Providence, R.I., also dealing with street racing
| • | Crash victim's husband refuses to hold grudge |
By Scott Ishikawa
Advertiser Transportation Writer
While Honolulu police plan to use motorcycles, helicopters and decoy cars to catch street racers this weekend, they may want to take a page from the playbook of the police department in Providence, R.I., where officers are battling the same problem.
Undercover officers in Providence are infiltrating the inner circles of street racers to stop the races before they start.
Last Saturday, police used modified sports cars seized by the department to infiltrate a late-night race. Police issued 90 citations, towed 13 cars and arrested three people.
Providence Police Lt. Timothy Lee, head of the traffic bureau, said undercover officers watched as a 20-year-old man wearing a cell phone headset signaled for revved up cars to race in an industrial area.
Police then moved in, blocking all the area streets.
"We had previous bust operations, but this was the biggest one yet," Lee said yesterday. "Whenever possible, we like to shut down a race before it starts, rather than try to shut down an ongoing one because its dangerous for our officers and the racing drivers."
Amanda Milkovits, police reporter for the Providence Journal, said street racing, popular in the 1950s, has seen a resurgence in Providence among young people, who typically use deserted industrial areas at night to race. A 17-year-old girl was killed in such a racing crash in July.
"The kids up here are the same as where you live," Milkovits said. "They soup up their Toyotas, Hondas and Ford Escorts."
Providence police said the young drivers — in their teens and early 20s — use cellular phones and flashlights to communicate with each other, and police scanners and radar detectors to keep an eye out for officers.
While Honolulu police believe the illegal racers on O'ahu are using their cars to create a rolling roadblock to hold back traffic so other drivers can race on freeways such as H-1, Lee said the Rhode Island racers send out "scouts" to make sure the road was clear of police and other drivers.
"Previously, by the time we got the complaints about racing, they'd be gone because they heard us coming on the scanner," Lee said. "That's when we decided to use undercover officers."
Lee said undercover officers learned about the racing scene to track the location and times of the races, and drove souped-up cars to the race scene to pose as spectators and potential racers.
Because police couldn't arrest all the drivers for reckless driving since the race was shut down before it began, drivers were cited for equipment violations.
"We're going to keep doing this until we get a handle on the problem," Lee said.
In Honolulu, police plan to use a helicopter, motorcycles, unmarked police cars, extra officers and even a decoy race car to crack down on street racers this weekend.
Police plan to have an officer drive a racing-type car in search of illegal street racing, said Maj. Robert Prasser of the department's traffic division.
The decoy driver will drive "responsibly," and if he is approached by racers and sees them speeding off, he will radio ahead for other officers to make arrests, Prasser said.
"We get report after report that these illegal racers surround Toyotas and Hondas and egg them on to race," Prasser said. "Some drivers take the bait. It will be real interesting if our decoy car got surrounded by a club of racers."
Police also want to use the helicopter at night and in the early morning to spot groups gathering to race, Prasser said.
He said he hopes the moves will deter street racing, and said he didn't mind whether racers would react to police plans by laying low.
"That would be just fine. Then we won," he said.
Advertiser reporter Brandon Masuoka contributed to this report.
Reach Scott Ishikawa at 525-8070 or sishikawa@honoluluadvertiser.com
