengthen towns’ and cities’ ability to combat these issues by allowing them to:

• Destroy impounded dirt bikes and ATVs for violations of related municipal ordinances;
• Seize illegal dirt bikes and ATVs that have a lien on the vehicle;
• Issue fines to individuals for organizing, participating, and spectating in street takeover activities, with fines ranging from $1,000 to $2,000;
• Impound street takeover vehicles until they have paid appropriate fines and related charges;
• Receive a state grant for municipalities of at least $500,000 to support enforcement of street takeovers and illegal dirt bike and ATV operation.

The legislation would also improve license suspension consequences for street takeovers similar to those for individuals caught Driving Under the Influence, among other provisions. A full summary of the legislation from CCM can be found here.

“It is common knowledge that these issues pose a danger to our citizens that has increased over time. I am hopeful that these enhanced penalties will serve as a deterrent for those tempted to engage in this activity,” stated Mayor Elicker in his testimony. “I am proud to be mayor of a city that is striving to do more and to address the needs and safety concerns of our residents. In moving ahead with SB 337, municipalities will be provided with much-needed tools to address the issue of irresponsible and dangerous activity on our city streets.”

The City of New Haven has taken a proactive approach to combatting the illegal use of dirt bikes, ATVs, and other off-road vehicles through enhanced enforcement actions, legislative actions, coordinated regional actions, and improved technology and infrastructure. These measures include:

• Enacting an ordinance that levies increased fines and seizes the offending vehicles.
• Enacting an ordinance that levies fines to gas stations that service offending vehicles.
• Establishing a Joint Regional Task Force on Dirt Bikes and ATVs with Guilford, Hamden, New Haven, North Haven, Orange, Wallingford, West Haven, Woodbridge, and the Connecticut State Police, where each municipality dedicates law enforcement personnel; participates in weekly meetings; shares information and intelligence; collaborates to develop best practices; and coordinates joint operations to enforce related local and state laws and identify and apprehend those engaging in illegal activities.
• Deploying improved technology and infrastructure, including cameras, drones, and traffic calming measures such as speed humps.

To date, the City of New Haven and the Joint Regional Taskforce have seized 125 illegal dirt bikes, ATVs, and other off-road vehicles.

Today, Mayor Elicker (speaker #4), Corporation Counsel Patricia King (speaker #46), and Police Chief Karl Jacobson (speaker #48)  provided live testimony, which can be viewed here in numeric order. In addition, Mayor Elicker and Attorney King also submitted written testimony, which can be read below.

TESTIMONY OF NEW HAVEN MAYOR JUSTIN ELICKER BEFORE PUBLIC SAFETY AND SECURITY COMMITTEE IN SUPPORT OF SB 337 AN ACT CONCERNING STREET TAKEOVERS AND THE ILLEGAL USE OF CERTAIN VEHICLES.

Honorable Senator Gaston, Representative Boyd and members of the Public Safety and Security Committee, my name is Justin Elicker and I am the Mayor of the City of New Haven. I testify today to express my strong support for Raised Bill No 337 and a firm statewide commitment to tackle the problem of the dangerous operation of vehicles such as dirt bikes and ATV’s on our city streets and the emerging problem caused by street takeovers. It is common knowledge that both of these issues pose a danger to our citizens that has increased over time.

By way of background, New Haven enacted an ordinance upon passage of 14-390 regulating the use of dirt bikes, ATV’s and other similar vehicles, under which we were able to levy increased fines and seize the offending vehicles. However, the only method of disposal of these vehicles was to sell them at a public auction. This has proved not to be practical and has left the City with the need to store the 125 vehicles seized that we can’t dispose of. We fully support the proposed amendment that would give the City the option of destroying these vehicles, including those vehicles subject to or claim by an innocent owner or lienholder if not collected within 30 days of notice. These amendments relieve local police departments of the burden of storing these vehicles and provide assurance that the vehicles will not be used again on our City streets to endanger other motorists and pedestrians.

I also want to testify in full support of the proposed amendments to 14-224 relating to the recently-created offense of street takeovers. The amendment before you would increase the penalties for drivers who drive while their license is suspended due to a conviction for the street takeover and allow the police to impound vehicles involved in street takeovers until all fines and fees are paid. I am hopeful that these enhanced penalties will serve as a deterrent for those tempted to engage in this activity.

Finally, I testify in full support of Sec. 7 which would allow the Office of Policy and Management to administer a program that would provide grants to municipalities to increase resources available to local law enforcement agencies to tackle these problems.

I am proud to be mayor of a city that is striving to do more and to address the needs and safety concerns of our residents. In moving ahead with SB 337, you will provide much-needed tools for me and my peers in other communities to address the issue of irresponsible and dangerous activity on our city streets.

Thank you for your time and consideration and I strongly encourage your support.

Honorable Senator Gaston, Representative Boyd and members of the Public Safety and Security Committee, my name is Patricia King, and I am the Corporation Counsel for the City of New Haven. I join Mayor Elicker and our police Chief Karl Jacobson today to emphasize New Haven’s strong support for Raised Bill No 337. This bill works to improve upon the previous legislation and enhance consequences for those who violate local ordinances and state laws meant to address the public safety concerns posed by irresponsible operation of dirt bikes and ATV’s on our city streets and the emerging problem of street takeovers. It is common knowledge that both of these issues have increased over time in many communities in our state.

I am particularly grateful to have had an opportunity to work on this proposal with officials from other municipalities and staff at Connecticut Conference of Municipalities. Earlier in my career I held positions as a prosecutor and criminal defense attorney, so I have some understanding of our motor vehicles laws and what steps the legislature might take to impose penalties that would act as deterrents to this conduct. The reason that deterrence is important is that enforcement of these motor vehicle offenses is particularly challenging for law enforcement given the dangers and liability concerns of apprehending the offenders by means of police pursuits.

It was heartening to see the proposal for the increased penalty for driving under suspension for a conviction of the street takeover statute, modeled after the penalty that is already in effect for driving under suspension for a DUI conviction. License suspensions will increase with each conviction, similar to license suspensions following DUI convictions. This proposed change demonstrates the seriousness with which the legislature views these offenses, which is the right message to send to the public.

Also, the ability of police to impound vehicles involved in street takeovers until all fines and fees are paid will undoubtedly cause immediate inconvenience and expense to offenders. While it is impractical to give municipalities the ability to destroy cars involved in street takeovers, as we hopefully will be able to do with dirt bikes and ATV’s, the ability to impound them until all fees and fines are paid will interfere with the ability of offenders to access their cars for other everyday uses such as driving to work, school, etc. Educating the public about the dangers and increased penalties related to this conduct might act as an additional deterrent.

As I’m sure you heard from the Mayor and will hear from Chief Jacobson, I fully support the proposed amendment that would give the City the option of destroying these vehicles, including those vehicles subject to or claim by an innocent owner or lienholder if not collected within 30 days of notice. These amendments relieve local police departments of the burden of storing these vehicles and provide assurance that the vehicles will not reappear on our City streets to endanger other motorists and pedestrians.

Finally, I support the proposed amendment to 51-164n that would allow ordinance violations issued for these offenses to be processed by the Centralized Infractions Bureau. While the amendment appears silent this, we hope that the fine payments for ordinance violations can be remitted to the municipality whose ordinance was violated.

I am grateful for the opportunity to address you today on this effort to eliminate the dangers posed by irresponsible operation of dirt bikes and ATV’s on our City streets, and by street takeovers. I remain willing to work with this committee in any way that I can be helpful. With favorable action on SB 337, you will provide much-needed tools for our communities to address the issue of irresponsible and dangerous activity on our streets.

Thank you for your time and consideration and I strongly encourage your support.

PRESS CONTACTS

Lenny H. Speiller; (203) 725-4249; Lspeiller@newhavenct.gov