Boston Police Have Towed at Least 173 Mopeds and Motorcycles in 11 'Operation Kickstand' Sweeps Since August, Department Releases Show

The Boston Police Department has announced 11 "Operation Kickstand" enforcement sweeps aimed at mopeds, scooters and motorcycles since early August, and together those announcements report at least 173 vehicles towed, 21 arrests and 64 people issued criminal summonses, according to a Boston Uncut tally of the department's own news releases.

The count covers every 2026 release on police.boston.gov that names Operation Kickstand, from an Aug. 5 operation in Roxbury through an Oct. 19 sweep Downtown that the department announced on Oct. 23. It reflects only the operations the department chose to publicize and the figures it reported in each release. The releases do not say how many of the summonses led to charges, how many towed vehicles were later reclaimed, or how many were stolen or unregistered, and the department has not published a running total.

The largest share of the towing came out of District B-2, the department's Roxbury district. B-2 officers and detectives, working with the department's Auto Theft Unit, ran four Kickstand operations that together towed 107 vehicles, according to the releases: 13 mopeds on Aug. 5 around Blue Hill Avenue and Tremont Street, 31 on Aug. 18 around Blue Hill Avenue and Warren Street, 34 on Sept. 10 and 29 motorcycles on Sept. 17. Those four operations produced nine arrests and 20 summonses. The release on the Sept. 17 operation said the department's Drone Unit also took part.

Each B-2 release used the same explanation: the operation "was organized in response to ongoing public safety concerns regarding the use of these vehicles in the Dorchester and Roxbury neighborhoods."

District A-1, which covers Downtown, has run Kickstand most often. The department announced five A-1 operations, on Sept. 1, Sept. 4, Sept. 10, Sept. 16 and Oct. 19. Together they towed 44 mopeds, scooters and motorcycles and produced eight arrests and 31 summonses, according to the releases. Four of the five Downtown releases also reported motor vehicle citations, which add up to 50. The A-1 releases said the sweeps responded to "continuing public safety and quality-of-life concerns associated with the increased presence and unlawful operation of scooters and mopeds within the district."

The Downtown operations have occasionally turned up more than traffic violations. In the Sept. 1 sweep around Washington, Franklin and Hawley streets, officers approached the owner of a motorcycle with no license plate, found he had four active warrants and recovered about 218 fentanyl pills weighing roughly 24 grams, according to the department. He was charged with trafficking fentanyl and related offenses. Charges are allegations, and he has not been convicted.

Two other Kickstand operations took place outside those districts. On Aug. 29, the department's Scooter Interdiction Team towed 12 mopeds, arrested three people and summonsed three more around the route of the Caribbean Carnival parade, which the release said was meant to ensure "attendees would not be at risk of the unsafe and reckless operation of these vehicles." On Sept. 9, District E-18 officers and Boston Housing Authority police towed 10 mopeds in the Hyde Park Avenue area, arrested one person and summonsed 10.

The department has also run similar sweeps without the Kickstand name. A Sept. 3 traffic enforcement initiative around Bickford Street and Horan Way in Jamaica Plain towed 10 mopeds, scooters and motorcycles and seized a license plate the department described as illegitimate. A Sept. 10 initiative across Dorchester by District C-11 towed 27 more and produced two criminal summonses. Counting those two operations, the department's releases report 210 vehicles towed since early August. Both releases described the work as part of the city's effort to address "felonious incidents involving operators of mopeds and motorcycles."

The pace of announcements has slowed. The department posted 10 Kickstand releases between Aug. 6 and Sept. 18, then none until the Oct. 23 release on the Oct. 19 Downtown sweep. That most recent operation produced no arrests, three criminal summonses, 11 civil citations, 14 parking violations and seven tows, the smallest towing figure of any Downtown Kickstand operation the department has announced except the Sept. 4 sweep, which towed six.

The releases vary in what they report. Some list citations and parking violations while others give only arrests, summonses and tows, and the Sept. 10 Roxbury release reported towing alone. The totals above add only the figures each release stated, so the true count of citations in particular is likely higher than the releases show.

Every release closed with the same line: "The Boston Police Department remains committed to improving traffic safety and will continue to conduct enforcement operations across the city." The department asks anyone with information about illegal moped or motorcycle activity to contact police or call 911 in an emergency, and accepts anonymous tips through its CrimeStoppers line at 1-800-494-TIPS or by texting "TIP" to CRIME (27463).