As Fall River Police take action against illegal riders and vehicles, a city ordinance is on the way

As officers continue to address illegal off-road vehicles on Fall River streets, the Fall River Police Department is finalizing with the Coogan Administration and the City Council, an ordinance to address the issue.

According to Captain Barden Castro, the Special Operations Division has been tasked with formulating a plan and will be handling the target enforcement of the problem.

Castro also stated that Special Ops and Uniform Division personnel have been taking enforcement action against ATV riders as they have been able to stop them or obtain information about the riders from the public.

The yet to be finalized ordinance is expected to be expedited by the City Council as the FRPD will be taking pieces of ordinances from other area communities that are already in place.

Cities such as Providence have been noted as having strict enforcement on off-road vehicles by gathering them up and crushing them. A few of those instances have taken place at city press conferences.

The issue has been one of the most talked about subjects with many city residents voicing their opinion that the riders must be stopped for the safety of Fall River drivers. Riders express they just want a place to ride and that options are limited to do so.

Castro concluded that as the nicer weather continues, enforcement will hopefully increase and the problem decrease.

“When the Council approves an ordinance, we will tailor our efforts to be inline with that legislation which will assist our efforts.”