A new city ordinance that allows Birmingham police to arrest and charge spectators of exhibition driving is the newest weapon in the fight against an issue that has been plaguing the city for quite some time, the police chief said.

“If it weren’t for the spectators, there wouldn’t be as much activity because that’s what drives the activity,’’ Chief Scott Thurmond said. “They’ll be arrested. Hopefully it will be a deterrent, knowing BPD is out in full force dealing with this behavior.”

The Birmingham City Council on Tuesday voted for the ordinance targeting those watching and livestreaming exhibition driving “to prohibit loitering, remaining, or wandering about in a public place for the purpose of participating as an organizer or spectator in any exhibition driving or street racing activity on the public highways of the City of Birmingham.”

A citation could end in a $500 fine or up to 180 days in jail.

Birmingham police applaud the ordinance.

“Our observations have shown us that the one of the primary contributing factors for illegal exhibition driving is the audience or ‘spectators,’” said Deputy Chief Michael Pickett, who heads the department’s Special Operations Bureau.

“Many of them aid in blocking public roadways and entryways to private businesses, while encouraging drivers to do more extreme and dangerous acts,’’ Pickett said. “They also provide cover for offenders to hide from and escape from police when attempts are made to arrest these offenders.”

Last year, Mayor Randall Woodfin approached the leadership at the police department, asking for a plan to combat street racing and exhibition driving, which authorities say picked up drastically following COVID.

Pickett took on the project and the first round of Operation Knight Rider took place in April.

Pickett’s team analyzes data, and that data is used to narrow down and target hotspots for resource deployment. Police also encourage residents to call in with tips.

“We are going to show these criminal offenders that the streets of Birmingham are not going to be a place where you are going to showcase your vehicle’s abilities,’’ Pickett said.

Woodfin joined members of the Jefferson County legislative delegation in November 2022 to announce plans to file a bill to prohibit and impose penalties for certain forms of “exhibition driving,” which includes street and drag racing, burnouts, donuts, and similar activities defined within the bill.

That legislation was passed and signed by Gov. Kay Ivey last year.

Previously, drivers could only get a ticket.

Now, they face a minimum of misdemeanor charges, and up to a Class B felony if someone is injured or killed, or if there is property damage.

1/11

In the one month since Operation Knight Rider began – April 12 through May 12 – the initiative has led to 34 arrests, with three of the cases presented to the Northern District of Alabama U.S. Attorney’s Office for federal prosecution.

The total arrests include 45 felony charges, 32 misdemeanor charges, 10 exhibition driving-related charges and nine charges of fleeing or attempting to elude police.

Officers have recovered nine stolen vehicles and impounded a total of 25 vehicles.

Additionally, the operation has resulted in the seizure of 22 weapons – one rifle and 22 handguns, three of which were equipped with machine-gun conversion devices (“switches”).

During the operation, police have recovered 4.1 pounds of marijuana, 39 grams of cocaine, 228 grams of methamphetamine. They have also seized $11,723 in cash which Wade said is suspected drug proceeds.

“The mayor’s Operation Knight Rider has been a huge success and it’s been widely publicized, the amount of arrests, vehicles seized, narcotics and guns seized with that operation,’’ said Birmingham City Councilman Hunter Williams. “One thing that we struggled with is enforcement with those that are not behind the wheel.”

“We have those that are organizing the event, that are posting on social media, for a meet-up, for exhibition driving,’’ Williams said. “We have those that are livestreaming it, and we have those passive participants that are actually a lot of times the ones getting hurt as they stand out and watch and observe this exhibition driving on Birmingham streets.”

Some observers on social media question the city and department’s focus on exhibition driving instead of homicides or shootings.

Thurmond said they need to look at the bigger picture.

“Exhibition driving is much more than just the people doing the driving. As we’ve seen from the arrests, there’s drugs, there’s guns, there’s money, stolen cars. It’s all part of the same circle of people,’’ the chief said.

“Knight Rider is taking guns off the streets, it’s taking criminals off the streets, we’re recovering stolen property, we’re getting people who are using and selling drugs off the streets,’’ he said. “Those are people who may potentially be involved in a homicide.”

“You have to look at the total crime picture here,’’ Thurmond said. “Getting guns off the street could prevent a homicide. Getting people who are selling drugs and stealing cars could prevent a homicide.”

“It’s targeting people who are causing problems,’’ he said. “They’re not just doing just this one activity. They’re involved in many other criminal activities.

Past events in Birmingham have shown the dangers exhibition driving can bring, authorities said.

A fiery crash on Dec. 9, 2022, on John Rogers Drive at Gun Club Road left multiple people injured and two drivers later charged.

It was just after 9 p.m. when, according to witnesses, a Dodge Charger was doing donuts and a Nissan 370z was racing another vehicle when the two cars collided and then at least one of them veered into a crowd of bystanders.

The Charger caught fire.

Birmingham, Irondale, Cahaba Valley and Trussville firefighters responded to the scene after reports of multiple people lying in the road after being struck.

Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service reported at the time that 13 people were injured, nine of those critically.

Birmingham police said it appears a crowd had gathered to watch exhibition driving and racing. There were multiple donut and burnout skid marks on the pavement.

There were dozens of bystanders watching the exhibition driving, witnesses said.

Marvin Puerto, 20, and Brandon Marquise Waller, 25, are charged with six counts each of second-degree assault. Authorities said Waller was driving the Charger, and Puerto was driving the 370z.

A 14-year-old boy was killed in July 2022 when he was struck by a vehicle watching exhibition driving in Birmingham.

In August 2022, a large crowd was gathered in a parking lot in the 800 block of Second Avenue North where drivers were doing burnouts and donuts when gunfire erupted. According to police and to a video circulating on social media, a vehicle doing a burnout struck another vehicle in the parking lot.

The collision happened just after 3 a.m. that Sunday. The video shows a male immediately opening fire after the cars made contact.

A woman was killed, and four others injured.

Ronald Demetrius White pleaded guilty to reckless murder in the death of 19-year-old Ja’Kia Winston.

“With everybody having guns this could easily escalate to a homicide or a shooting, which we saw a couple of weeks ago in the incident at the Shell with all the people hanging out,’’ Thurmond said.

“It all is part of the puzzle to preventing violent crime in Birmingham,’’ he said, “and restoring peace and order.”