Skip to Content
Crime

Here’s What Police Say They’re Doing to Stop Street Takeovers and Racing In L.A.

According to police, the overall number of complaints about street takeovers and racing from the public declined from 7,654 in 2021 to 4,899 in 2022. Here's what's been working and what hasn't.

photo: Tokyodriver7 via INstagram

The sounds of engines gunning and rubber squealing have caused a nightly cacophony for parts of Los Angeles since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, as a veritable epidemic of street racing and street takeovers seemed to wash over our freeways and traffic intersections in the last three years.

But just as many of our masks have fallen to the wayside in the last six months, so has street racing, according to a new report prepared for the Board of Police Commissioners, which shows a 36% reduction in takeover and racing reports in 2022.

NBC details how in 2021, the overall number of complaints about takeovers and racing from the public declined from 7,654 in 2021 to 4,899 in 2022, though it is noted that these may not be separate calls but multiple calls about the same incidents.

Still, the police report does counter many Angeleno's suspicions that the problem is growing, including an August 2022 Los Angeles Magazine article that claimed "Street Takeovers In L.A. Are Growing More Frequent and More Violent" in a sensationalistic headline, as well as in other local media reports.

Another finding is that the street takeovers and racing appear to have gravitated into different neighborhoods over that same period, with complaints typically being made about incidents in the Downtown area and around South L.A., which saw a 22% increase in reports.

Whether that means police have merely shifted their attentions from the douchebags gunning their Lambos and Maseratis around the streets of Beverly Hills, Calabasas, and the Palisades to focus on Black and Brown neighborhoods is unclear. It's likely that street takeovers are much easier for police to detect and pin down while also drawing more complaints from neighbors, as opposed to the vastly more transitory racing that occurs across the city.

Police detail the new enforcement tactics they've been directing towards racers and other assorted whip-riding ghosts and Tokyo drifters. The Sheriff's Department, which says there were 169 street takeovers last year, claims to have made over 300 arrests and impounded over 200 cars, while LAPD notes such failed experiments as the "Botts dots" that were meant to keep people from sliding their cars around the street in Compton but were simply pried off the asphalt.

LADOT, meanwhile, found success with small, yellow hardened centerlines in Sylmar, which stop cars from being able to slide around an intersection but also don't disrupt traffic.

Never one to let a good crisis go to waste, the cops are also asking for more surveillance cameras on roads that racers tend to flock to and are considering asking the California Legislature for greater punishments for both drivers and spectators.

Meanwhile, five street takeovers were reported on Monday morning, mostly in South Los Angeles, including those at the Western and Century Boulevards, Normandie and Florence Avenues, and Normandie Avenue and Jefferson Boulevard, the crowd splitting once sirens the sounded.

According to CBS, those may belong to a special task force out to catch those participating in and hanging out at street takeovers. With drivers moving locations and conducting the takeovers elsewhere, it sounds like a game of whack-a-mole, only where the targets are strapped with a 175hp shot of nitrous in their supercharged tank.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from L.A. TACO

The 11 Best Tacos In Whittier

Whittier is one of L.A.'s best cities for tacos. From a tender steamed tongue, to a taquero specializing in tacos de costilla, served with a grilled rib bone. Here is our vetted neighborhood taco guide to get you started on your own crawl.

Weekend Eats: Free Bagels, Wagyu Kushiyaki, and a New Colombian Food Park

Plus free bagel sandwiches all weekend, a one-night Michaocan fine-dining pop-up, and a Dominican restaurant with Sunday sancocho.

May 23, 2025

Bar Nuda Takes Over Venice With Zero-Proof Carajillos, Sushi-Grade Tostadas, and ‘Sade Night’

“We launched Bar Nuda to create a sober, social, safe space where people can go out, make connections, get those deep belly laughs, and without the pressure of drinking booze, while also celebrating our beautiful Mexican culture,” says one of the founders.

May 22, 2025

California DOJ Finally Begins Reviewing Wrongful Convictions, Following L.A. TACO Report

This comes four months after L.A. TACO first reported that the PCJU had not begun accepting applications from defendants who say they were wrongfully convicted, nearly two years after Attorney General Rob Bonta made headlines for launching the DOJ’s first-ever post-conviction review unit. 

May 22, 2025

L.A. TACO’s Guide To The Best Mariscos, Tacos, and Drinking Spots In Ensenada

Drive into Baja California from downtown San Diego to hit one of Mexico's seafood powerhouses: Ensenada, home to the most crucial port city that supplies the majority of pristine seafood to the rest of the country (and even bluefin tuna to Japan). It’s also a laid-back destination where many flock for the perfect battered fish taco in the state where that beloved taco style was created.

May 22, 2025

Self-Deport or Stand Firm: The Heartbreak of L.A.’s Undocumented Street Vendors

Trump’s crackdown on immigration could disrupt Los Angeles’ thriving street vending industry, and in some cases, already has. Some street vendors have reduced their presence on the street. Vendors Camacho and Lopez have gone from five days a week to just vending on the weekends.

May 21, 2025
See all posts