LAPD hosts meeting to address dangers associated with street takeovers
Los Angeles Police Department officials hosted a meeting on Thursday in hopes of pumping the brakes on the rampant amount of street takeovers hitting Southland roads.
The wildly popular events have a penchant to turn dangerous, whether it be fatal collisions or incidents that tragically turn into fights and sometimes shootings, like the one that left two people dead over the weekend in South Los Angeles.
Typically, street takeovers feature racing, dangerous driving stunts and high-powered cars spinning around busy intersections with complete disregard for any traffic in the area as hundreds of people stand around the area to record the ongoing chaos.
Officers discussed an array of events that flood roadways, even expanding to low rider cruising events, which many view as a timeless tradition of the Latino culture designed to honor the effort drivers put into their beloved vehicles.
"It's a beautiful celebration of car enthusiasts who put thousands of dollars into their hobby," said Angela Gonzales-Torres, who lives in Highland Park. "It made it seem like they were dangerous."
LAPD members say that wasn't the intent of the meeting.
"The department has nothing against the cruising," said LAPD Senior Lead Officer Luis Reyes. "The emphasis here was today, if they're gonna do that, they can always apply for a permit."
He says that with participants taking that route, the department can allocate officers and resources to ensure each event is safely conducted.
"If there's a medical emergency or something going on, we need to make sure we have clear access for emergency vehicles to get through," he said.
Cruising enthusiasts argue that the request is unreasonable, as many events take place on a week-to-week basis.
Though the topic was met with some kickback from community members, contact information was provided for those willing to work on a way to make sure that they could still hold their events within the requirements of law enforcement.
LAPD says that there will be several more meetings on the topic in the near future.