WASHINGTON — Two area law enforcement agencies are teaming up and dedicating manpower to go after illegal ATV and dirt bike riders over the long Labor Day weekend.
The countywide crackdown involves more than 50 Prince George’s County police officers and 25 Maryland State Police troopers, and will run from Saturday morning through Monday.
Lawbreakers will be cited — and if necessary, their vehicles will be confiscated.
“We’ll also have our aircraft, along with Maryland State Police aircraft, available to assist when and if needed. We’ll also have officers doing surveillance,” Prince George’s County police Cpl. Tyler Hunter told WTOP.
People who illegally ride ATVs and unlicensed dirt bikes on roads and highways have been a problem throughout the region in recent years.
“We will not tolerate this sort of dangerous and reckless behavior,” Hunter said.
Prince George’s County officers recently received a type of tire-deflation device that they didn’t have before.
The Barracuda Stop Stick can be placed in a rider’s path to poke holes in their tires and stop them safely.
“It doesn’t pop or explode the tires,” Hunter said. “It is a controlled stop.”
The sticks can also be used as a kind of barrier or deterrent.
“Potentially to try to prevent them from going in an area that is super-dangerous, such as a place like the National Harbor, where we have seen them go up on sidewalks and cause a serious safety threat to shoppers and residents that are in that area,” Hunter said.
