Recently, I blogged about a gang of off street vehicles recklessly running stop lights on Front Street, near Bucky Boyle Park. On Tuesday, I witnessed the same type of activity around 13th and Tilghman. Reports on facebook indicate that these driving violators are roaming freely around center city. Also yesterday, there apparently was a running gun battle between two cars over a large section of the west end.
The time has come for police chief Tony Alsleben to crack down. While I understand that the shooting car chases aren't everyday, the herd of off street bikes has become a constant. At the least, they are guilty of disturbing the peace and reckless driving.
It's past time for a crack down. Worry about conviction rates and civil rights later. Allentown is fast losing quality of life.
This activity that was once mostly confined to the downtown is now city wide and it is dangerous, noisy, scary, disturbing, unsettling and a threat to public safety. With the exception of Tim Ramos, quality of life isn't even a topic with city leaders and those who hope to be.
ReplyDeleteAs Allentown's Earth Day event wrapped up at Jordan Park last month, I saw several ATV's and dirt bikes race through the parking lot while people (including kids) were still milling about. I was shocked when I noticed an officer remaining in his police car as the dirt bikes/ATV's went by. I would have expected at least some effort to either stop those riding or to warn those in the lot.
ReplyDeleteI understand the difficulties and dangers of officers in cars trying to chase down these vehicles, but ignoring the problem and doing nothing clearly isn't making things better.
It's well past the time for the police force to come up with a plan to deal with this problem. It's also time for our worthless Mayor and City Council to pass ordinances that will send a message to anyone caught illegally riding an unlicensed dirt bike/ATV on our streets.
I'd recommend immediate confiscation of the vehicles and punitive fines for those apprehended. This would include fines for the parents or guardians of any underaged drivers.
This is not a difficult problem to solve, it just takes the will to do it. If the current Mayor, Police Chief and Council (which includes three former policemen) cannot come up with something, they should ALL resign.
I left Allentown 12 years ago as part of 'The Southern Migration'.Its hard for me to imagine A.T.V.'s and dirt-bikes parading on the streets of Allentown these days.City Council has plenty to do with marijuana issues and 'Ban The Box' ordinances.They have little time to deal with nuisance issues and keeping an eye on spending and the budjet
ReplyDeleteLove the "Mad Max" picture. Pretty accurate!
ReplyDeleteThis has expended to the west end as I've observed the same activity with both bicycles, dirt bikes, quads, and regular motorcycles I areas of 17th St, Tilghman St, as well as Hamilton St.
ReplyDeleteIt was on the neighbor app that they were going down mcarther at night.
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