While cities in California continue to establish regulations to curb unlawful sideshows, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed several laws that will take effect this year statewide, giving localities more legal tools to address them.
Sideshows are a plague in many cities, with hundreds of people gathering at busy intersections for unplanned and dangerous demonstrations of donuts and other vehicle feats, which take over large areas and overwhelm authorities.
Officers who respond are outnumbered and diverted from other calls in places already plagued by understaffing, such as Vallejo. Deaths have happened when bystanders are hit by autos or when gunfights break out.
Most localities have implemented legislation requiring the impoundment of vehicles seized at sideshows, although experienced players can simply steal a car to use at the event, rendering the loss of the vehicle moot.
Some localities even arrest persons who watch a sideshow from a public roadway, a practice that some civil rights advocates have questioned.
Mayor London Breed of San Francisco recently advocated for tougher punishments for people who arrange and participate in sideshows, and the Board of Supervisors passed legislation in September.
Newsom signed four legislation that address some loopholes and increase authorities’ power to combat sideshows by impounding more automobiles.
Assembly Bill 2186 amends an existing law governing roads. Essentially, if a sideshow or “exhibition of speed” occurs in a parking lot, the vehicle(s) may now be seized.
Assembly Bill 1978 empowers police to confiscate automobiles they believe were involved in assisting or abetting a sideshow or street race without having to arrest anyone.
The bill’s author, Kate Sanchez, R-Rancho Santa Margarita, stated that the measure “will ensure that speed exhibitions do not continue in a different location once a street race has been dispersed and will keep roads, pedestrians, and other drivers safe.”
Opponents of the law, including the American Civil Liberties Union, view it as a method to target anyone with a car near a sideshow.
“Assembly Bill (AB) 1978, which would give police officers overbroad and unconstitutional authority to tow vehicles as a de facto punishment for anyone who they believe aided or abetted a sideshow or street race,” according to the ACLU’s opposing statement.
“AB 1978 harshly penalizes persons by towing their vehicles without a formal judicial hearing or decision. Towing a vehicle can be disastrous for low-income and working families.
Another new state law, Assembly Bill 3085, defines and strengthens police officers’ ability to impound vehicles. Officers could already apply to a magistrate for a 30-day impoundment for vehicles involved in dangerous driving or escaping, but they may now do the same for sideshows.
Finally, Assemblymember Carlos Villapudua, D-Stockton, has introduced Assembly Bill 2807, which clarifies that a “sideshow” is now also known as a “street takeover,” allowing prosecutors more leeway in court.
San Joaquin County, home to Stockton, has attracted notice for its significant crackdown on sideshows, after the Sheriff’s Office detained 150 people in February and seized 88 vehicles. Sheriff Patrick Withrow stated that he wanted to crush the impounded vehicles.
In November, Withrow issued an update on Facebook about the impounded vehicles, which his office had held for more than the state’s 30-day limit. Seized vehicles can only be held for 30 days until the county district attorney’s office files charges. Withrow referred to the automobiles as “evidence.”
According to Withrow, as of November, the county had witnessed no sideshow activity since the February bust.
“We have had no sideshow events in our county since then, and we are ready, willing and waiting if they decide they want to come back and donate some more cars to our pile here at the office,” he told me.
On Thursday, Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Deputy Andres Lopez stated that “as of today, we still have not had a sideshow of that scale since February.”
Overall, Withrow said that 13 cars had been released, while 76 vehicles remained in the Sheriff’s Office’s control. The sheriff also stated that the San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office was handling 250 cases involving sideshows.