City of Birmingham expects 50 speed strips to help deter exhibition driving

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (WBRC) – Birmingham Police are currently conducting an internal investigation after the publication of this exhibition driving video.

Birmingham city leaders told the WBRC that BPD officers were there to try and break up the scene, but attendees were not stopping.

Birmingham City Council member Clinton Woods said he was disturbed and called it a disrespect for the police when he saw the video.

“You kind of saw how difficult it can be to respond to that when the police come on the scene,” Woods said. “People are very close to these spinning and sliding cars. Just the disappointment that people didn’t stop the behavior when the police showed up, they wanted to continue. I even saw a young man jump in front of a police car in an attempt to stop the police car.

Woods said BPD was trying to break up the dangerous activity, but the participants continued. He said councilors receive weekly calls from residents complaining about the conduct of exhibits.

“Seeing this video, very concerning,” Woods said. “Just by seeing the willingness to put themselves in harm’s way, they are already on the verge of watching this activity, but intentionally jumping in front of a BPD vehicle is concerning.”

Birmingham Police use portable speed strips to slow down fast driving. The Birmingham Department of Transport tells WBRC they have ordered 50 more, but there is no deadline for them to arrive.

“That will move him out of areas where we’ve seen him in the past and help us secure certain areas,” Woods said. “Hopefully pushing this behavior to where it can be done without risking as many lives.”

Woods said the tapes would be helpful, but they wouldn’t be enough. He pushes for more cameras in the city to help locate drivers in real time.

“When you’re faced with this type of disrespect, people aren’t at all interested in changing that behavior, so they’re definitely going to take more than speed tapes,” he said.

Birmingham Police officials said there were no updates on the investigation of officers’ actions.

Last month Chief Scott Thurmond told the WBRC in an interview that they were seeing less exposure driving and we are told it is still down there have just been a few recent incidents likely to be holiday related .

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