Bridgeport police are using a new unit to crack down on illegal ATV and dirt bike riding on the city's streets during the pandemic.

Police say they are stepping up enforcement in the Washington Avenue area of the city with a new dirt-bike and quad detail of their own.

The police department's new unit has already seized illegally operated ATVs over the past few days, they say.

With fewer vehicles on the road due to the pandemic, police say they are taking full advantage of the situation to enforce a city ordinance passed in September of 2019.

They say dirt bikes, all-terrain vehicles and mini-cycles pose a serious safety hazard and generate hundreds of complaints every year.

They say they are seizing and towing the ATVs and fining their operators $500 each.