Sheriffs seized and impounded dozens of vehicles in Brooklyn with hundreds of traffic camera violations during a pre-dawn crackdown Friday, officials said.Â
The operation, which ran from midnight until 8 a.m., spanned the confines of the 67th, 70th and 71st precincts in central Brooklyn, according to the NYC Sheriff’s Office.Â
Using license plate reader technology and physical patrols, officials seized and impounded 54 vehicles that had a total of 879 speeding, red light and bus lane camera violations, with fines totaling $103,105, according to NYC Sheriff Joseph Fucito.
Between February and August, deputy sheriffs and city marshals assigned to the Sheriff’s Road Patrol seized 16,798 vehicles for a slew of violations including 133,729 speed camera offenses, 17,078 bus lane camera offenses and 13,701 for disobeying red lights, officials said.
The Sheriff’s Road Patrol conducts camera enforcement operations two to three times a week as part of its long-standing Scofflaw Enforcement Program.
The early morning sweep came on the heels of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s office slow-rolling a law that forces drivers who blow past speed cameras in school zones 15 or more times in a year to take dangerous driving classes.
Motorists busted running red lights policed by cameras five or more times in a year are required to sign up as well.
De Blasio inked the legislation into law in February 2020 — but his administration only approved the contract to begin offering the classes on Tuesday, a delay of nearly 18 months.
The law was in the spotlight this week after a hit-and-run motorist allegedly struck and killed a 3-month-old girl in Clinton Hill last weekend.
Prior to the deadly crash, 28-year-old suspect Tyrik Mott’s car had racked up 160 traffic violations, including more than 90 for speeding in city school zones. Thirty-five violations were from this year alone.
Additional reporting by Julia Marsh
