Police operation begins against car cruising
A new police blitz has begun to crack down on suspected car cruise organisers across the region.
In the first operation of its kind, officers from West Midlands Police targeted the homes of those believed to be involved in arranging and promoting the gatherings on social media channels, seizing phones and computers in the hunt for evidence.
Five properties were searched in Stourbridge and Birmingham and one man was arrested.
A 21-year-old was held on suspicion of conspiracy to commit public nuisance at an address in Bartley Green, while homes in Handsworth, Kings Norton and Stourbridge were also searched, with flyers and promotional material for gatherings recovered.
The raids were part of Operation Hercules, which was set up to tackle the menace.
Chief Superintendent Ian Green, in charge of Operation Hercules, said: "A lot of this is organised through social media, with accounts which have thousands of followers and are joining together to organise these illegal street races.
“This isn’t about us targeting car enthusiasts.
"These people are illegally racing vehicles at high speeds on our roads and putting people in danger every single time they do it.
"Not only themselves, but members of the public and it's luck only we haven’t had a mass-fatality in relation to street racing.
“My concern is it’s only a matter of time until that happens so I am going to continue to enforce to make sure that the message gets home that illegal street racing will not be tolerated.”
An injunction already bans car cruising from the streets of Birmingham, while councils in the Black Country have applied for a new injunction to ban it in the Black Country area.
If granted at the High Court on May 13, it would ban people from participating in, attending, promoting, organising or publicising a car cruise.
Comments and observations regarding car cruising and the application for a new injunction should be made to litigation@wolverhampton.gov.uk by 4pm on Tuesday, May 4.
