Los Angeles cops are stomping out the city’s scourge of street takeovers with hundreds of arrests this year, Chief Jim McDonnell said Thursday.
The illegal gatherings, where burnout-loving mobs destroy, vandalize and steal, have worsened since January, according to city officials, prompting Mayor Karen Bass last month to announce increased patrols in downtown LA.
The social-media fueled takeovers often pop off on weekend nights throughout Los Angeles and Orange counties.
Cars block intersections and create a “pit” for other drivers to rip burnouts and donuts. Spectators flock around the middle, filming cars as they screeching past, with daring passengers hanging dangerously from their windows.
Even if the drivers avoid an accident, cops say takeovers result in traffic blockages, damage to roadways, noise, littler and other quality of life issues for residents and businesses.
And more often, cops say, the takeover mobs are spinning out of control.
A violent takeover in downtown LA last month March spiraled into chaos, with participants causing thousands of dollars in damage to the luxury Circa LA Apartments across the street from the LA Convention Center.
The Los Angeles Police Department responded to almost 700 street takeovers last year, McDonnell said in an appearance on KTLA. Cops made 1,700 traffic stops related to the vehicular mayhem and issued more than 1,700 citations, he said.
In all, police made nearly 300 arrests, at takeovers last year, said McDonnell, and the department is “were trending in that direction again this year.”
But crushing the takeovers is a challenge, he said, in part because they often draw hundreds of participants.
“Look at the number of people around there,” McDonnell said of the mobs. “There are people around for the blocks around it, as well.”
Takeovers draw throngs of cars, as well as spectators on foot, who occupy streets and sidewalks.
The sheer numbers make it difficult to get police cars and officers into the pit, “to be able to do enforcement,” McDonnell said.
When cops finally do penetrate, McDonnell said, they often find themselves badly outnumbered. “When you get in there, if you go in with a single car or a couple of cars, you get overwhelmed by the crowd,” he said
The department has a special taskforce to fight the takeovers, said McDonnell. It’s regarded by cops as one of the trickiest beats, because the takeovers are often organized online with just hours’ notice or seemingly materialize from thin air.
“It’s hard to prevent them from happening,” said McDonnell. “They’re spontaneous. We scour the web to be able to try and come up with where these are going to be, as best we can.”
One proven tactic for fighting takeovers is to increase patrols, cops say. Just days after the takeover near the Circa LA Apartments exploded into a riot, Bass announced that the LAPD would launch a strategic deployment across downtown LA.
The new policing push floods the area with patrol cars, horse-mounted officers, foot patrols and undercover units, according to the mayor’s office.
“What happened at Circa LA Apartments is despicable,” said Bass. “And we have zero tolerance for street takeovers.”
City officials said the fortified police force will remain in place as authorities try to prevent future takeovers — and send the message that the city’s downtown hub is safe.
