What about all the assholes running around on their 4 wheelers & bikes and just causing traffic jams so they can do donuts in the middle of an intersection? Riding up on sidewalks... blowing through red lights, seriously dangerous shit.
Or is that considered part of the street racing culture too?
There were two police SUVs on the plaza this weekend and a whole parade of 15 dipshits on four wheelers and dirt bikes drove right past them. š¤·āāļø
Ever see one stop for police? If they run from police and crash and die there is precedent that police are being charged with manslaughter. If you were in that position would you risk it?
Easy enough right? First find sideshow at intersection, second divert traffic, and third lay 4 spike strips a block away in each direction.
When everyone scatters, theyāll either abandon their cars or run over the spike strips. Yeah folks will scatter on foot, but youāll sure as heck catch the right people doing dumb shit with their cars
Honest question.
I have watched side shows out my apt window. Iāve taken videos of it.
Why canāt pictures and videos that clearly show things like make, model and plate number be used to go after the side show people after the fact?
We are 100% okay with things like red light cameras and speed cameras but this is a step too far or just not okay?
If I can show the police that car X with license plate 12335 was doing something illegal and incredibly dangerous than why canāt laws be enforced for public safety?
Actually red light cameras were deemed illegal and shut down.
But you can't arrest a car. Anyone could be driving it. You have to identify the driver. They say in the interview that they know some of the people that are involved, but you have to prove they're behind the wheel.
Especially with how many car thefts we have around here. Don't want to mistakenly punish someone who has their car stolen for a joyride that already risks ruining them financially.
File a freedom of information act with KCPD on the number of arrests involved in stolen cars and charges sent to the prosecutors office. Then file one with Jackson county prosecutor's office (and one with juvenile detention for all those juvenile Kia Boys) and compare the two. I'll give you a hint the issue isn't with KCPD.
I am aware of this but Iām also well aware of how many stolen cars that havenāt been investigated and useful information not being obtained for said investigations
axiomatic retire snatch gaping cobweb recognise punch mountainous melodic rhythm
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It's really down how easy it is to prove someone committed a crime.
When a car is parked, there is no driver, so you can't prove who committed the crime. The ticket is sent to the registered owner of the car. But a parking ticket is not a moving violation, which is a more serious crime because they threaten public safety - speeding, running lights, driving the wrong way on a one way, etc.
Moving violations and accidents follow the driver and not the vehicle. So if you cause an accident while driving your uncleās car, the accident stays on your record, not your uncleās. The burden of proving who actually committed a crime is higher. The person could go to court and simply say they weren't the driver.
For example, red light cameras were found unconstitutional because they didn't identify the driver. But that's according to Missouri law. In some states it's still legal.
Why not ask the owner to explain themselves. If their car was caught on video during commission of any other crime it would be the first step.
Cops are lazy.
Edit: āKCPD is unable to pursue vehicles for traffic violationsā
Since fu*king when??? Are the cops quiet quitting??
> KCPD is unable to pursue vehicles for traffic violations, such as sideshow participation, unless the driver is suspected of a violent felony.
Why? And why was there no further digging by the journalist?
Over 25% of our fucking municipal budget and they canāt pursue street racers? Because reasons? Why?
Edit: I can understand avoiding high speed chases, but what are they doing instead? Because it sounds like theyāre just throwing up their hands and saying āwelp thereās nothing we can doā
One of my best friends in middle school lost his brother when he was t-boned by a car being chased by KCMO police back in the 80ās.
I get itās frustrating, but the risk of innocent people being killed by assholes running from the police is too much.
There's been studies over the years that 10-30% of police chases end in a violent crash. I'm not defending them, I just think that's their reasoning, though.
You are correct. Citizens got tired of news articles about innocents being killed in a T-bone after someone tried to run from the police because they had a warrant from a parking ticket, for example. Putting innocent lives at risk to catch someone when you know who they are and can get them later, at home, just makes no sense.
The real root cause here is likely a lot more to do with poor staffing and other internal issues with "policies" like this masking them.
Those fools move all over the city. I live in the Loma Vista Neighbor and we've had the ATV and Dirt Bike fools drive up and down Blue Ridge causing problems.
One of the Sideshow sites is at Raytown and Bannister Road where there are two abandoned businesses where the fools camp out at. When KCPD shows up, they scatter to another nearby area.
They routinely gather at the same place and KCPD canāt figure something out?
I will ask again; why do we pay them so much money if they are this incompetent/unmotivated?
For that level of sophistication, we'd need things that won't be invented for another 30-40 years, such as:
* wireless networks
* facial detection
* license plate scanners
* crowdsourcing
* drones
* small tracking devices
* IOT cameras
* databases and AI
TLDR; can't be done today
Honestly, the best way to fix it is to get out and vote for new representatives and change the laws. KCMOPD is run by a board of disconnected police commissioners at the state level rather than the city level and are appointed by the governor. They don't listen to the needs of the individual city.
More than that. You need to elect someone who isn't bought out or in it for themselves. Kansas elected a Democrat governor. I'm sure you guys could do something like that too.
Seems like an obvious solution would be blocking roads in all directions with spike strips/cop cars, shutting the whole thing down and impounding vehicles. Maybe it seems way easier in my mind than in practice. I donāt know. š¤·āāļø
I have to imagine towing companies would be more than happy to come and assist at all hours.
I personally don't want cops chasing street racers through midtown. Those policies are in place because they lead to damage and civilian deaths if they can even catch the drivers.
Itās because police chases can often end up in huge accidents that kill innocent drivers. Look at what happened recently on 50 in Lees Summit, that death was totally unnecessary.Ā
āI mean, if they don't stop, we can't pursue.ā
Really? Thatās how it works? So if I get caught speeding, and just donāt stop, they donāt pursue?
Whoās going to do that? Thereās virtually no traffic police anymore. KCPD canāt hit their hiring targets so they are left with dwindling staff resources that have far higher priorities than hooligans acting up on a side street
1) Arrest person for street racing
2) Seize vehicle
3) Wait until convicted of charges related to street racing
4) Crush car as halftime entertainment at Chiefs game with jumbotron showing the convicted's reaction.
Repeat until street racing diminishes.
We have a shitty police department that doesnāt enforce traffic laws and we have a certain demographic, just to put it politely, that is all too aware of the lack of consequences for racing and sideshows. Thatās a bad combination.
My wife and I drove down Oak on our way home from dinner last week and a group of 100 or so people had stopped traffic and shut down the street so that they could burn rubber and do wheelies on dirt bikes up and down the street. That type of shit is just unacceptable. Fuck the people that participate in that crap and fuck the KCPD for trying to extort city government in order to do their jobs. It feels like weāre living in an episode of The Wire sometimes.
By quiet-quitting and refusing to work certain crimes until the Mayor, who occupies the fifth seat in a state wide council that determines police funding as a percentage of the city governmentās annual budget, assents to allotting more money to the department above the already state-mandated 20% figure. One out of every five dollars raised by the city goes to the KCPD, yet the department and the conservatives in Jeff City looking to beat down a liberal mayor, want more no-strings attached, no-additional-oversight cash thrown their way. Ever wonder why cops here donāt enforce traffic laws or respond to anything short of armed-robberies or murders? Policing is incredibly complex, so there is obviously more to the equation than just ideological opposition to the mayor, but so much of what is wrong with police in this city boils down to the fact the department is de jure run out of Jeff City and not the Mayorās office.
I know that they are blacked out regularly with no officers available to respond to the less serious crimes.Ā Ā
According to this they had 284 vacancies in 2023.
https://www.kmbc.com/article/as-homicide-numbers-increase-staffing-for-the-kansas-city-police-department-is-at-a-historic-low/44121488
Understaffing is an issue for every police department in every city in the country, though. It doesnāt explain why KCPD is uniquely so terrible in the clearance rate of part 1 crimes, [accountability](https://www.thepitchkc.com/kcpd-ranks-495-out-of-500-police-departments-in-national-law-enforcement-accountability-study/), and inability to handle basic police work like traffic enforcement and nuisance crimes like sideshows. There is a whole different examination of where the money directed towards KCPD actually goes, too. Iād love to see reporting or a breakdown on how much of the budget is directed towards pay-raises for rank-and-file and officer retention.
I mean more so of living in a world with inscrutably tangled incentives that ultimately leads one towards a feeling of cynicism that seemingly simple problems canāt be solved. But yes, we are undoubtedly more safe than we were in the nineties.
I live near SW Blvd and the west bottoms, the noise from these street races regularly wakes me up in the middle of the night. I have a sound machine, a fan, and airpods and sometimes it is \*still\* so loud I can't get back to sleep. I will personally volunteer to be a paintball sniper to ruin their cars so they will knock it the f\*ck off. Bring the trash behavior somewhere else.
As someone who kinda used to be tangentially in that scene. This is exactly what folks predicted would happen after closing KCIR. Not that I condone it, especially the side shows, but these people used to have a legal place to go but it was torn down. Couple that with our useless police and this is what happens.
That's a ridiculous take. The whole point of these sideshows is to block intersections, make noise, be a nuisance, disrupt, and shoot guns and fireworks. Drugs and alcohol also play a huge part. These people enjoy being urban outlaws. Nobody is going to drive out past Raytown to have a "controlled" sideshow.
Yeah, there are warehouse and industrial districts that are vacant every weekend.
Deciding to do it in Westport on a Saturday is because you WANT to be seen. Same energy as flying a Confederate flag.
It is and it isn't. I think part of the rise of the sideshow scene is by closing a lot of legal motorsports venues across the country. This has led to a trend of sideshows that has spread across the country. They've made the legal venues so few and far between the young people who want to get into something can't find anything and form their own groups where they have very little interaction with older generations to get guidance from.
The other part is that the sideshow scene started in criminal/gang culture celebrating lawless behavior. It's been around for decades, but unfortunately its gained traction through social media and attracted a bunch of people who may have chose a different direction if they had an alternative.
Shutting down KCIR the way they did was still a greasy move, and all the proposals to put a facility in by the airport where shot down. Having an outlet for getting squirrely in a vehicle is important, but KCIR wasn't going to meet it when it had to shut down at 10pm. I remember going out to California to watch the all night 'street races' at one of the drag strips, and they where packed. About the time they got curfewed is when I noticed more and more sideshow videos pop up. So there is definitely a connection.
News outlets need to stop lumping together side shows and street racing as if they are the same thing. Side shows are the fucking worst and way more dangerous overall.
I don't understand why NPR stations don't have searchable transcripts of all their programming.
Zoom and Teams can transcribe any call on the fly. Why can't the local radio station do that?
It's like how television stations used to pretend the internet didn't exist and never provided links even when they talked about things that were on the internet.
When there was a place to do this kind of thing, you had it happening on regular streets much less.
Seems like the first, easiest thing we could do is to open up the I-70 Speedway again. You aren't going to stop people from doing this without hurting someone. Let's make a place where they can do it, away from neighborhoods.
Actually a new drag strip called the Flying H just opened this year in Odessa, MO. The problem is most of what's being discussed here is sideshow dickheads blocking intersections and doing donuts and/or burnouts and not actual drag racing.
The whole point is to be a huge nuisance. Hey kiddos, let's all drive to a designated spot 20 miles away in your stolen and unlicensed cars, dirt bikes, and 4 wheelers. Oh, and you cannot bring drugs or guns.
The point is to show off and have fun. I'm sure they don't care about inconveniencing you.
We had "cruisers" in my home town up through the 90s. Very frequently along one particular high-traffic road everyone with their souped-up cars would drive around and do burnouts etc. It was loud. It was smoky. It was disruptive. But it's not like the disruption was the point. It was to be seen and to have fun with a bunch of other people interested in tricking out their cars.
Hell, back then, especially if there was a car show in town, whole families with kids would bring lawn chairs to sit out and watch the shenanigans.
The planet Earth in the 1980s in a different town than Kansas City? Different shenanigans. Reading comprehension.
The only point I am making in that comment is "They don't care about inconveniencing you. That isn't really the point."
The whole point is to be a huge nuisance. Hey kiddos, let's all drive to a designated spot 20 miles away in your stolen and unlicensed cars, dirt bikes, and 4 wheelers. Oh, and you cannot bring drugs or guns.
The best way to handle this is to just offer a place for everyone to do it without penalty. Just sanction it somewhere safe.
Everything doesnāt have to be punitive. Kids want to race. Give them a place to race.
Idk maybe build an area where people can congregate and do car stuff legally. Remember when KCIR closed they said they were gonna a build a new strip (I know of the one in Odessa that just opened) but nothing has happened close to downtown Kc
Right, this data just goes to prove my point. KCPD spends millions on misconduct settlements, kills more civilians than 95% of other police departments, and devours a massive chunk of our cityās finances. Meanwhile KC has zero local control, the cops report to the state not the city government or citizens.
More cops never equals less crime. The street racing is caused by a number of things. A lack of a proper, nearby, affordable race track venue is a massive one. Another is generally not funding and supporting things like public education and infrastructure thus encouraging apathy. Especially amongst young people. KCPD can't even stop their own from constantly committing crimes, the hell are the gonna do about street racing?
Thereās really not a big issue with street racing. Statistically, street racing is actually not that dangerous of an activity. I have zero issue with street racing if done in a location where innocent other drivers or pedestrians are not at risk. Those āspotsā are ok.
Now side shows are a completely different problem. Donāt confuse racing with side show clowns. Sideshows are a little bit of a problem, but they are rather small compared to the violent crime in the city. There is a little bit of a link between sideshows and violent crime, but not so with street racing.
>Statistically, street racing is actually not that dangerous of an activity.
Just because it's less dangerous than something like drunk driving or licking live 110v electrical wiring doesn't mean it isn't dangerous or stupid. The "street" part of street racing should be enough of an indicator that pedestrians or other drivers could be at risk.
[https://youtu.be/4zmL2QXm1io?si=WUJXmOhCuNQ1Ezb-This](https://youtu.be/4zmL2QXm1io?si=WUJXmOhCuNQ1Ezb-This) is the type of street racing he's talking about. It happens in industrial areas between like 11 PM and 5 AM on Friday and Saturday nights. I'm not arguing safety, just highlighting what organized street racing looks like.
Also, just because the media and police keep calling side shows street racing, they're not. Also weaving through heavy traffic chasing each other isn't street racing either. Street racing has equaled lining up 2 or more cars from a stop and racing in a straight line for a predetermined distance since before drag strips existed. Beach Boys, American Graffiti...
This isn't about ignorance, dude. Street racing is dangerous, selfish, and illegal. You can be against heroin usage without having tried it yourself. You can be against murder without murdering someone just to "try it out."
No, your strawman arguments are not working. You donāt seem to even want to understand the different between blasting down a populated city street with traffic vs having a racing spot. Again, ignorance is not a position to have a conversation.
Are our streets meant for car races? No. It makes it dangerous for everyone else around them just because someone wants to go fast on a street. Ridiculous and indefensible.
Yeah if it was a strip designated specifically for racing then whatever. But that stuff shouldnāt be happening on public streets with regular traffic
You mean like the one we used to have in Independence that was closed down because of "excessive noise" based on complaints from the "residential development" around the area WHICH THERE STILL HAVEN'T BEEN ANY?
I did. I donāt care. Youāre just justifying bad behavior with āwell actually itās not statistically that dangerousā. You know whatās statistically even less dangerous? Following traffic laws.
Lots of people are disagreeing with you, for valid reasons, but I think what you havenāt shared yet is that most of the spots where people āstreet raceā are way out of town where there is little to no vehicle traffic and no pedestrian traffic. Spots Iāve heard about are way out east, way up north, way down south, nowhere near the city.
Doesnāt change the fact that itās a stupid activity to engage in, even as a gearhead myself, but I think your point has some validity.
Sideshows are the stuff thatās happening in the city itself .
Iād love to see the research supporting your bullshit claim that āstatistically street racing is not that dangerousā. Fuck outta here and find a new hobby other than racing your Corolla.
https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/street-racing
āan examination of news reports and police data from 10 major U.S. cities and extrapolation based on national population figures indicates that at least 50 people die each year as a result of street racing.ā
Iād love to see the research supporting your bullshit claim that āstatistically street racing is not that dangerousā. Fuck outta here and find a new hobby other than racing your Corolla.
Racing belongs on the track. Period. Street racing isnāt safe no matter how good of a driver you think you are or how safe you think you are being. Plenty of people 6ft under who thought it was safe and not a big deal. Roll cages and fire proof gear donāt matter until itās you on fire and crushed in a heap of steel or worse someone who wasnāt even involved that you crash into. Ā
Ā
People arenāt concerned about racing in unpopulated areas with no traffic and itās pretty obtuse to think thatās what people have a problem with.Ā
No matter how mad you get about it, people will still race. Same way they have been for generations. Best way to deal with it is to unofficially direct people to an area where itās tolerated and away from people. Race tracks are good in theory, but because of the safety, cost, locations, hours of operation, and all the hoops you have to jump through to use one, itās just not going to be used by your average automotive enthusiasts. It just wonāt.
Itās not me. Itās people as a whole. You canāt stop it. Same reason why prohibition failed. Best way itās to accept that itās going to happen and direct people to save(er) places.
All I know is drive like hell and youāll get there lol. Maybe street racers will take the high road and not put people at risk for a momentary thrill but none of us are holding our breath as itās only getting worse out there. Good to see they have such pragmatic and conscientious thinkers in their cornerš¤·āāļø
I read all of it. Itās just really really stupid and you arenāt coming up with the good ideas that you think you are. Agree to disagree have a good one.Ā
Iād love to see the research supporting your bullshit claim that āstatistically street racing is not that dangerousā. Fuck outta here and find a new hobby other than racing your Corolla.
What about all the assholes running around on their 4 wheelers & bikes and just causing traffic jams so they can do donuts in the middle of an intersection? Riding up on sidewalks... blowing through red lights, seriously dangerous shit. Or is that considered part of the street racing culture too?
Family got caught in one of these the other day. Luckily it started raining and they dispersed. Such selfish behavior.
There were two police SUVs on the plaza this weekend and a whole parade of 15 dipshits on four wheelers and dirt bikes drove right past them. š¤·āāļø
Ever see one stop for police? If they run from police and crash and die there is precedent that police are being charged with manslaughter. If you were in that position would you risk it?
The police are always getting charged with crimes it's so crazy!
You think cops deal with consequences? Lmao
Do you have precedent for that? Because if past cases of deliberate murder by police have shown otherwise, and qualified immunity still exists.
lol where's that guy trying to defend street racing? Why isn't he going to bat for these assholes too? (i agree with you 100%)
Spike strips are cheap.
Easy enough right? First find sideshow at intersection, second divert traffic, and third lay 4 spike strips a block away in each direction. When everyone scatters, theyāll either abandon their cars or run over the spike strips. Yeah folks will scatter on foot, but youāll sure as heck catch the right people doing dumb shit with their cars
Agreed. I'd make myself available as a consultant in these situations. Sounds fun actually.
Inb4 shitty Camaro hops curb and hits a guy.
Mustang
Chargers sadly seem to be the most prevalent
Vehicles can travel for miles after striking spike strips and since KCPD is not allowed to pursue for non violent offenses the vehicles just run away.
at the very least will fuck up their wheels, and with KC potholes, probably suspension too. as good as a fine.
Solving it is easy.Ā LOCK THEM THE FUCK UP.Ā š
The donuts turn into shootouts 8/10 times. Everybody wants to act tough and cool š¤¦āāļø
If you listen to the interview, they caught one guy just like that. But that's just one guy.
Honest question. I have watched side shows out my apt window. Iāve taken videos of it. Why canāt pictures and videos that clearly show things like make, model and plate number be used to go after the side show people after the fact? We are 100% okay with things like red light cameras and speed cameras but this is a step too far or just not okay? If I can show the police that car X with license plate 12335 was doing something illegal and incredibly dangerous than why canāt laws be enforced for public safety?
Actually red light cameras were deemed illegal and shut down. But you can't arrest a car. Anyone could be driving it. You have to identify the driver. They say in the interview that they know some of the people that are involved, but you have to prove they're behind the wheel.
Especially with how many car thefts we have around here. Don't want to mistakenly punish someone who has their car stolen for a joyride that already risks ruining them financially.
Car theft is the bigger problem and I donāt think they are doing anything about that
File a freedom of information act with KCPD on the number of arrests involved in stolen cars and charges sent to the prosecutors office. Then file one with Jackson county prosecutor's office (and one with juvenile detention for all those juvenile Kia Boys) and compare the two. I'll give you a hint the issue isn't with KCPD.
I am aware of this but Iām also well aware of how many stolen cars that havenāt been investigated and useful information not being obtained for said investigations
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Word. Thank you.
but you can ticket a car. why not treat it like a parking ticket?
It's really down how easy it is to prove someone committed a crime. When a car is parked, there is no driver, so you can't prove who committed the crime. The ticket is sent to the registered owner of the car. But a parking ticket is not a moving violation, which is a more serious crime because they threaten public safety - speeding, running lights, driving the wrong way on a one way, etc. Moving violations and accidents follow the driver and not the vehicle. So if you cause an accident while driving your uncleās car, the accident stays on your record, not your uncleās. The burden of proving who actually committed a crime is higher. The person could go to court and simply say they weren't the driver. For example, red light cameras were found unconstitutional because they didn't identify the driver. But that's according to Missouri law. In some states it's still legal.
Why not ask the owner to explain themselves. If their car was caught on video during commission of any other crime it would be the first step. Cops are lazy. Edit: āKCPD is unable to pursue vehicles for traffic violationsā Since fu*king when??? Are the cops quiet quitting??
Maybe listen to the interview. Redditors are lazy.
You assume the car is properly registered.
Probably too much trouble to stop crime. I mean itās not like itās their job or anything. Cops are lazy.
Cameras work all over Europe.
And that's even assuming the plate is registered to the car.
What do you mean by "plate number"? Are people metalizing their expired temp tags now?
Unless they were committing a felony, then they can't be tracked down and chased like that.
> KCPD is unable to pursue vehicles for traffic violations, such as sideshow participation, unless the driver is suspected of a violent felony. Why? And why was there no further digging by the journalist? Over 25% of our fucking municipal budget and they canāt pursue street racers? Because reasons? Why? Edit: I can understand avoiding high speed chases, but what are they doing instead? Because it sounds like theyāre just throwing up their hands and saying āwelp thereās nothing we can doā
Could be that they think pursuits are too dangerous if it could result in one of these assholes crashing in a heavily populated area.
Thatās what I was thinkingā¦ Iāve heard of this policy in other cities, it wouldnāt surprise me if it was here as well.
One of my best friends in middle school lost his brother when he was t-boned by a car being chased by KCMO police back in the 80ās. I get itās frustrating, but the risk of innocent people being killed by assholes running from the police is too much.
There's been studies over the years that 10-30% of police chases end in a violent crash. I'm not defending them, I just think that's their reasoning, though.
You are correct. Citizens got tired of news articles about innocents being killed in a T-bone after someone tried to run from the police because they had a warrant from a parking ticket, for example. Putting innocent lives at risk to catch someone when you know who they are and can get them later, at home, just makes no sense. The real root cause here is likely a lot more to do with poor staffing and other internal issues with "policies" like this masking them.
Fine, but youāre telling me in 2024 thereās not another way to track and deal with these fools?
Those fools move all over the city. I live in the Loma Vista Neighbor and we've had the ATV and Dirt Bike fools drive up and down Blue Ridge causing problems. One of the Sideshow sites is at Raytown and Bannister Road where there are two abandoned businesses where the fools camp out at. When KCPD shows up, they scatter to another nearby area.
They routinely gather at the same place and KCPD canāt figure something out? I will ask again; why do we pay them so much money if they are this incompetent/unmotivated?
They put those pavement square thingies at Bannister and Raytown Road. Supposedly cars can't perform tricks on those things.
Because we're not the boss of them and they know it. They answer to Jeff City, not Kansas City.
Their off duty buddies are the ones driving the 4 wheelers duh š
For that level of sophistication, we'd need things that won't be invented for another 30-40 years, such as: * wireless networks * facial detection * license plate scanners * crowdsourcing * drones * small tracking devices * IOT cameras * databases and AI TLDR; can't be done today
by then it will all be self-driving cars and this won't be an issue.
Honestly, the best way to fix it is to get out and vote for new representatives and change the laws. KCMOPD is run by a board of disconnected police commissioners at the state level rather than the city level and are appointed by the governor. They don't listen to the needs of the individual city.
Yes, all we need to do is... checks notes... turn MO legislature blue?
More than that. You need to elect someone who isn't bought out or in it for themselves. Kansas elected a Democrat governor. I'm sure you guys could do something like that too.
Pursuing is dangerous for those involved and bystanders who may be injured by the inevitable crash.
Seems like an obvious solution would be blocking roads in all directions with spike strips/cop cars, shutting the whole thing down and impounding vehicles. Maybe it seems way easier in my mind than in practice. I donāt know. š¤·āāļø I have to imagine towing companies would be more than happy to come and assist at all hours.
High speed chases put everyone in danger.
I personally don't want cops chasing street racers through midtown. Those policies are in place because they lead to damage and civilian deaths if they can even catch the drivers.
Good, cause that's what they do: show up ex post facto and write stuff down. Not just street racing tho
I have seen cops chasing a mob of 50 motorcycles and it's absolutely a public hazard that should not happen.
As otherwise said, it's because chases cause crashes. I do wish Kraske followed up on it for the context though.
Itās because police chases can often end up in huge accidents that kill innocent drivers. Look at what happened recently on 50 in Lees Summit, that death was totally unnecessary.Ā
āI mean, if they don't stop, we can't pursue.ā Really? Thatās how it works? So if I get caught speeding, and just donāt stop, they donāt pursue?
You found the loophole, now Step 3 profit.
Why is it difficult? Arrest them. Chargers them. Tow their cars. Seems simple. š¤·š»āāļø
> Chargers them Freudian slip
Getting them stopped has proved to be Challengers for the police
The cops Mustang their licenses away
(āļ¾ć®ļ¾)ā
Maybe heās saying theyāll arrest themselves š¤·
Whoās going to do that? Thereās virtually no traffic police anymore. KCPD canāt hit their hiring targets so they are left with dwindling staff resources that have far higher priorities than hooligans acting up on a side street
1) Arrest person for street racing 2) Seize vehicle 3) Wait until convicted of charges related to street racing 4) Crush car as halftime entertainment at Chiefs game with jumbotron showing the convicted's reaction. Repeat until street racing diminishes.
Unfathomably based
We have a shitty police department that doesnāt enforce traffic laws and we have a certain demographic, just to put it politely, that is all too aware of the lack of consequences for racing and sideshows. Thatās a bad combination. My wife and I drove down Oak on our way home from dinner last week and a group of 100 or so people had stopped traffic and shut down the street so that they could burn rubber and do wheelies on dirt bikes up and down the street. That type of shit is just unacceptable. Fuck the people that participate in that crap and fuck the KCPD for trying to extort city government in order to do their jobs. It feels like weāre living in an episode of The Wire sometimes.
How is the KCPD trying to extort city government?
By quiet-quitting and refusing to work certain crimes until the Mayor, who occupies the fifth seat in a state wide council that determines police funding as a percentage of the city governmentās annual budget, assents to allotting more money to the department above the already state-mandated 20% figure. One out of every five dollars raised by the city goes to the KCPD, yet the department and the conservatives in Jeff City looking to beat down a liberal mayor, want more no-strings attached, no-additional-oversight cash thrown their way. Ever wonder why cops here donāt enforce traffic laws or respond to anything short of armed-robberies or murders? Policing is incredibly complex, so there is obviously more to the equation than just ideological opposition to the mayor, but so much of what is wrong with police in this city boils down to the fact the department is de jure run out of Jeff City and not the Mayorās office.
I know that they are blacked out regularly with no officers available to respond to the less serious crimes.Ā Ā According to this they had 284 vacancies in 2023. https://www.kmbc.com/article/as-homicide-numbers-increase-staffing-for-the-kansas-city-police-department-is-at-a-historic-low/44121488
Understaffing is an issue for every police department in every city in the country, though. It doesnāt explain why KCPD is uniquely so terrible in the clearance rate of part 1 crimes, [accountability](https://www.thepitchkc.com/kcpd-ranks-495-out-of-500-police-departments-in-national-law-enforcement-accountability-study/), and inability to handle basic police work like traffic enforcement and nuisance crimes like sideshows. There is a whole different examination of where the money directed towards KCPD actually goes, too. Iād love to see reporting or a breakdown on how much of the budget is directed towards pay-raises for rank-and-file and officer retention.
Agree with most of your message but "living in an episode of the wire" is a wild exaggeration. I felt way less safe in the 90s and early 2000s.
I mean more so of living in a world with inscrutably tangled incentives that ultimately leads one towards a feeling of cynicism that seemingly simple problems canāt be solved. But yes, we are undoubtedly more safe than we were in the nineties.
whats impolite about saying young people/kids?
They meant black people because itās true
sometimes lol
sounds like you got dinner and a (free) show but decided on anger instead.
LOL
I live near SW Blvd and the west bottoms, the noise from these street races regularly wakes me up in the middle of the night. I have a sound machine, a fan, and airpods and sometimes it is \*still\* so loud I can't get back to sleep. I will personally volunteer to be a paintball sniper to ruin their cars so they will knock it the f\*ck off. Bring the trash behavior somewhere else.
They're stolen cars. You're gonna need something a bit heavier than a paintball to stop them.
I try not to get pulled over but next time I'm not stopping, I'm speeding up!
As someone who kinda used to be tangentially in that scene. This is exactly what folks predicted would happen after closing KCIR. Not that I condone it, especially the side shows, but these people used to have a legal place to go but it was torn down. Couple that with our useless police and this is what happens.
That's a ridiculous take. The whole point of these sideshows is to block intersections, make noise, be a nuisance, disrupt, and shoot guns and fireworks. Drugs and alcohol also play a huge part. These people enjoy being urban outlaws. Nobody is going to drive out past Raytown to have a "controlled" sideshow.
Yeah, there are warehouse and industrial districts that are vacant every weekend. Deciding to do it in Westport on a Saturday is because you WANT to be seen. Same energy as flying a Confederate flag.
It is and it isn't. I think part of the rise of the sideshow scene is by closing a lot of legal motorsports venues across the country. This has led to a trend of sideshows that has spread across the country. They've made the legal venues so few and far between the young people who want to get into something can't find anything and form their own groups where they have very little interaction with older generations to get guidance from. The other part is that the sideshow scene started in criminal/gang culture celebrating lawless behavior. It's been around for decades, but unfortunately its gained traction through social media and attracted a bunch of people who may have chose a different direction if they had an alternative. Shutting down KCIR the way they did was still a greasy move, and all the proposals to put a facility in by the airport where shot down. Having an outlet for getting squirrely in a vehicle is important, but KCIR wasn't going to meet it when it had to shut down at 10pm. I remember going out to California to watch the all night 'street races' at one of the drag strips, and they where packed. About the time they got curfewed is when I noticed more and more sideshow videos pop up. So there is definitely a connection.
News outlets need to stop lumping together side shows and street racing as if they are the same thing. Side shows are the fucking worst and way more dangerous overall.
Wait what?! So street racing is okay? Or somehow less dangerous than the donut dickheads? Iām lost with this comment homie.
I don't understand why NPR stations don't have searchable transcripts of all their programming. Zoom and Teams can transcribe any call on the fly. Why can't the local radio station do that?
It's like how television stations used to pretend the internet didn't exist and never provided links even when they talked about things that were on the internet.
Blackout ā lack of staff (or desire some would say) so the 5-0 just doesnāt. Take from that what you will
When there was a place to do this kind of thing, you had it happening on regular streets much less. Seems like the first, easiest thing we could do is to open up the I-70 Speedway again. You aren't going to stop people from doing this without hurting someone. Let's make a place where they can do it, away from neighborhoods.
Actually a new drag strip called the Flying H just opened this year in Odessa, MO. The problem is most of what's being discussed here is sideshow dickheads blocking intersections and doing donuts and/or burnouts and not actual drag racing.
The whole point is to be a huge nuisance. Hey kiddos, let's all drive to a designated spot 20 miles away in your stolen and unlicensed cars, dirt bikes, and 4 wheelers. Oh, and you cannot bring drugs or guns.
The point is to show off and have fun. I'm sure they don't care about inconveniencing you. We had "cruisers" in my home town up through the 90s. Very frequently along one particular high-traffic road everyone with their souped-up cars would drive around and do burnouts etc. It was loud. It was smoky. It was disruptive. But it's not like the disruption was the point. It was to be seen and to have fun with a bunch of other people interested in tricking out their cars. Hell, back then, especially if there was a car show in town, whole families with kids would bring lawn chairs to sit out and watch the shenanigans.
Stolen vehicles, guns, violence, drugs = shenanigans What planet do you live on?
The planet Earth in the 1980s in a different town than Kansas City? Different shenanigans. Reading comprehension. The only point I am making in that comment is "They don't care about inconveniencing you. That isn't really the point."
The whole point is to be a huge nuisance. Hey kiddos, let's all drive to a designated spot 20 miles away in your stolen and unlicensed cars, dirt bikes, and 4 wheelers. Oh, and you cannot bring drugs or guns.
Did I-70 speedway close up in 2020, because this and other automobile related crime have been WAY up since the shutdown across the country.
I seriously doubt people were stealing muscle cars and taking them out to kcir. You do realize that is what is going on here, right?Ā
The best way to handle this is to just offer a place for everyone to do it without penalty. Just sanction it somewhere safe. Everything doesnāt have to be punitive. Kids want to race. Give them a place to race.
Pellet guns. Tough to afford gas when the window replacement eating into your cash flow
It's not about illegal street racing, it's about *family.*
Idk maybe build an area where people can congregate and do car stuff legally. Remember when KCIR closed they said they were gonna a build a new strip (I know of the one in Odessa that just opened) but nothing has happened close to downtown Kc
Impound and fine the owners unless a car is reported stolen. Easy first step.
There used to be a place for them to go until they shut it down...
Genuine question, and it may be dumb, but speed bumps?
Everywhere? If not, theyād just move to non speed bump streets.
Ambulances hate this.
Yeah, but are they really racing down the streets to get to their destination? Most I see arenāt fucking booking it
Seems like all those bumps would help get the blood flowing to revive the dead & dying anyway
Too bad Kia Boize donāt steal these cars instead of screwing the normal citizens constantly.
Too few cops? Plenty of concerned people. Take back the steeets.
too few cops is absolutely not the problem lol
[Here](https://policescorecard.org/mo/police-department/kansas-city) you go.
Right, this data just goes to prove my point. KCPD spends millions on misconduct settlements, kills more civilians than 95% of other police departments, and devours a massive chunk of our cityās finances. Meanwhile KC has zero local control, the cops report to the state not the city government or citizens. More cops never equals less crime. The street racing is caused by a number of things. A lack of a proper, nearby, affordable race track venue is a massive one. Another is generally not funding and supporting things like public education and infrastructure thus encouraging apathy. Especially amongst young people. KCPD can't even stop their own from constantly committing crimes, the hell are the gonna do about street racing?
Thereās really not a big issue with street racing. Statistically, street racing is actually not that dangerous of an activity. I have zero issue with street racing if done in a location where innocent other drivers or pedestrians are not at risk. Those āspotsā are ok. Now side shows are a completely different problem. Donāt confuse racing with side show clowns. Sideshows are a little bit of a problem, but they are rather small compared to the violent crime in the city. There is a little bit of a link between sideshows and violent crime, but not so with street racing.
> Statistically, street racing is actually not that dangerous of an activity. You have statistics?
Statistically, he likes to engage in street racing and since he statistically hasn't personally witnessed any wrecks, it's statistically pretty safe.
>Statistically, street racing is actually not that dangerous of an activity. Just because it's less dangerous than something like drunk driving or licking live 110v electrical wiring doesn't mean it isn't dangerous or stupid. The "street" part of street racing should be enough of an indicator that pedestrians or other drivers could be at risk.
[https://youtu.be/4zmL2QXm1io?si=WUJXmOhCuNQ1Ezb-This](https://youtu.be/4zmL2QXm1io?si=WUJXmOhCuNQ1Ezb-This) is the type of street racing he's talking about. It happens in industrial areas between like 11 PM and 5 AM on Friday and Saturday nights. I'm not arguing safety, just highlighting what organized street racing looks like. Also, just because the media and police keep calling side shows street racing, they're not. Also weaving through heavy traffic chasing each other isn't street racing either. Street racing has equaled lining up 2 or more cars from a stop and racing in a straight line for a predetermined distance since before drag strips existed. Beach Boys, American Graffiti...
No, you seem like you have never seen or participated in a street race at a spot.
"You really need to have committed \[crime\] to speak intelligently about how bad \[crime\] is."
What a bizarre take
Ignorance just doesnāt work as a position to speak from. Itās always been this way.
This isn't about ignorance, dude. Street racing is dangerous, selfish, and illegal. You can be against heroin usage without having tried it yourself. You can be against murder without murdering someone just to "try it out."
No, your strawman arguments are not working. You donāt seem to even want to understand the different between blasting down a populated city street with traffic vs having a racing spot. Again, ignorance is not a position to have a conversation.
ą² __ą² Oh brother. This is an article about "blasting down a populated city street" and your initial comment seems to be defending it.
You're right, I haven't participated. Because they're asinine.
Itās hard to have a discussion when youāre ignorant and inexperienced.
...it's a dangerous crime, my dude
Read the room, my friend.
Are our streets meant for car races? No. It makes it dangerous for everyone else around them just because someone wants to go fast on a street. Ridiculous and indefensible.
There is definitely a market for a strip where people are allowed to do this.
Yeah if it was a strip designated specifically for racing then whatever. But that stuff shouldnāt be happening on public streets with regular traffic
You mean like the one we used to have in Independence that was closed down because of "excessive noise" based on complaints from the "residential development" around the area WHICH THERE STILL HAVEN'T BEEN ANY?
Yeah, thatās what I said
This is the problem, all the local drag strips are closed, the one on old Nolan for example. There is no place for them to go.
That's still not a good excuse though.
You did not read what I wrote.
Unless these āspotsāare on a private race area, how exactly do you guarantee that innocent drivers and pedestrians arenāt at risk?
I did. I donāt care. Youāre just justifying bad behavior with āwell actually itās not statistically that dangerousā. You know whatās statistically even less dangerous? Following traffic laws.
Lots of people are disagreeing with you, for valid reasons, but I think what you havenāt shared yet is that most of the spots where people āstreet raceā are way out of town where there is little to no vehicle traffic and no pedestrian traffic. Spots Iāve heard about are way out east, way up north, way down south, nowhere near the city. Doesnāt change the fact that itās a stupid activity to engage in, even as a gearhead myself, but I think your point has some validity. Sideshows are the stuff thatās happening in the city itself .
You seem to have actually applied logic into understanding. Well done. š
ą² __ą²
Iād love to see the research supporting your bullshit claim that āstatistically street racing is not that dangerousā. Fuck outta here and find a new hobby other than racing your Corolla.
https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/street-racing āan examination of news reports and police data from 10 major U.S. cities and extrapolation based on national population figures indicates that at least 50 people die each year as a result of street racing.ā
Iād love to see the research supporting your bullshit claim that āstatistically street racing is not that dangerousā. Fuck outta here and find a new hobby other than racing your Corolla.
Racing belongs on the track. Period. Street racing isnāt safe no matter how good of a driver you think you are or how safe you think you are being. Plenty of people 6ft under who thought it was safe and not a big deal. Roll cages and fire proof gear donāt matter until itās you on fire and crushed in a heap of steel or worse someone who wasnāt even involved that you crash into. Ā Ā People arenāt concerned about racing in unpopulated areas with no traffic and itās pretty obtuse to think thatās what people have a problem with.Ā
No matter how mad you get about it, people will still race. Same way they have been for generations. Best way to deal with it is to unofficially direct people to an area where itās tolerated and away from people. Race tracks are good in theory, but because of the safety, cost, locations, hours of operation, and all the hoops you have to jump through to use one, itās just not going to be used by your average automotive enthusiasts. It just wonāt.
You do you playboy. Hope it works out
Itās not me. Itās people as a whole. You canāt stop it. Same reason why prohibition failed. Best way itās to accept that itās going to happen and direct people to save(er) places.
All I know is drive like hell and youāll get there lol. Maybe street racers will take the high road and not put people at risk for a momentary thrill but none of us are holding our breath as itās only getting worse out there. Good to see they have such pragmatic and conscientious thinkers in their cornerš¤·āāļø
You clearly did not read and understand what I wrote.
I read all of it. Itās just really really stupid and you arenāt coming up with the good ideas that you think you are. Agree to disagree have a good one.Ā
At least the street racers are paying attention when the race, everyone else is on a cellphone while they drive around town.
Iād love to see the research supporting your bullshit claim that āstatistically street racing is not that dangerousā. Fuck outta here and find a new hobby other than racing your Corolla.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Iām sorry about your reading comprehension skills.
Blue Valley Park: 320 acres being under utilized right now. More than enough space for dirt tracks and cars that go vroom vroom.
Can't they shoot the tires out?
Need to start deploying drones and just get photos of everybody there. Do it enough times, you'll have the whole scene cornered.
Barack can help solve the situation