Colorado Springs Police target dangerous vehicles with “public nuisance” ordinance
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - The Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD), and the City of Colorado Springs have teamed up to crack down on street racers and reckless drivers within the city.
Nearly three years after KRDO13 first investigated what is a widespread problem across the area, the city is now seizing vehicles connected to dangerous driving thanks to a new ordinance passed in January of 2023.
The "Vehicle Public Nuisance Ordinance" (VPNO), allows CSPD to take cars that don't stop for police, are speeding, racing, or showing other reckless behaviors, and request that a city judge declare the vehicle as a public nuisance.
"So we do cases where we can look at vehicles that are repeatedly doing this type of behavior," said Chantel Withrow, the Division Chief of Prosecution with the City's Attorney's Office.
Once declared a nuisance by a judge, police can then take the car for up to one year, costing that owner potentially thousands in fees while it sits in the city's impound lot at $30 a day.
CSPD says that the cost can be negotiated and have certain fees waived by the judge handling the case, as can the length of time a car is impounded.
Just recently, CSPD says they tracked down three cars, which ended up getting claimed by the banks that were listed on those cars titles, after the prosecution informed the banks what their cars were being used for.
"If we contact a bank and the bank, or leaseholder wishes to take the car back, we can agree that they will not give it to the driver who is acting unsafe," explained Withrow.
Withrow also explains in a hypothetical, that if a vehicle is being driven dangerously by a teen whose parents own the car, CSPD says they can work out a solution to not seize that vehicle, such as not allowing that teen to drive the car.
A similar solution was explained for the case of a stolen car being driven recklessly, or a borrowed car being driven in a dangerous fashion.
Police also explain that the fees for impounding, and the length of time in which they remain in the lot can vary from case to case, depending on the judge.
