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California Secretary McPeak Announces State Grants Targeting Illegal Street Racing

SACRAMENTO, Calif.--Aug. 3, 2005--Business, Transportation and Housing Agency Secretary Sunne Wright McPeak today announced the first in a series of $5 million in state grants targeting illegal street racing. Today's announcement covers the Sacramento region, which will devote $450,000 among several police agencies including the California Highway Patrol and Sacramento County Sheriff's Office, as well as police departments for Rancho Cordova, Citrus Heights, Elk Grove, Folsom, and Roseville.

"Illegal street racing is not just a great annoyance to the public; it exposes the public, spectators and racers themselves to extreme hazards," said Secretary McPeak. "Deaths and injuries due to illegal street racing are a serious problem in many California cities."

The grants call for the following:

-- Officer training to recognize automobiles that have been illegally modified for street racing;

-- Funds for officer overtime in connection with joint enforcement operations cracking down on street racing events; and

-- Illegal Street racing education presentations to 250 high school and college students.

Today's announcement was made at the headquarters of coffee company Java City where Kim Wheeler, a Java City employee, was killed by a street racer in mid-June as she was turning onto Del Paso Road leaving work. Several high-profile street racing incidents have occurred in the Sacramento area in recent months.

"Street racing kills, and it's not just the racers who die. The Bureau of Automotive Repair is honored to be a part of this life-saving program," said Charlene Zettel, Director of the California Department of Consumer Affairs, whose Bureau of Automotive Repair provides technical support for the program. "Law enforcement officers can contact Bureau of Automotive Repair technical experts to get advice on whether modifications to street-racing vehicles violate California's laws against emission-system tampering."

Joining Secretary McPeak was Sacramento Police Department Captain Ted Mandalla, whose agency is the host of the Sacramento grant; Joe Farrow, Deputy Commissioner of the California Highway Patrol; and, John McGinnis, Undersheriff, Sacramento County Sheriff's Department.

The grants are modeled after the highly-successful Drag-Net Program through the San Diego Police Department, a pilot project funded 3 years ago through a $700,000 grant from the Office of Traffic Safety. The grant, which provided training in San Diego County to aid communities in implementing illegal street racing enforcement programs, assisted in bringing down the number of street racing deaths from a high of 16 in 2002 to just four over the past two years.