"We're going to take your vehicles, and we're going to take you to jail."
Florida police are cracking down on illegal street racing like never before, targeting individuals who partake in intersection takeovers, drag racing, and drifting in populated areas.
The Broward County Sheriff's Office recently shared an update on an operation targeting street racers. Sheriff Gregory Tony announced that his department has a zero-tolerance policy for lawbreakers.
"Two things are going to happen. We're going to take your vehicles, and we're going to take you to jail," said Tony. "That's the result [and] that's my mandate for every single one of these events that we encounter. There will be no ticket citations where you're walking away. We're going to put you in handcuffs and [take] you to jail."
But it's not just reckless drivers that should be fearful. Sheriff Tony said organizers and supporters - even those sharing footage on social media - will be punished. "[If] you read the new legislation passed in October, that makes your behavior criminal, and you too will be arrested for involvement in these events."
The law enforcement officer refers to laws passed late last year, where various agencies came together to ask the house senate and the governor for stricter legislation on street racing and reckless driving.
"We are not going to sit by and allow someone to go out, drive hundreds of miles in our community, drift in major intersections, and put people in harm's way because of their immaturity and lack of understanding of how catastrophic these events could be."
Several arrests have been made already, with the Broward Sheriff's Office sharing on Saturday that it detained six more illegal street racers and impounded their vehicles, including a Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat, a Challenger, and two Ford Mustangs.
As for the potential punishments they will face, many of the suspects will face basic traffic violation charges. Interestingly, a search of the vehicles also uncovered weapons like AK-47s, which will lead to applicable weapons possession charges. Street racing remains a problem across the country. In 2021, officers in Atlanta arrested a staggering 88 offenders.
"It's our men and women out here, from the first responder community, that will have to pull you out of a [burning] vehicle, that's going to have to put that vehicle out, and that's going to have to resuscitate you or the victim that you may cause by your inappropriate and illegal behavior."
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