Can anyone help me out?
Hey guys I got a quick question. I have to do a speech about a current event that interests me. And I chose to do about street racing. I was wondering if anybody had any mag. clippings or something from a newspapers. I went to my local library and really didnt find anything. I basically have to show my professor that the topic is indeed a current event, he just wants proof in a mag. or a news paper. Anybody have anything?
DeKalb police go undercover, arrest 29 in street racing sting
By HELENA OLIVIERO, SAEED AHMED
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 08/11/04
DeKalb County police officers pretended to be amateur filmmakers — even planting a microphone on the unsuspecting flag girl dressed in jeans and a tank top — to gather evidence in an illegal street racing contest last weekend that drew more than 500 spectators from across metro Atlanta.
Police had been watching the illegal racing site for at least two months. On Saturday, they sent in undercover officers with a video camera.
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• DeKalb police secretly tape street racers
The officers videotaped souped-up cars going more than 100 miles per hour in the large parking lot in Moreland Plaza, at the intersection of Moreland and Custer avenues.
At about midnight, DeKalb police officers, along with the Georgia State Patrol, started arresting drivers and towing cars.
Police arrested 29 people, most of whom were charged with reckless driving, a misdemeanor charge that can bring up to a six-month license suspension. Authorities also towed 34 cars.
"The people there in attendance knew drag racing is dangerous and illegal, but they were looking at it as a fun event to attend," said DeKalb police Sgt. Pat White.
Police believe many of the spectators learned about the event from a Web site.
"It had a list of best places to meet and apparently the Moreland parking lot was listed as one of the best," White said.
DMVS branch close by
The meet Saturday night was held in a shopping center that houses a branch of the state Department of Motor Vehicle Safety.
Spectators included people of all races and ages — including children as young as 8 — from Gwinnett, Cobb and Douglas counties, police said.
Spectators lined each side of the narrow "race drag" as pairs of cars hurtled down the length of the parking lot, sometimes coming perilously close to crashing into those watching.
In one race, a motorcycle driver crashed and suffered minor injuries. In another instance, the video footage shows a car swerving and almost slamming into spectators.
People drank openly and the smell of marijuana wafted through the air, police said.
Between races, riders on minibikes entertained the crowd with stunts. Others sat on car window frames, with half their bodies sticking out, as music blared from custom-fit speakers in the trunks. Someone else set off some firecrackers.
Police believe the races did not carry a prize, beyond bragging rights for the drivers.
"I saw one person bet with another guy about who was going to win," White said. "But he only bet a dollar."
After about an hour, as the crowd continued to swell, police stepped in to stop the races.
"Because this footage is evidence in court, we needed to get out there and build the case," said Officer Dale Davis.
Last year, six people were killed in illegal street races in Cobb and Gwinnett counties.
Officials with the Governor's Office of Highway Safety wonder whether recent films, especially "The Fast and the Furious," a 2001 movie about street racers, have glorified illegal racing.
"After that movie came out, I got more reports about drag racing from police chiefs," said Ricky Rich, director of law enforcement services for the governor's safety program, in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution last year.
Davis said Saturday night's street racing contest wasn't the first such incident in DeKalb.
He said the police sting operation was launched to "make some arrests and bring the situation under control."
"The important thing to know is that it is dangerous, and officials in DeKalb are not going to tolerate this type of activity taking place," Davis said.
Moreland site off Web
By Tuesday, the Web site had removed the Moreland site from its racing calendar and posted the following message: "Hehe I see that this page made it onto the news talking about meets posted for racing and stuff like that . . .
"Since Moreland is no longer a valid meeting place due to all the illegal [expletive] that goes on [don't deny it, we all know what happens there] it's been removed."
Race schedules for other metro Atlanta locations remain listed, including meets at Pleasant Hill Road and Club Drive in Gwinnett County.
— Staff writer Kaitlin Bell contributed to this article.
--------------------
link to article
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/met...eetracing.html
It also have a vid clip.
By HELENA OLIVIERO, SAEED AHMED
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 08/11/04
DeKalb County police officers pretended to be amateur filmmakers — even planting a microphone on the unsuspecting flag girl dressed in jeans and a tank top — to gather evidence in an illegal street racing contest last weekend that drew more than 500 spectators from across metro Atlanta.
Police had been watching the illegal racing site for at least two months. On Saturday, they sent in undercover officers with a video camera.
EMAIL THIS
PRINT THIS
MOST POPULAR
VIDEO:
• DeKalb police secretly tape street racers
The officers videotaped souped-up cars going more than 100 miles per hour in the large parking lot in Moreland Plaza, at the intersection of Moreland and Custer avenues.
At about midnight, DeKalb police officers, along with the Georgia State Patrol, started arresting drivers and towing cars.
Police arrested 29 people, most of whom were charged with reckless driving, a misdemeanor charge that can bring up to a six-month license suspension. Authorities also towed 34 cars.
"The people there in attendance knew drag racing is dangerous and illegal, but they were looking at it as a fun event to attend," said DeKalb police Sgt. Pat White.
Police believe many of the spectators learned about the event from a Web site.
"It had a list of best places to meet and apparently the Moreland parking lot was listed as one of the best," White said.
DMVS branch close by
The meet Saturday night was held in a shopping center that houses a branch of the state Department of Motor Vehicle Safety.
Spectators included people of all races and ages — including children as young as 8 — from Gwinnett, Cobb and Douglas counties, police said.
Spectators lined each side of the narrow "race drag" as pairs of cars hurtled down the length of the parking lot, sometimes coming perilously close to crashing into those watching.
In one race, a motorcycle driver crashed and suffered minor injuries. In another instance, the video footage shows a car swerving and almost slamming into spectators.
People drank openly and the smell of marijuana wafted through the air, police said.
Between races, riders on minibikes entertained the crowd with stunts. Others sat on car window frames, with half their bodies sticking out, as music blared from custom-fit speakers in the trunks. Someone else set off some firecrackers.
Police believe the races did not carry a prize, beyond bragging rights for the drivers.
"I saw one person bet with another guy about who was going to win," White said. "But he only bet a dollar."
After about an hour, as the crowd continued to swell, police stepped in to stop the races.
"Because this footage is evidence in court, we needed to get out there and build the case," said Officer Dale Davis.
Last year, six people were killed in illegal street races in Cobb and Gwinnett counties.
Officials with the Governor's Office of Highway Safety wonder whether recent films, especially "The Fast and the Furious," a 2001 movie about street racers, have glorified illegal racing.
"After that movie came out, I got more reports about drag racing from police chiefs," said Ricky Rich, director of law enforcement services for the governor's safety program, in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution last year.
Davis said Saturday night's street racing contest wasn't the first such incident in DeKalb.
He said the police sting operation was launched to "make some arrests and bring the situation under control."
"The important thing to know is that it is dangerous, and officials in DeKalb are not going to tolerate this type of activity taking place," Davis said.
Moreland site off Web
By Tuesday, the Web site had removed the Moreland site from its racing calendar and posted the following message: "Hehe I see that this page made it onto the news talking about meets posted for racing and stuff like that . . .
"Since Moreland is no longer a valid meeting place due to all the illegal [expletive] that goes on [don't deny it, we all know what happens there] it's been removed."
Race schedules for other metro Atlanta locations remain listed, including meets at Pleasant Hill Road and Club Drive in Gwinnett County.
— Staff writer Kaitlin Bell contributed to this article.
--------------------
link to article
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/met...eetracing.html
It also have a vid clip.
i'm not too sure on street racing, but if you're looking for a speed topic ... there has been a lot of attention put on motorcycle related fatalities in the chicago area. there has been 10 deaths in the past few weeks and the media is pretty much all over it.


