The Louisville Metro Police Department in Kentucky just used a new ordinance to seize a Dodge Challenger Hellcat Redeye. What makes this instance and others like it in Louisville different is how police are seizing these vehicles. Motorists can lose their cars long after they’re done stunting in public.
In this particular case, police say that they obtained video of the Challenger in question sliding at a location called Shawnee Park. They compared that to another video from the intersection of Preston and Witherspoon and determined that they were looking at the same car. Notably, in the second video, the Dodge clips a few people at the event.
After showing both videos in a post to Facebook the LMPD displays the Challenger now, in its impound lot. Not only does it have the same paint scheme as the one seen in the videos but it also has a dent where it appears the offending Dodge clipped a person.
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According to police, this is an ongoing investigation and they plan to have an update in the near future. What we know for now is that the new ordinance that allows police to seize vehicles in this manner also allows for up to a $2,000 fine. Police can keep the vehicle in question for up to six months.
Authorities warned the public that this shift in policy and policing was coming. On June 9th, the LMPD posted a short video outlining some of the high points. It demonstrated how aerial video enables officers to identify vehicles and then track them down “days or weeks later,” according to Officer Ronald Fey.
They also mention “new technology”, though they don’t explain exactly what that means. From what we can tell it seems as though they’re combining on-site aerial video from police helicopters along with public posts showing the crimes on sites like Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. At this point, they’ve seized at least 35 vehicles and we expect to see that number climb in the coming weeks.