Council Eyes Solutions to Curb ‘Kruise Kalispell’ Complaints as Police Crack Down on Reckless Driving
The Kalispell Police Department reports an increase in downtown traffic enforcement and stops over the past six weeks as a deterrent to downtown cruising. City staff warned the enhanced enforcement hasn’t had enough time to register on the roadways.
By Zoë Buhrmaster
As Kalispell’s weekly Friday night cruises continue revving up downtown, and as community members continue to raise noise complaints and safety concerns, the city’s police department has accelerated measures to address reckless driving.
Kruise Kalispell began in 2020 to boost community camaraderie cruising down Main Street on Friday nights. Since then, the event has ballooned outside of the nonprofit’s few organized events into a weekly summer ritual, generating complaints from downtown residents who cite reckless behavior and sustained noise pollution, including the sustained screeching of tires from all-night-long burnouts.
During a city council meeting Monday night, Kalispell Police Chief Jordan Venezio said since May the department has made roughly 180 traffic stops downtown during the cruises, issued around 80 traffic citations, made multiple arrests for reckless driving, and has towed multiple vehicles. The department has increased staffing this year to a minimum of four officers downtown Friday night to help with traffic enforcement, he said.
“We focus on dangerous driving behavior,” Venezio said. “Our officers are not there to stop cruising in general. People have every right to drive up and down the roads lawfully. They’re there specifically to focus on reckless behavior, moving violations, stop signs, speeding, careless driving, those types of infractions are our focus. And we have seen an impact over the last, I would say, month to six weeks.”
Examples of reckless driving, he said, include when someone is peeling out or spinning through parking lots, or other unsafe driving behavior that appears to be intentional.
Police officers also hand out citations for engine revving, also known as engine racing, which is against city code, and rolling coal, which involves deliberately blasting thick clouds of exhaust. Whether officers issue a citation depends on factors such as if the alleged offense is significant enough to impact others’ driving, Venezio said.
Despite the increase in officers on the ground, however, Venezio said he believes reckless driving incidents have largely gone underreported. While the police department has had reports of some “near misses,” in the last two months, the police department has only received six complaints of reckless driving on Friday nights, he said.
“I’ve worked on Friday nights,” he said. “There are plenty more that should be called in.”
Residents can report to the police by calling 911 for immediately unsafe behavior. They can also call the department’s non-emergency line at (406) 758-7780, or by filling out a report online, though Venezio noted timely calls are often more helpful. To make it easier to report online, he said they would explore the possibility of creating a separate report for reckless driving, per a request by Councilor Lisa Blank.
If a police officer doesn’t witness a crime that is called in, however, community members who called in a crime should expect to be asked to provide witness statements in court, Kalispell City Attorney Johnna Preble said.
“You may see something, and you may take a video of something, and we may be calling you to please come into court three months later,” Preble said.
Fines for a first offense of reckless driving range from $50 to $500 and are set by the judge on a case-by-case basis. Judges are also able to issue up to 90 days jail time for first-time offenders. Recent sentencing impositions have also mandated attending a defensive driving class inside the courtroom, as assigned by the judge.
Revving engines is about a $50 ticket set by city code and carries an option for up to six months in jail, though city attorneys noted recent violators had not been given jail time. Rolling coal qualifies as disorderly conduct with a $205 ticket and 10 days of suspended jail time, city attorneys said.
So far they have not seen many repeat offenders, Preble said.
During public comment, residents thanked the police for their increased efforts, while some argued city council ought to be doing more. Community members suggested the city create a drag racing strip for cruisers; others suggested turning Friday nights into a weekly designated parade with a time limit, and still others recommended mandating driver’s ed programs in schools and making the course free of charge.
An older woman who lives on First Avenue East said she refused to report reckless driving to the police and serve as a witness because she is “easy to find, and these people scare me.”
The city would not likely host a drag racing event due to liability, Mayor Ryan Hunter said, to which the city attorneys nodded in agreement. He recommended those interested in discussing mandated driver’s-ed courses in schools reach out to their local school boards.
Councilors discussed potentially creating an additional penalty for breaking city codes around driving. They postponed the idea after City Manager Jarod Nygren said a proposed ordinance wouldn’t go into effect until after the summer months due to the amount of time needed to create an ordinance and pass the mandated readings.
Instead, councilors agreed to discuss potential traffic calming measures and potential ordinances to help curb reckless driving at future work sessions.
Kalispell Police Department (KPD), Downtown Kalispell Forward, the city, and local groups involved with Kruise Kalispell recently issued a recommended driving route for cruisers that avoids residential areas.
“In the meantime, there is a lot that’s going on at the staff level, in communication that’s going on, that I’ll continue to inform the council [about] as we move forward,” Nygren said. “There is some traffic control ideas that we have regarding some of the east side neighborhoods, but I will say that also messaging will be an important part of that because it’s not as easy as just closing down roads.”
He said council will likely have a chance to discuss options in upcoming budget sessions.
Meanwhile, KPD’s increased enforcement and the court process is beginning to see some results, albeit slowly, Preble, the city attorney, said. She pointed out that the court process works as a deterrent itself, especially for teenagers who may need to bring a parent with them to court, as well as for those who have to pay fines or for those whose insurance premiums go up.
“They are working as a deterrent,” Preble said. “What I think is kind of key to this conversation is that the wheels of justice just turn very slowly.”
“KPD has increased its enforcement this summer, we’re about six weeks into that,” she continued. “What we’re seeing right now is people in the middle of the court process … These consequences, they’re there, I think they are working, I think we haven’t had enough time to see them all the way through yet.”