Cops say they can’t stop street racing

By KPTV Staff

    PORTLAND, Oregon (KPTV) — The Portland Police Bureau told FOX 12 it does not have the resources to deter street racing in the city.

They said on Sunday night, there were two incidents, one near Southeast 47th Avenue and Southeast Division Street and the other on the Fremont Bridge.

Video taken by Hope Townsell shows some of the street racing, which was taken near where she lives. She said she’s been dealing with this since last October.

Last week, Portland’s city commissioners approved a plan to increase punishment for those who are caught street racing.

But on Sunday night, PPB said officers used lights and sirens to get people to leave the area. They issued one citation and made a few traffic stops away from the area of SE 47th Ave. and Division St.

Townsell said it’s extremely disheartening to see this continue to happen.

“Given the pandemic and all of the things that this community and the world has been going through it’s just super frustrating to see people be disrespectful,” she said. “People are outside at like 4:30 in the morning, blasting their music.”

PPB said on-duty officers did not have enough resources, so they decided they would respond if there was a specific threat to people’s safety.

Since July 2020, police said there have been five street-racing related deaths in Portland.

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