Council approves ordinance targeting attendees of illegal street takeovers in Long Beach

By Jason Ruiz | The Long Beach Post | PUBLISHED: March 2, 2022 at 8:00 a.m. Jason Ruiz

Spectators at illegal street takeover and racing events in Long Beach can soon be charged with an infraction or misdemeanor after the City Council took the first of two procedural votes to add the law to the city’s municipal code.

The ordinance was requested last year as a host of other cities in the region were adopting, or had already adopted, similar laws. While street takeover events and illegal street racing are covered by state law, Councilman Daryl Supernaw said putting it on the books in Long Beach will serve as a deterrent.

“Our city should never be a target due to inadequate or non-existent laws,” Supernaw said Tuesday.

The council voted 8-0 to give preliminary approval to the ordinance, but some members reiterated concerns that the law should be narrowly targeted and give opportunities for youth who could potentially be ensnared by the ordinance a chance to keep the penalties off their records.

The ordinance makes being present at an illegal street racing event or other “reckless driving exhibition” punishable as a misdemeanor but the city prosecutor would have discretion over what charges to file.

Councilman Rex Richardson agreed that people should face consequences when they break the law but said he wanted to make sure that city ordinances are not putting permanent black marks on people’s records and should be sensitive to young people.

Other members of the council supported that idea with Councilwoman Cindy Allen saying that a focus needed to be placed on the drivers.

“These events would never even happen without the drivers,” Allen said.

City Prosecutor Doug Haubert spoke Tuesday and said his office could use one of the city’s diversion programs like PATH, which provides workplace development and job placement as an alternative to prosecution. The program applies to persons between the ages of 18 and 24.

Haubert said that because they are diversion programs, they happen before filing so the cases never get to a courtroom.

Once the ordinance is signed into law it will apply to any kind of illegal street takeovers that happen on city streets or parking facilities accessible to the public. A person can be considered “present” at the event if they’re found to be within 200 feet of the reckless driving exhibition, according to the ordinance’s language.

New ordinance could make it a misdemeanor offense to attend street takeover events in Long Beach

Long Beach could soon start cracking down on illegal racing and street takeovers as the City Council is expected to approve a new ordinance next week that would make it illegal to be a spectator at such events.

The ordinance was requested in July by East Long Beach Councilman Daryl Supernaw, who showed footage of a takeover event where dozens of people and vehicles blocked the intersection of Stearns Street and Bellflower Boulevard with some attendees pointing lasers at arriving police officers.

Supernaw said Monday that the point of requesting the ordinance was to make sure that Long Beach did not become a haven for that kind of illegal street racing activity as other cities around Long Beach had already adopted, or were in the process of, putting similar laws targeting spectators on the books.

“If other cities are doing this, we just needed to send a strong message that Long Beach is not going to tolerate this,” Supernaw said.

The new ordinance would make being present at a site where illegal street racing, sideshow or other “reckless driving exhibition” during a street takeover is being performed or prepared for punishable as a misdemeanor or infraction. The city prosecutor would get to decide what level of charges to bring against those caught at takeover events.

The law would apply to any public street or parking facility if the council adopts the ordinance as currently written. A person would be considered “present” if they are within 200 feet of a reckless driving exhibition.

Preparing for a street takeover is narrowly defined in the ordinance’s language. It could mean one or more persons are impeding the public use of a street or one or more vehicles are lined up on a public street or parking lot revving their engines or causing the vehicle’s tires to spin.

A person’s past attendance at street takeovers could also be used against them as evidence for future charges.

The ordinance proposes allowing evidence that a person has been present at or been charged with previous offenses tied to street takeovers as proof that they were knowingly present at an event in the future.

“We don’t want someone blindsided by not knowing that this was against the law to do,” Supernaw said of that part of the proposed law.

It’s unclear if the three-year rule would be retroactive to the council’s potential adoption of the new ordinance. All city offices were closed Monday due to the President’s Day holiday and a representative from the city attorney’s office could not be reached.

While the council voted unanimously in July to have an ordinance drafted, some members raised concerns that it could be misinterpreted in a way that could target protests or that a diversion program might be a better tool to address youths who are present at street racing events.

If the council chooses to approve the ordinance it would go into effect 31 days after its formal adoption at a future meeting. Non-emergency city ordinances require two votes by the council meaning the new bystander law could become effective as soon as April.