Illegal Street Racers Turned Into Police Cars In Charlotte
Wednesday, February 20, 2008 – updated: 12:06 pm EST February 22, 2008
CHARLOTTE, N.C. --
“If you get caught street racing, we're going to take your car and I'm going to enjoy driving it." –CMPD Capt. Andy Kornberg
Just the rims on the glossy blue and black 2005 Nissan 350 Z are worth three grand. You can tell the owner really put a lot of time, money and effort into making it one bad ride.The same can be said for the sonic blue 2003 SVT Cobra parked right next to it. This baby puts more than 500 horses out of it's hand crafted engine."Thanks for giving me a nice ride," said Capt. Andy Kornberg. He runs the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police HITS Unit - short for Highway Interdiction and Safety.Kornberg is thanking the previous owners of these two cars. You see, they were both confiscated when the owners were caught illegally racing them through the streets of south Charlotte.Now, they belong to the police. The cars that were once used to break they law will now be used to enforce it."The precedent has been set," said Kornberg. "If you get caught street racing, we're going to take your car and I'm going to enjoy driving it to be perfectly honest."The police will be driving them all over town in hopes of catching speeders and aggressive drivers by surprise."We are going to hide in plain sight," said Kornberg.
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The police are moving away from the days when they hide behind billboards in marked cars to catch speeders. These units, looking like anything but police cars, will be out in the flow of traffic, keeping an eye on things, ready to pounce.Of course, some modifications have been made to the cars sice their street racing days.The exhausts were made street legal and all the nitrous boosters had to be removed. After that, the cars were equipped with the latest laser dectection radar and wide array of blue lights hidden in the grill, windows, tail lights and mirrors.All the lights make for a dazzling display and are there for a very good reason.Police don't wan't the public to confuse them with so-called "blue light bandits," people who prey on motorists by pretneding to be police in unmarked cars. There are so many lights on these new units and they will only be manned by police in uniform. The hope is all of these precautions will eliminate any confusion.Kornberg says people who are still leary of blue light bandits should put on their hazards, pull into a populated well-lit area and call 911 if they are worried. Polioce dispatch will confirm whether or not the person pulling them over is an actual police.These two cars are now part of a 24 car, unmarked fleet used by HITS to enforce traffic laws throughout the county.You can check out the new unmarked police cars. There is a slideshow in the sidebar of this article.
“If you get caught street racing, we're going to take your car and I'm going to enjoy driving it." –CMPD Capt. Andy Kornberg
Just the rims on the glossy blue and black 2005 Nissan 350 Z are worth three grand. You can tell the owner really put a lot of time, money and effort into making it one bad ride.The same can be said for the sonic blue 2003 SVT Cobra parked right next to it. This baby puts more than 500 horses out of it's hand crafted engine."Thanks for giving me a nice ride," said Capt. Andy Kornberg. He runs the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police HITS Unit - short for Highway Interdiction and Safety.Kornberg is thanking the previous owners of these two cars. You see, they were both confiscated when the owners were caught illegally racing them through the streets of south Charlotte.Now, they belong to the police. The cars that were once used to break they law will now be used to enforce it."The precedent has been set," said Kornberg. "If you get caught street racing, we're going to take your car and I'm going to enjoy driving it to be perfectly honest."The police will be driving them all over town in hopes of catching speeders and aggressive drivers by surprise."We are going to hide in plain sight," said Kornberg.
The police are moving away from the days when they hide behind billboards in marked cars to catch speeders. These units, looking like anything but police cars, will be out in the flow of traffic, keeping an eye on things, ready to pounce.Of course, some modifications have been made to the cars sice their street racing days.The exhausts were made street legal and all the nitrous boosters had to be removed. After that, the cars were equipped with the latest laser dectection radar and wide array of blue lights hidden in the grill, windows, tail lights and mirrors.All the lights make for a dazzling display and are there for a very good reason.Police don't wan't the public to confuse them with so-called "blue light bandits," people who prey on motorists by pretneding to be police in unmarked cars. There are so many lights on these new units and they will only be manned by police in uniform. The hope is all of these precautions will eliminate any confusion.Kornberg says people who are still leary of blue light bandits should put on their hazards, pull into a populated well-lit area and call 911 if they are worried. Polioce dispatch will confirm whether or not the person pulling them over is an actual police.These two cars are now part of a 24 car, unmarked fleet used by HITS to enforce traffic laws throughout the county.You can check out the new unmarked police cars. There is a slideshow in the sidebar of this article.
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