It is around midnight in South Los Angeles; the streets are relatively quiet until dozens of people pull up to a 4-way intersection and block it off. The smell of marijuana and burnt rubber fills the air as people in cars ranging from illegally modified Infiniti Q50s to stolen Dodge Hellcats flock to the middle of the intersection to pull off car stunts. These secret and illegal events are known as takeovers in the car scene and have seen a large increase in recent years. From January to March of 2024, illegal street races were up 50%, and takeovers rose 2%.
Police departments have difficulty keeping people from participating in these illegal car events as the punishments aren’t nearly enough to deter people. The crowds at these events have hundreds of people, making it challenging to shut down. A police officer showed up at a takeover in August 2024, where people surrounded his patrol car and smashed his windows. The city of Compton has decided to seize vehicles that are identified from these events and then auction them off, with all the proceeds going to pay for damages caused by takeovers. City councilmen of Compton also passed an ordinance to increase fines for participants and spectators of illegal car shows. Police also have to worry about stolen cars, as Infinitis, Nissans, Kias, and Hyundai are frequently stolen and used in takeovers because they are easy to steal. Thiefs just follow tutorials online and use tools professional locksmiths use to access the cars of their liking. Some people use these cars for takeovers and then dispose of them by lighting them on fire, as seen earlier in the month, with about a dozen Infinitis being either stolen, burned, or wrecked in the San Fernando Valley.
The car scene has been put in a negative light due to the illegal actions committed by a small percentage of individuals. A couple of weeks ago, I went to a legal car meet at a chicken restaurant in Corona, which was filled with people showing their unique builds while walking around and looking at other people’s cars. Understandably, police had to come and monitor the inside, entrances, and exits to ensure nobody was participating in illegal activities.
When I got home from the car meet, I looked on the What’s Up Corona group on Facebook and saw someone was asking what was happening on Mckinley, and they thought that the car meet was a takeover. People keep seeing stuff on the news displaying reckless behavior at illegal car meets, which has caused hostility towards car meets, even the legal ones. Many people in the car scene are against takeovers and openly speak out against them. Of course, there will be people at any car meet who try to show off, but most meetings I attend are organized, quiet, and well-regulated. Almost all legal and public car meets have rules against speeding, revving, and burnouts.
With all the harmful things that come out of takeovers, police departments and city officials are trying their best to limit the occurrence of these events. Police have been dealing with sideshows for years and implemented no cruising ordinances in 1992 which were made to limit sideshows. Even with all the laws put in place to combat the events, people still flock to the streets every weekend to participate in sideshows, takeovers, and illegal street races.
