PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia police are expecting another busy weekend trying to curb the illegal use of ATVs, dirt bikes and dune buggies on city streets and other public spaces.
Law enforcement, community groups and elected officials are banding together to find a solution to this illegal activity, which appears to be growing in popularity.
As such, a bill was introduced in City Council Thursday that would redefine an existing ordinance, in which dirt bikes and dune buggies would fall under the same language as ATVs.
Under the current ordinance, illegal ATV riders can face stiff penalties, but the consequences for dirt bikers are not as strict.
City Councilmember Mark Squilla is co-sponsoring the bill.
“We sort of had a gap in our legislation that didn’t treat all of these illegal vehicles the same,” he explained. “So what this legislation will actually do is it will group all of the illegal vehicles into one form and then give the police the authority to confiscate them.”
Deputy Police Commissioner Joe Dales said there are enforcement limitations when it comes to ATVs versus dirt bikes.
“We confiscated a dirt bike last month. It was either this week or last week, we wound up confiscating that same dirtbike again. And if you notice, there’s been an increase of dirt bikes on the street opposed to ATVs,” he said. “There’s a very small number of ATVs being returned to the owner opposed to the dirt bikes.”
Riders drive through neighborhoods across Philadelphia. The Queen Village Neighbors Association, for example, hosted a public video meeting about the nuisance on Wednesday. More than 1,000 concerned neighbors attended.
Officers cannot pursue these riders unless they are suspected of a serious crime. Nonetheless, the Philadelphia Police Department has confiscated more than 200 illegal vehicles since March, including both ATVs and dirt bikes.
The department is asking the public to get involved by reporting illegal vehicle activity or knowledge of where vehicles are being stored. Call or text 215-686-TIPS.