City council wants events like the March street takeover to stop.
“It’s not harmless fun,” Councilman Mark Jefferys said. “We know it’s hugely dangerous.”
Street takeovers, according to a 2024 report by the Police Executive Research Forum, are when dozens of cars meet up in one location to do donuts, race and drive recklessly.
“There have been dozens of people around the country who have died or seriously injured,” Johnson said at Wednesday’s City Council meeting. “We know it causes damage on property and roads.”
This is confirmed in the 2024 report, which says it is usually bored people looking for something to do, but it has led to injuries and a death in Sacramento.
The council unanimously passed an ordinance to produce a report within the next 30 days to recommend any regulations that would establish a civil fine and automatically impound drivers’ cars for six months. The offender would be required to pay all impoundment costs.
The latest street takeover, took place the final weekend of March, resulted in about 100 cars being impounded, according to information provided by council. Thirty-nine people were arrested.
The Cincinnati Police’s response to the takeover was impactful and saved a lot of lives, said Councilman Mark Jeffreys. He emphasized that out of the 100 impounded cars, 85% of the owners weren’t even from Cincinnati.
“We know that people were out there promoting to come to Cincinnati for this street takeover, which is obviously not what we want,” Jeffrey’s said.
Councilman Johnson said he felt the Cincinnati Police did everything correctly, but that they should not have to be worrying about this kind of incident.
“I know I’m sounding harsh, but I want to be crystal clear that our Cincinnati Police Department has enough to do,” Johnson said. “Other than to be tied up with people that are displaying reckless, dangerous behavior. I want to make sure it’s crystal clear you don’t come to Cincinnati with your reckless, irresponsible behavior.”
The new ordinance will use codes from other cities, including Louisville to help them create Cincinnati regulations.
“We do know from Louisville, which has a similar ordinance, the impound of the car in particular has been hugely effective because nobody wants to lose their car for six months,” Jefferys said.
Jefferys added that once the motion is created, it will go to the city’s legal team to make sure it’s allowable.