Street racing continues to be problem in Baltimore despite a strict new ordinance: 'Reckless behavior'

BALTIMORE - A large crowd gathered at North Avenue near the I-83 Mount Royal exit to watch street racers doing doughnuts in the middle of the intersection early Sunday morning. 

Michael Bledsoe believes it was dangerous. 

"I don't understand why the people were just watching stuff like that because it's just really reckless behavior," Bledsoe said. "Where are the police officers who are supposed to be…monitoring things like this."

WJZ reviewed police dispatch calls that revealed the extent of the problem that morning.  One transmission alerted officers, "All districts, all units are to check car clubs. They just cleared out one in the Northwest. They were last seen heading 83 towards the County and Reisterstown Road. The group is around 300 strong."

The illegal races have been a problem in the city before, including last year in Hampden and downtown near police headquarters.

"There's more the city can do about it. They can start enforcing the laws," Bledsoe said. 

City Council member Yitzy Schleifer was so fed up, he sponsored an ordinance, later signed into law, that made the penalties for street racing in Baltimore City some of the stiffest in the state. 'Active participants' in races face a maximum of one year behind bars and up to a $1,000 fine. 

The lawmaker did acknowledge challenges in enforcement. 

"It's very difficult when you have one or two officers out on the street to handle a crowd of hundreds of cars," Schleifer said. "So there is a specific strategy that BPD is deploying when it comes to dealing with these car clubs, but it involves more than just two officers."

Schleifer told WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren, "We have seen some enforcement. Unfortunately it's not every single time, and the reason for that is we're still going around to all the districts to educate the officers on the new policy and how to properly enforce it."

Schleifer said police recently towed vehicles involved in illegal racing in his district. 

He said other incidents lead to safety concerns last year. 

"They were blocking intersections leading up to the hospital in my district, so I've seen ambulances get stuck behind these car clubs because they shut down the intersection, and then you end up getting stuck, so it really is a hazard for our ambulances and other emergency personnel to not be able to move freely through the city," Schleifer said.

Natasha Jarvis-Pillai, who lives near North Avenue in Mount Royal, believes a police crackdown is not the answer.

"If we want to change people's behavior, we need to understand them first," Jarvis-Pillai said. "I don't think police are a tool for understanding people. They're a tool for enforcing compliance but not for understanding."