NOPD braces for illegal "street takeover" plans

You may have seen some of the impromptu drag races and parking lot car shows that happen around the Crescent City. New Orleans Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick said there is now a concerted effort to shut down some of these unauthorized “car clubs” that pop up and take over businesses’ parking lots, city intersections, and other spots, as they're advertising a "street takeover" planned for this weekend.

“We are expecting Saturday evening that there will be a large attempt to do a takeover of our streets from the car clubs. At least that’s what the intelligence we’ve been told about indicates,” Kirkpatrick says, emphasizing that the department has an operations plan in place to shut that attempt at a takeover down.

“People are always welcome to come down and show off their cars, but we cannot allow these takeovers,” added the NOPD Chief. Kirkpatrick emphasizes that these “sideshows” (as they’re known on the West Coast) are highly dangerous and very chaotic. Kirkpatrick has experience with these incidents from her time in Oakland. She says spectators of these events are often carrying guns and there have been a litany of injuries at these so-called takeovers along with a few deaths as well. “It is very chaotic. Very, very dangerous,” added Kirkpatrick.

What is surprising to many, including the NOPD Chief herself, is how public the various “car clubs” are making these takeover plans. “That’s why we want to do these public press conferences about shutting it down. They’re quite open about it. They advertise. And we actually have a criminal ordinance for spectators and illegal street racing and stunt events. There are also criminal statutes for people who advertise it. I will not hesitate to enforce them if I must,” Kirkpatrick went on to add.

“If a community or council does not support strong enforcement action, the word ‘takeover’ is truly correct. It is bedlam. It is chaos. It is anything but publicly safe,” emphasized the police chief.