Police raid cruise night...

[Steve1968LS2]

I know it was imports, but it's a disturbing habit..

This is a disturbing trend..


http://thenewspaper.com/news/23/2302.asp

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.

[badmatt]

My biggest piss off about police is that they "think" just because people modify their cars there bound to street race with them....

I wish a lot of cops would drop this ****.

[chicane]

Hey... no one said they were the smartest tools to walk the earth.

[Streetking]

Jackasses...

SW

[Spiffav8]

IF this was an organized event taking place with the permission of the property owner and there was no racing taking place....then what happened is B.S.!!

Tickets of that nature are a load of crap. Heck I used to own a Police Interceptor and it had all kinds of illegal stuff done to it buy the Highway Patrol! To bad that some one some where decided that this was a quick and easy way to make a buck for the various departments. I'd rather see them use those funds to go after the guys that are actually street racing.

[Steve1968LS2]

I remember a story of a car show in Texas where the highway patrol waited at the exit and gave out "fix it" tickets for stuff like no plate, exhaust and other nonsense.

They moved the show from that town and the area lost a lot of revenue. At least that's what I heard.

[AM.MSCL]

Originally Posted by Steve1968LS2

I remember a story of a car show in Texas where the highway patrol waited at the exit and gave out "fix it" tickets for stuff like no plate, exhaust and other nonsense.

They moved the show from that town and the area lost a lot of revenue. At least that's what I heard.

They story you may have heard about was the Texas Heat Wave some years back. The sponser of the heat wave moved it from the original Travis county expo to the Dell Diamond of the Round Rock Express. Well the last day of the event the Round Rock police, Williamson Country Sheriffe and DPS got together and decide to block all the entrance exits off and started giving out tickets. They even gave tickets to some vehicles that were strickly show and ever even get driven on the street. It was a big upsetting to the main sponsor that he moved back to where it used to me. Lot of things happened that year to get everyone upset; things that had nothing to do with the police showing up, like trash cans and portopotties never getting emptied during the 3 days in August heat.

[Musclerodz]

You would think that eventually someone will start a class action suit against the cities for this reckless misuse of the law. At least then the city would not profit anymore from these actions. It would be spent to fight all the lawsuits.

[Tony@AirRideTech]

unfortunately, nothing that happens in California surprises me any more. With the rampant extreme liberalism happening out there anything goes. A good friend of mine that lives in San Diego put it well.... " California has become Canada where the unpopular 5% has a louder voice than the remaining 95%".

[byndbad914]

Originally Posted by Musclerodz

You would think that eventually someone will start a class action suit against the cities for this reckless misuse of the law. At least then the city would not profit anymore from these actions. It would be spent to fight all the lawsuits.

I agree. Having lived in SoCal up until last January when I got the hell out of there, I too would cruise out to the street races in Corona (from OC) back in the late 80s and early 90s, as well as Compton, and yeah, I was young and dumb and street racing is dangerous.

But to assume that everyone is out to street race is BS. They use street racing as a blanket excuse, but exactly when did law enforcement get a crystal ball?? They can tell who is going to race just by looking at them... hmmm... very interesting.

If they want to roll out to known racing spots, catch racers and bystanders in the act and sight for racing and aiding/abetting (or whatever you get as a spectator), then I am okay with that.

The law is the law, so citing people for all sorts of illegal modifications is in fact legal, but bringing cops in on overtime (wow, that is tax dollars at work for you) and specifically targeting a peaceful assembly in a vacant parking lot seems a bit silly. I mean, there is that little crime in Riverside these days??? Really???

Call me biased, but there is a bit of a difference between breaking vehicle code and "real" crime (in quotes as breaking VC is crime). If they are racing down the freeway playing fast and furious, then cite them for every single thing you can find because that is reckless endangerment. Otherwise, a peaceful assembly of hot rodders (even ricers are rodders, just diff'ernt) is just that, a peaceful assembly.