http://www.autoblog.com/2008/04/04/p...generate-reve/

Scary

 

but then Riverside has it's share of street racing problems...

This one really bugs me. Cause even if you do go to normal track events, and DO have a legal car, you can get caught in the sweep and it will take a long time to get out of the hassles.

I just wish that regious would think a bit more about things like this.....

1) I'm sure the cops want the overtime.
2) I'm sure those that think about the ticket revenues don't think about the court costs.
3) Cause of this, yet more potholes don't get fixed.

Sucks.....

Matt

 

It's certainly a deterrent on wanting to attend some of the big meets sadly. I don't know if you read the source article http://thenewspaper.com/news/23/2302.asp, but it doesn't sound restricted to any locations:

"Across the state, gas tax funds are regularly used to fund similar crackdowns that generate big revenue. In 2004, the California Highway Patrol issued a total of 101,553 "modified car" citations worth $10.5 million according to CHP data obtained by TheNewspaper."

 

Well what happens here is

event holders hire cops so problems are stopped before getting out of hand
usually the cops are not picky about window tint and front license plates.

but yea i heard in Cali, street racing and stolen parts are a big issue.

why cant we all just get along....and have fun talking about cars?

if you are going to race....take it to the track or deserted road

 

So annoying to think that is how gas taxes are being used, and you're right of course Matt, court costs, police OT and such just blows any logic they have about revenue.

 

Wonder what it costs to process them? I'd be shocked if our wonderful beurocracy can do it for only $100 a pop......

But since the state is so awash in cash, I guess it doesn't really matter!

Matt

 

Welcome to the way motorcyclists have been treated for years. This completely common place at many "junctions" on twisty roads during most weekends around here.

 

Oh yeah, familiar out here too - they love to nab the 'Sunday Ride" crew

(Have to add, the difference is they usually catch the riders speeding and such, not parked in a lot chatting)

 

You're in the Bay Area. I've watched the local PDs go done the line up at Alice's giving out fix-it tickets. But speeding ones are handed out a lot as well.

 

I see, yikes never saw that. I was half considering going to Alice's this weekend, maybe not....

I was actually thinking of the rides I've seen and known people on in the Northbay -they'll stake out waiting for them and corral them. It's not a big hullabaloo with huge amounts of law enforcement like that car meet action sounds like though.

 

I haven't been corralled but have talked to others that were. I don't ride in groups much anymore.

 

I was at a big BMW meet a few years ago. Everything was on the up and up, permits filed , vendors , DJ, raffle tickets etc. When it came time to leave the CHP covered every exit and wrote fix it tickets for days .It was like shoting fish in a barrel.

 

Well, since my car is on the up and up I'm not to worried about the police.

 

I guess I have a slightly different point of view. I agree with the above statement. If you are legal, you have nothing to worry about. The thing that I first picked up was that the "raid" happened at 11pm at night. Come on, who is really holding a "Car Show" at 11pm at night. If it had ended at 8 or even 9pm and everyone went home, would the police have been interested? Even the local all car make and model get together held around here gets over at around 7 or 8pm, not 11pm. At that hour wouldnt you suspect that you might attract police attention. Also, I doubt that the police just called 50 squad cars together when one cruiser happened to drive by at 10:30pm and notice all the cars hanging out. A more likely scenario is that this "group" has been meeting regularly and has probably had situations where street racing or other problems requiring police attention happened in the past.

 

Not necessarily true, any perceived mods, legal or not can buy you a ticket and a headache. We even knew of someone with an Audi who got a ticket with stock HID headlights! Sometimes it just becomes a ticketfest justified or not, and as trackster mentioned, there are perfectly legit meets during the day that the LEOs decide to target.

The completely hypocritical part of that is there are CHP 11-99 and other police attended events with expensive modded cars in attendance, guess what, they don't seem to garner tickets..

 

There are two little bits in that article

'11PM'

and

' Twenty vehicles were even impounded due to suspected stolen parts.'

The meeting was still going on at 11PM

Out of 150 cars, a significant percentage where suspected of having stolen parts.

I have no issue with it at all if it leads back to a car thief or a chop-chop.

I have no issue with it if it deters people from holding car meets in the middle of the night.

 

Totally agree!

 

I'd hazard a guess that was a ricer event.

Just a stab in the sarcastic dark...

 

what bugs me is consistency.

why haven't these cars been pulled over before? It's one thing if there were cars with stolen parts that got traced back to chop shops. Its another to be hanging out with your buddies and talking cars.

My biggest peeve is noise levels on cruiser type bikes. How in the world do modified harleys get away with the noise levels they generate?

 

it's obvious that the law had a woodie for these guys, wether rightly or wrongly....

"show me the receipt for that XYX!"
"now? WTF? It's at home in the file with the rest of the reciepts."
"Can't prove you bought it leagal? Onto the flat bed with you!"

Really, there are LOTS of areas where the local automotive flora and fauna need some spanking, and in those areas, it's pretty common for the heavy hand of the law to do some drastic stuff. The typical excuse it "to make a point" but what it comes down to is it's easy to make a hassle for many people.

I applaud the efforts to really clamp down on abusive drivers and the like (in the east bay we have street racing problems up here in the SF bay area) but pretty much univerally, when I read about how enforcment happens, a wide net is thrown with little regard to who is caught. IT's more like a "body count" event than a serious, sustained effort to control a chronic problem.

Matt

 

It would be interesting if when asked why they had certain mods done to their car, and the "culprit" pulls out their SCCA license or membership card, and educates the cop about legal racing.

They'd probably still get dinged for being a smart-a*s

 

Yeah. The problem here is that is clearly a pro mod/racing publication. How about some details? Did the event organizer get permission from the lot owner? Did the lot owner ask the police to intervene? What were some of the specifics about the alleged "stolen" parts? Was it a simple matter on not having receipts, or were there serial numbers altered or removed, etc.? I'm not saying the cops were right here. I'm saying you sure can't tell the whole story from that article.

 

The original article that the blog was based on didn't have any of that info either.

"California: Police Raid Car Enthusiast Gathering, Generate Revenue
Police raid Riverside, California parking lot to issue modified car tickets at local car enthusiast gathering.

Using $503,000 in federal and state gas tax revenue to pay for overtime, nine police agencies in Riverside, California sent more than one hundred police officers to surround a gathering of automotive enthusiasts. Owners of imported sport compact cars had gathered at the Canyon Crossing shopping center on Friday night to swap stories, talk about their passion for cars and show off the latest enhancements to their rides. At around 11pm police surprised participants by blocking all exits with fifty police cruisers. Officers then began a warrantless search and interrogation operation of the 150 vehicles that were present.

"If you're not into street racing, why would you need that?" Riverside Police Traffic Sergeant Skip Showalter asked an enthusiast during a similar crackdown last year. "Why would you want more power going to your car?"

Police issued a total of forty-eight tickets for "engine modifications" with police accusing the owners of the parked vehicles of being street racers. Another fifty tickets were issued for paperwork violations, dark window tinting and lack of a front license plate. The most revenue, however, will be generated from the fees imposed on twenty vehicles that were confiscated. Despite labeling the parking lot raid as taking place at a "street racing venue," Riverside Police offered no evidence that any street racing actually took place.

Across the state, gas tax funds are regularly used to fund similar crackdowns that generate big revenue. In 2004, the California Highway Patrol issued a total of 101,553 "modified car" citations worth $10.5 million according to CHP data obtained by TheNewspaper.

Other law enforcement agencies participating in Friday night's raid included the California Highway Patrol, Riverside County Sheriff's Department, and police from Baldwin Park, Fontana, Irwindale, Moreno Valley, Ontario and Mount San Jacinto Community College."

 

on both sides of the law......

"If your not into street racing, why would you want more power?"

Gee, guess Chrysler shouldn't have brought back the Hemi......

This stinks... It gives law enforcment a bad rep, and it casts too wide a net....

At AMVIV, the In and Out Burger is a weekly meeting place for lots of supped up cars. In and out doesn't mind. Don't know about the closed neighboring businesses....

What troubles me is the circular logic...

Car meeting..... therefor street racing...
Street racing.... therefor no warrrants needed...
No warrents are needed... So all you people not doing anything visibly wrong onther than congragating need to submit to searches...

As someone who really loves the constitution, this sucks all over.

Matt

 

I remember meeting up at Kevin's Burger's on Canoga in the San Fernando Valley every Friday and Saturday night. Cops used to block the place in and hand out tickets ALL the time...and it wasnt fix-it-tickets either. It was $500 street racing tickets....and we were just parked. Sometimes they would tow cars. It was a total BS thing. LAPD (or any other city for that matter) will never get rid of street racing....ever.