Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - The City of Buffalo reported another successful Memorial Day weekend police detail, cracking down on illegal dirt bikes and ATVs operating on city streets.
"Over the Memorial Day weekend, we seized 31 ATVs and dirt bikes," Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown announced Tuesday afternoon. "This detail comes out of complaints from residents of the City of Buffalo of these illegal vehicles being on the streets of our city. It's not just that the ATVs and dirt bikes are illegally operating in the city, it's that they are putting their lives and the lives of other people at risk. They're weaving in and out of traffic, going up on sidewalks, operating in parking lots, doing wheelies and other maneuvers, while they are operating these vehicles, which represents a real danger to the community."
https://embed.radio.com/test/index.html
Since this initiative started in 2021, over 315 ATVs and dirt bikes have been seized in the City of Buffalo.
Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia says they have seen street and intersection takeovers, racing meetups and unfortunately, gun crime associated with motorbikes and ATVs. The detail was an all hands on deck venture with the help of the helicopters of Niagara County and New York State Police.
"We had a contingent of officers from all five districts and we couldn't have been as successful as we were if it were not for the New York State Police aviation unit, as well as the Niagara County Sheriff's aviation unit. Niagara County helicopter stepped in when the State Police chopper had to go refuel. That kept us up and running more. Why do we have the helicopters? To have a safe and effective means of taking these off the street. We don't want our officers getting in situations where someone is going to get hurt. The eyes in the sky, call out where these are and where they're going. Even if they come off the street and go on to private property, they can be directed by the helicopter and the observer in the helicopter to take us in so that we can go and we can seize these," said Commissioner Gramaglia.
"The ATVs and the dirt bikes, as both the mayor and commissioner said, are a safety issue but it's also a quality of life issue for the good citizens of the City of Buffalo," added New York State Police Captain Gregory Peron.
"We put a member of the Buffalo Police Department in our helicopter, they were able to provide us with the geography that we needed. This prevented any pursuits or danger to the public while we were able to confiscate a number of these vehicles. New York State Police aviation unit has helicopters available for all of our local law enforcement partners. We do a variety of missions from surveillance such as this. We can do tactical rescue in gorges and other areas to assist first aid."
The city says that they will continue these efforts throughout the summer, not just on Memorial Day weekend.
"We're going to continue this detail and send the message to those who would operate ATVs and dirt bikes in the City of Buffalo that it is illegal, we will confiscate these vehicles from you and you will -- unless you can prove ownership and prove that you can get them registered -- have a real challenge in being able to get these vehicles back," said Mayor Brown.
The initiative doesn't stop at seizures and fines. The City of Buffalo will also be continuing to install speed humps, which have already helped deter drag racing in areas of Buffalo that are known for "vehicle meetups," such as in the Outer Harbor area.
Mayor Brown adds the Buffalo Police will continue to take an extra close look at monitoring the Outer Harbor area and Erie Basin Marina for potential continued activity.
"Some of the social circles have already been speaking over the last week since the speed humps have been put in place," said Commissioner Gramaglia. "There [has been] no drag racing at all down in the Fuhrmann area. Those were very instrumental in slowing that traffic down. That allows our details that we put out to curb these car gatherings, to focus on some of the areas that still might be a challenge. We don't have to be as spread out. I love the speed humps, I think they're great. I think they've really slow traffic down in a lot of neighborhoods. I personally would like to see more of them. They have stopped that [activity] at the outer Harbor and we're going to continue to curb those [vehicle meetups] as well."
In addition, if a resident has any tips on a potential seizure of illegal ATVs and dirt bikes, you could receive a potential $100 reward by calling the confidential tip line at (716) 847-2255.
