The Boca Raton Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) is tasked with making the downtown area enjoyable for residents and visitors. During a June 7 meeting, one member of the public asked the agency to address the number of street racers in the city.
According to Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, Palm Beach County saw a total of 47 violations regarding racing on highways.
Glenn Gromann, a city resident, said, “The concept and the problem of death racing in downtown has gotten worse, it has not gotten better. I believe this problem is going to get worse.”
He explained his observation that the number of incidents has grown and migrated to Mizner. He also said that the issue is originating from Broward County, with drivers traveling north through the Camino Real and Federal Highway intersection. He said the problem starts around 9 p.m. or 10 p.m., Thursdays through Fridays. Gromann said the problem is the result of between 50 to 75 drivers.
“You don’t need a police officer on every corner, you need police officers where the problem is,” Gromann said.
He said that he has given his observations to Boca Raton Police Lieutenant Robert Adams and Assistant City Manager Chrissy Gibson.
Gromann stated that the city is sending out officers at the wrong time, focusing on the afternoon rather than the evening.
“[The racers] are not coming through the city at three o’clock in the afternoon on Mizner Boulevard. Pulling over housewives, business people, and restaurant employees is not going to solve the problem of the people driving 100 MPH, 70 MPH over the speed limit through the middle of the downtown at 11 o’clock at night or one o’clock in the morning,” Gromann said.
CRA Chair Chair Monica Mayotte said that she has witnessed the street racing problem as well and acknowledged that this has been a common topic for several months.
City Manager Leif Ahnell said that this has been a point of focus for the police department and that racing incidents have been a problem throughout the day, not just during the evening hours.
“We’re attempting to address all of that, but we’ll particularly pay attention and have [police] focus on those evening hours that Mr. Gromann has identified,” Ahnell said. “We’ve issued 24,062 citations since January in downtown and I think it was over 600-something in the month of May alone. So, we have been out enforcing.”