As “street takeovers” increase in communities across the country, police in Arizona have succeeded in reducing dangerous chaos and crowds.
“Up until maybe a year ago, we were seeing hijacks on a weekly basis, but since March of this year, we haven't had a single hijack in Phoenix or Tempe,” said Matt, with the Tempe Police Night Traffic Squad. Barker told Fox News Digital.
Barker talked about the work he and his team have done to help cities like Cleveland and Los Angeles reduce disruption so drastically. and tampa Recently, there have been troubles related to acquisitions.
“We really started seeing intersection occupations in Phoenix…during COVID,” Barker said, adding that streets were deserted and no one was going out except for those participating in the occupations. He added that he had not.
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He explained that strong enforcement by the Phoenix Police Department halted the overall decline before Tempe took control of local acquisitions.
“Phoenix initially had a unit that was more like a special forces unit…They were so good at policing in Phoenix that they pushed it onto all other government agencies,” Barker said.
When one takeover became unusually powerful, Tempe police decided to take action.
“We received an even worse beating when a citizen tried to confront the group from his home down the street. They took his car and beat him severely. And they basically They ran his car over in the middle of the intersection and put it back in its place.''He had a cracked windshield and they just jumped on it and shattered everything.'' Barker said. “So it was like Tempe said, 'Okay, enough is enough, we've got to do something about this.'”
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Barker credits the city government with providing law enforcement officers with the funding and resources they need to do their jobs. Tempe police were able to go undercover to gather information about groups occupying the streets.
“We worked with the State Highway Safety Administration to get funding, and we had an Explorer that was basically a police car, but it just didn't fit very well,” Barker said. “So we got some unmarked Mustangs and were able to blend in with these groups. We were basically trying to identify the problem.”
Other state governments are now following suit. California Governor Gavin Newsom Florida recently signed four new bills aimed at helping law enforcement in the state crack down on disorder, and this year Florida will increase fines for first-time offenders caught drag racing or stunt driving on city streets. A new bill was passed to double the amount.
Street occupation not only causes noise pollution, traffic obstruction, property damage, and physical injury; cause deathDominic Choi, interim chief of the Los Angeles Police Department at the time. It was pointed out in the June report..
“You can't call it a gang, but it's as close as you can get without calling it that,” Barker said. “I've seen more people get hit by cars in these takeovers than anywhere else.” “I know people who have been shot in these things.”
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Earlier this month, hundreds of people showed up to take part in street occupations near Costa Mesa and Santa Ana, California. FOX Los Angeles reported. In Cleveland, dozens of people called 911 in a destructive street occupation several weeks ago as rioters swarmed the streets with cars and guns. Fox 8 I-Team reports.
What is the biggest reason why Tempe was not successful in the acquisition? Barker emphasized “zero tolerance.”
“We conducted an operation in March, and this is just one example. … We towed more than 300 cars and arrested more than 400 people just for intersection takeovers and street races.”
Tempe Police used social media as a tool to investigate these takeovers and hold participants accountable.
“They were posting everything, where they were going, how many people were there, so it made it easier for us and we were able to use everything,” Barker said. “We wrote a search warrant and that's how we got the evidence. It was great because they provided us with evidence of the crime.”
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While Tempe police have found a permanent solution to street occupations in their area, Barker wants other cities and authorities to share their stories in hopes of reducing the ongoing chaos on their streets. I'm thinking of doing it.
“We have something that works. And instead of it taking six to eight months for agencies to figure it out, we obviously have a plan that we're willing to share and have shared.” said Barker. ”We learned from Phoenix and enhanced it to become the next best thing. Then another agency can adopt it and make it the next best thing. ”
