Agenda - Council - 01/24/1995 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Janua=Y 18, 1995 ?.... ~. INFORMATION ON SNOWMOBILE~,ACTIVIT¥ IN RAMSEY :i' by Chief Auspos './ ' ~' The following information is a general picture of police -.'--'-~.i_ activities relating to snowmobiles in t~e city. ',i" "'~ ..... In the season of 1993-1994 we had sixty-three (63) reported incidents relating to snowmobiles. I have not had our clerical personnel dig out each of the cases in order that I could extract more detail however we did do so for the 1994-1995 season to date (above date). On the one hand it is reasonable to expect that the figures I will be giving you for the latter will be quite similar in general however the two seasons are radically different for conditions conducive to snowmobiling so some factors could be different. Adequate snow cover on the streets or street edges may create an atmosphere that will result fewer intrusions onto boulevards, etc. For 1994-1995 we have had 39 incidents reported to us. wenu through each report to determine the gravity of the allegations To determi~]e if in fact there was ille(j.~l operation of snowmobiles. Of the 39, 18 were definitely illegal operation ranging from speeding to trespass to equipment. This constitutes 46%. Nih9 were.found to be legal operation, or 23%. The remaining 31% were, from the facts available, classed as questionable. Of the. 39 complaints, 12, Just under a third, were in the MUSA area and of those, five were illegal, one was legal and 6 questionable. I should explain that in the vast maj~.ority of these cases the offending machine(s) were not at the scene at call time and could not be located. The question of legal operation was determined by what the officers were told by the complainant or by observation of tracks. We have issued citations to two juveniles this year, two tickets each, for recl'eational vehicle trespass and improper registra=ion. These two attempted to flee the officer but were apprehended. We have planned, for Friday, Jan. 28th and Saturday, Jan. 29th an operation involvi'~'~g the Sheriff's snowmobile patrol, snowcover allowing. We will not have the machine on loan to the cityiby Anoka-Ramsey Sports Center ?nvolved in this operati, on but will be lending logistical assistance. i have viewed the farm fields belonging to A1 Pearson and where-he has been having most of his damage. In the primary -spot, South of ~1~ and West of Armstrong Blvd., it appears that riders have worn a broad swath East/West. along the South side of "the highway right-of-way. The ~ame is true of fields along the "- 'South side of 153rd Ave. East and West of.Puma St. and in fields -- .West of Puma and North of the RR tracks 'In those areas there ~is also_sign of.operation of machines in a random manner in the open _--fields'" In'the.seven county metro area it is illegal to operate . snowmobiles on private property without permission regardless of whether or not the land is fenced or posted ~{ith signs. This informal/on has been published in the Ramsey Resident for the p a %rw'~,w ~ years.