Illegal North Shore Bike, Scooter Riders Challenge Police Policy

Salem MA

25 July, 2021

3:30 PM

Description

SALEM, MA — The apparent explosion of unlicensed and unregistered motorized bikes and scooters is presenting a frustrating and potentially dangerous challenge for North Shore police departments. Salem police said those riding the vehicles in an unsafe manner has been an "ongoing problem" on the North Shore, but that it escalated in recent days when they said a "well-organized group" of riders taunted police at stops in Beverly, Peabody, Salem and Lynn. The challenge for police, they say, is that long-standing pursuit policies prevent them from engaging in a high-speed chase of a rider who refuses to stop. "This is a particularly vexing problem for the police," Salem police said in a statement issued over the weekend. "This policy is not lost on the operators of these vehicles who seem to delight in taking advantage of our unwillingness to pursue." Police said they have heard from residents who think that, because of the policy, police are "ignoring an obvious violation of the law" and want to assure them they are not ignoring the infractions, and are taking steps "to identify those endangering our streets and apprehending them at a safer moment." Police said there were several groups of riders active late last week, but one group in particularly taunted police throughout the night in several North Shore cities. Police said they were able to identify one rider and seized his bike, while another suffered injuries not believed to be life-threatening in a crash. "This certainly illustrates how dangerous the practice is — to both the rider and members of the public," Salem police said. "We will continue to respond to all reports of reckless driving and we will pursue other avenues of enforcement against operators who flee." Salem police said illegal scooter operations should continue to be reported to 978-744-1212. Anyone with information on organized groups of illegal riders is encouraged to call the Criminal Investigations Division at 978-745-9700 or the anonymous tip line at 978-619-5627. Did you find this article useful? Invite a friend to subscribe to Patch. (Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at [email protected]. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)