Violent street racing mobs are increasingly taking over streets across Los Angeles with deadly consequences, and some are blaming the city’s widespread adoption of “woke” policies.
Roving groups of young people in the hundreds block intersections and take over entire streets to watch the 2022 version of drag racing that often leaves innocent people injured and property destroyed. So far this year, 705 takeovers have occurred that left six people dead, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Others have been luckier — like the 13-year-old daughter of David Castillo, who survived after being slammed into a window when her father’s car was struck on the way home from Walmart.
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“It’s like a warzone,” said Barbara Calhoun, a former Compton councilwoman.
Los Angeles police say they are helpless to stop the mobs because of the sheer numbers. And now, the groups have a new thrill — invading local stores and picking the shelves clean after races are over. Last week, a surveillance video went viral showing looters vandalizing a store and assaulting a clerk.
“We really want to stop this from becoming a new trend where they think they can show up and take over a street, freeway, or any part of the city where they think they come into a store and take whatever they want. We are here to stay, that is not going to happen,” LAPD Detective Ryan Moreno said at a press conference.
But if you ask former Los Angeles City Councilman and LAPD veteran Dennis Zine, the descent into chaos was predictable and the blame lies at the feet of the “woke” politicians who run the city.
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“It’s just one more reflection of lawlessness in the city of LA,” he told the Washington Examiner. “You’ve got takeover robberies, street racing, and invading 7-Eleven to steal everything on the shelves. You have the shrinking LAPD.”
Robberies were up 20% so far this year compared to last year, LAPD statistics show. All other property crimes rose as well: Burglary, auto theft, and personal property theft are all up 16%, while stolen contents from autos rose 7%.
The workforce at the LAPD has shrunk, adding to the problem. Zine said the department has 9,288 sworn personnel as of July 2022, while the budgeted number is 10,000. Officers and supervisors are retiring in record numbers and no one wants to apply because of low morale and the city’s defund-the-police mindset from its politicians, Zine said.
“The system is collapsing, you can’t hire cops, you can’t hire probation officers,” he said. “Millions of tax dollars are wasted. Where is the leadership? Why can’t they make this work and hold people accountable? You have a city with limited resources and escalated violence with people getting killed. This illegal street racing is just one factor of it.”
Law enforcement say they are discouraged from taking action at the scene of street racing because they are outnumbered.
“If you really have two patrol cars out there, you can’t do anything with 200 other cars on the runway,” Sheriff’s Sgt. Michael Downing told the Los Angeles Times. “We’ve had officers attacked. We’ve had patrol cars crashed into. We’ve had people get run over while cars are leaving. Our hands are tied by our limited resources, and we can’t really deal with the crowds.”
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The penalties for participants are usually misdemeanors and involve impounding the cars for up to 30 days, police say. The California Highway Patrol has put together a task force with 231 operations in which 800 vehicles were seized.
“We’re not going to arrest our way out of this,” LAPD Chief Michel Moore told police commissioners at a hearing. “Despite the hundreds of impounds and citations and arrests, we still see the proliferation of this.”
