Oakland's Sideshow Crackdown: Fines vs. Jail Time

0:00It's April 20th. This is California News Today, driven by AI. Oakland streets stay wild with side shows. Those chaotic street takeovers where drivers spend donuts, crowds cheer, and things get dangerous with. Fires, guns, and crashes. Back in June 2023, the City Council dropped an ordinance to hit back hard, banning participation, or organizing these events with up to. Six months in jail, finds up to $5,000 for repeat offenders, and even court orders to shut down social media promo pages. Earlier this week, City officials admitted they've never once used that law, despite thousands of side show reports yearly. No penalties issued, no injunction sought, and the City Attorney says zero investigations referred since it passed. Police keep cracking down with older laws instead, towing 195 vehicles and arresting 23 folks last year for reckless. Driving an evasion tied to side shows. They hit a big one at 41st in how last August with 21 citations and just

1:03nab two organizers on felony warrants for that event. Councilmember Charlene Wang is pushing back, saying the district attorney is stretched thin on prosecutions, so civil fines could fill the gap, bring in city revenue, and actually stick. She's rolling out her own bill to find spectators too. Meanwhile, this fits a bigger pattern, where Oakland drops the ball on full tools, like uncollected trash dumping fines, or her new antisex buying. Ordinance. Until they fixed that bureaucracy, side shows might keep rolling unchecked.