Anaheim police officials say illegal street takeovers have declined in the city, but the department’s enforcement efforts will continue to ramp up and new state laws that take effect this summer will allow officers to more easily impound vehicles.
“Obviously this is an ongoing challenge,” said Anaheim Police Chief Rick Armendariz. “Although we are seeing a reduction in the number of events, it’s still a priority for us.”
Department officials updated the City Council this week on efforts by police to combat street takeovers and street racing. Street takeovers, sometimes broadcast on social media, invite participants and onlookers to show up and block off major intersections at night to perform stunts, such as drifting in vehicles, and leave minutes later.
“It’s very easy for these people to be heading down to say Irvine from LA and then jump off on Euclid (Street) and do their business,” Sgt. Ryan Blackburn said. “They are usually there for two to five minutes and then they are back on that freeway going down again.”
The number of calls related to street takeovers and racing dropped by 28% from 2022 to 2024, or from 1,230 calls in 2022 to 878 in 2024, officials said. There were 34 calls in January, far fewer for the month than reported each the past three years.
Armendariz acknowledged that recent street takeovers have led to injuries and detailed what police are doing to combat the problem. One in October saw a 7-Eleven store ransacked on Knott Avenue where a street takeover had occurred and another in November ended with two spectators being injured when a driver lost control of a car and drove into a crowd.
Anaheim Mayor Ashleigh Aitken said the city has to deal with the issue regularly because the city hosts several major thoroughfares such as Beach Boulevard, Brookhurst Street and Anaheim Boulevard.
The roads are wide and long, allowing people to travel distances at high speeds if they want to, Aitken said.
Along with new state laws that expand the police’s ability to impound vehicles involved in street takeovers, Anaheim police have two investigators who are reviewing footage collected by officers during street takeovers to follow up and tow vehicles the next day.
Armendariz said the city recently completed an audit of all its city-owned cameras and made sure ones at 14 major intersections were up to date and working. Police also use a helicopter, “Angel,” to record events and identify “the most egregious offenders” to be detained by officers, Armendariz said
New patrol vehicles the city buys will also include dash cams and license plate readers onboard. Armendariz said those are tools used to identify offenders so officers can obtain warrants to impound vehicles or get a court to suspend their driver’s licenses and impose driving restrictions.
Soon, too, APD will request more automated license plate reader camera systems to be installed throughout the city and look to acquire “advanced social media software” that can help police learn ahead of time when street takeovers are planned.
Residents are encouraged to call police when they hear or see a street takeover or racing near them, Armendariz said.
Street takeovers, sometimes referred to as sideshows, date back to the 1980s in Oakland and saw renewed life across the nation as streets became emptier in the early years of the pandemic.
California lawmakers last year passed several bills aimed to have stricter criminal penalties for street takeovers and racing.
Those laws include expanding the police’s ability to impound vehicles used in street takeovers and by spectators.
Another law that will take effect on July 1 will allow a court to suspend someone’s driver’s license for 90 days to six months if their violation was related to a street takeover.
The bills received bipartisan support and were signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom into law.
“Sideshows are reckless, criminal activities that endanger our communities,” Newsom said last September in a news release. “We have seen too many people killed or hurt at these events. Today, we are sending a clear message to anyone considering participating in or attending a sideshow: stricter penalties are in place, including the potential loss of your vehicle.”
Anaheim city leaders in 2021 passed a law that made it a misdemeanor or infraction to spectate a street takeover or race and that could be prosecuted by the city attorney’s office.
“Spectators do play such a large part in this,” Blackburn said in a 2021 video announcing the new law, “that they are shutting intersections down and becoming part of the problem.”