Colorado Springs City Council Passes New Vehicular Public Nuisance Ordinance.

Street racing, eluding and other vehicle nuisance issues is a persistent problem for the Colorado Springs community. Recently, CSPD and City Council took action to help alleviate this problem.

CSPD officers have been using current available resources to help address this problem. For example, the Sand Creek Division installed speed bumps along Aviation Way, a commonplace for street racing. However, additional options were needed.

Officer Mathis and Commander Edmondson of the Sand Creek division worked with the City Attorney and City Council to pass a new Vehicle Public Nuisance Ordinance, which gives officers and the city more options for preventing crimes like street racing, eluding, and more. This ordinance came about due to the prolific complaints on street racing, especially in Sand Creek.

The new ordinance authorizes the city attorney to take civil legal action against the owner of any vehicle identified participating in or aiding any of the following actions:

• Prostitution, soliciting for prostitution, pandering, keeping a place of prostitution, pimping, or public indecency;
• Any gang-related criminal activity;
• Any drive-by crime
• Vehicular eluding
• Eluding or attempting to elude a police officer
• Speed contests & racing

After the first offense, the owner(s) of the identified vehicle will be contacted by the court to discuss a solution to prevent the offense from recurring. If the vehicle is identified in offenses following the first court contact, civil legal action may be taken with consequences including up to seizure of the vehicle. This is a civil process through the city courts, not a criminal process.

“We believe this will have a positive impact on the city, especially once people understand the repercussions of their driving behaviors. We are hoping this will improve traffic safety. The purpose is not to punish people; the purpose is to make our roads safer,” said Officer Mathis.

The existing Public Nuisance definition, Municipal Code 9.6.702, does not include vehicles and defines a public nuisance as “Any place where people congregate, which encourages a disturbance of the peace…” This new ordinance creates specific language to address vehicles and provides an additional course of action for preventing vehicular public nuisance issues.

“This ordinance is important because it’s going to make our streets safer but it also shows the community that law enforcement is listening. This was a collaboration with law enforcement & the City Attorney to create a strategic solution to a persistent problem.” — Officer Mathis

The new ordinance will go into effect this Saturday, April 3, 2021. If you witness any of the crimes listed above, you can report them using the non-emergency phone number — 719–444–7000. You can also report street racing through the state reporting website, reportstreetracing.com.