NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Nashville police have made hundreds of arrests since launching a street racing crackdown in 2020, and officers say the effort is ongoing as racing groups remain active across the city.
Since the Metro Nashville Police Department's Street Racer Initiative began, officers have conducted over 1,400 traffic stops, arrested 399 people, filed 446 misdemeanor charges and 90 felony charges, recovered 22 guns, made 17 drug seizures, and impounded 93 vehicles.
Just this past weekend, three men were arrested in separate incidents.
Captain James Williams, who heads the traffic division and oversees everything from deadly crashes to hit-and-runs, said the initiative grew out of a surge in dangerous driving activity in the latter half of 2020.
"Really, the second half of 2020, we started to see an increase in street takeovers, these large car meets that would end up in the roadway, and drag racing kind of on the increase," Williams said.
That prompted the department to launch overtime patrols specifically targeting street racers.
"We started having these overtime initiatives, the street racer initiative that hoped to combat some of those, address a lot of the violations we were seeing," Williams said.
Officers now have additional tools at their disposal, including upgraded helicopters equipped with newer technology.
"In the past six years now, the department's gotten new helicopters with new technologies that are a lot better than the older ones we've had," Williams said.
Speed remains one of the most persistent dangers on Nashville roads.
"One of the leading factors that we have every year is speed," Williams said.
Street racing has proven deadly in Nashville. In March 2023, suspected drag racing on Clarksville Pike killed 34-year-old Jacob Barnhardt. Months later, three teens died when their car went airborne during a suspected street race, slamming into a parking lot between two semi-trailers.
"So it's not just having fun. It's a very dangerous activity," Williams said.
Williams said the initiative has successfully broken up large gatherings, though racing activity has not disappeared entirely.
"But we're seeing those groups much smaller. It's not hundreds of cars. It's tens of cars," Williams said.
The department has also pushed for stiffer penalties, stronger laws, and the ability to seize vehicles involved in street racing — measures Williams described as a deterrent.
"So that's something else and hopefully a deterrent for folks," Williams said.
Williams said the overtime initiative has been rewarding for officers working to prevent tragedies.
"Being able to prevent that in some way and really reduce the amount of what's out there and going on has been a really good feeling," Williams said.
Investigators say they plan to continue the initiative as street racing groups remain active across Nashville.
This story was reported on-air by journalist Kelsey Gibbs and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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