LA County Issues First Report on Street Racing Symposium
Streets Are For Everyone road safety advocate, Cindi Enamorado, speaking at the LA County Street Racing Symposium
On May 18, SAFE was proud to join community leaders, law enforcement officials, and concerned citizens for “Ending Illegal Street Racing and Street Takeovers: A Community Symposium” at Compton Community College.
The symposium was a collaborative effort to foster dialogue and actionable plans to combat the surge in illegal street racing and street takeovers, calls for which increased by 60% in 2020 and remain high, according to LAPD data, and which disproportionately affect a handful of LA neighborhoods, including Carson, Century, Compton and South Los Angeles.
Illegal street racing not only endangers participants but also poses significant risks to bystanders, disrupts community peace, and strains police resources. That’s why SAFE has been working for years to address this issue, collaborating with victims, advocates, and elected officials to change laws, improve infrastructure, educate, and enforce the law.
Giving a Voice to Those Most Impacted by Illegal Street Takeovers
The May 18th community symposium gave a voice to all those who want to end the scourge of street takeovers in their neighborhoods, and those voices have now been codified and amplified in the LA County Chief Executive Office’s July 26th report, “Addressing Illegal Street Takeovers and Racing in Unincorporated Los Angeles County.”
The report, penned by LA County Chief Executive Officer Fesia Davenport and addressed to the LA County Board of Supervisors, compiles the public’s feedback from the symposium presentations, small breakout rooms, and post-symposium surveys. The community feedback and recommendations were then ranked by their impact, feasibility, and resources required; the highest recommendations received “high” for impact, “high” for feasibility, and “low” for resources. (The County also specified its primary role in each recommendation, be it “funding,” “lead” or “support.”)
(For the full list of 22 recommendations, read the full 30-page report.)
Of the top six recommendations, two focused on collaborating more closely with law enforcement — ”Develop a Specific Law Enforcement Call Number to Respond to Street Takeovers and Racing” and “Enhance Law Enforcement Patrols and Task Forces” — while three focused on using community-based organizations (CBOs) like Streets Are For Everyone, Street Racing Kills, Project Street Legal and the Brotherhood of Street Racers to educate youth on the perils of street racing.
A Neighborhood-by-Neighborhood Approach to Develop a Plan of Action
The symposium and community feedback have “distilled the tools and recommendations that will become the elements of an operational plan to address street takeovers and street racing,” Davenport writes, but before an operation plan, “additional place-based planning is necessary.” Each community has its distinct traffic patterns and street layouts, and each neighborhood has different stakeholders; the County plans to tailor actionable plans to each impacted community through working groups.
These working groups will include community-based organizations like SAFE and will use community feedback and recommendations to keep our streets safe from illegal street racing.
SAFE looks forward to working more closely with communities that have been impacted by illegal street racing and takeovers, and we also look forward to the LA County CEO’s next report on the issue, due at the end of the month.
Thank you to everyone who made their voices heard at the May symposium — and to everyone who has continued to fight to craft a better, safer, and more holistic approach to ending illegal street racing and street takeovers.
Questions or concerns about the County CEO’s report on illegal street racing? Contact Ms. Davenport or Mason Matthews at (213) 974-2395 or mmatthews@ceo.lacounty.gov.