Philadelphia police will commit more resources to enforcing the city's laws against illegal ATVs and dirt bikes in the months ahead, taking up Mayor Cherelle Parker's call to address complaints from residents who say they lower the quality of life in their neighborhoods.
Despite laws that ban them on city streets, ATVs and dirt bikes are a regular presence in Philadelphia — especially during the warmer months. Riders often travel in large groups, creating road safety hazards and prompting complaints about the noise they generate. Meetups involving roving groups of ATVs and dirt bikes also have been connected to a number of high-profile crimes in recent years.
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"It's one of the biggest drivers of the complaints that we get about quality of life issues," Deputy Police Commissioner James Kelly said at a news conference Wednesday. "People feel unsafe by it. People, in many cases, they feel terrorized by it."
The police department, which has routinely conducted sweeps to round up illegal vehicles in years past, plans to increase weekend patrols and special operations intended to confiscate ATVs and dirt bikes. The department will conduct more frequent sweeps and cover more ground by bringing in administrative officers who normally would not be on the streets at these times.
During Tuesday's warmer weather, police organized a patrol and seized 15 illegal vehicles that were out before rain arrived in the afternoon.
"You're going to see a strong focus on this moving forward," Kelly said. "We're going to be out there hard. We're going to be out there very visible, and we're just going to be tenacious in addressing this."
Some ATVs and dirt bikes in the city are stolen and unregistered vehicles that lack identifying information. Others are sold at discount stores after they've been imported from other countries, including many that lack serial numbers.
"They're almost all illegal," Kelly said. "Once in a while, we'll get some that are registered and allowed to be on the street — they're just driving recklessly — but most of the ones we're dealing with out there, they're all illegal and shouldn't have been on the street in the first place."
Large groups of ATVs and dirt bikes are often seen on major thoroughfares and at prominent intersections, but Kelly explained that the complaints have come from residents throughout the city.
For safety reasons, Philadelphia police have a "no pursuit" policy that makes it difficult to enforce the laws against these vehicles. Police often rely on tips from the public about where ATVs and dirt bikes are being stored. Confiscations also are carried out when riders refuel at gas stations.
When making stops, police can issue code violation notices that carry fines of up to $2,000, on top of the costs associated with impoundment. About 80% of the vehicles seized by police end up being destroyed, usually because riders can't provide legitimate documents to prove legal ownership and get them back. Some owners choose to go through a lengthy appeals process in court, but this is more common with expensive vehicles that are worth $5,000 or more, Kelly said.
The Philadelphia Parking Authority previously assisted police with impounding ATVs, but PPA has not done so since 2018, a police spokesperson said. Occasional auctions that PPA used to hold haven't happened in more than a decade. There's no plan to try to make money from vehicles seized by police.
"If you really think of man hours and everything else that's put into it, the amount of resources we're spending on it, there's really probably no profit at all in it," Kelly said.
At her mayoral inauguration in January, Parker stressed that her administration would increase emphasis on public safety and quality of life issues.
“I’m talking about bold transformative steps, that when people walk outside their houses they can touch, see and feel the results of our labor — and if they don’t see it, it’s on us," Parker said.
Parker has since reformed the city's Department of Licenses and Inspections, creating a division to specifically handle quality of life issues in Philadelphia. Another division is dedicated to safety and compliance.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said the city needs to develop a broader plan to deal with the culture surrounding illegal ATVs and dirt bikes.
"There is a role for enforcement that is proper," Krasner said in 2021, when the city most recently updated its laws and penalties for the vehicles. "What I am saying is that there is a much bigger solution that has to occur here and has to be sensitive to the fact that there is motor bike culture all over many of our major cities."
In October, Philadelphia drew national attention when a viral video showed a motorcycle rider jump on top of a car near City Hall and then smash his feet through the rear windshield, shattering glass into the back seat where two children were seated. The motorcycle rider, identified as 27-year-old Cody Heron, then pointed a gun at the driver of the car, who had gotten out to confront him. Heron pleaded guilty this month to aggravated assault and weapons charges.
"That's the kind of behavior we're not going to tolerate anymore," Kelly said.