Still searching for a fix

Street takeovers remain a problem in Tucson ... Police are trying something new ... VP hopefuls coming to town.

Nearly a year after Tucson City Councilwoman Nikki Lee shared concerns about the growing problem of drag racing and street takeovers, the police have a new tactic. 

Officers working weekends will now have more help during nighttime hours, including Sundays, to keep Tucson’s intersections and roads safer. New teams consisting of one sergeant and six officers will join each of Tucson’s four patrol divisions on weekend nights, Tucson Police Lt. Jesse Chamberlain said.

Street takeovers involve young people in cars blocking intersections so they can drag race or do donuts, often while shooting off firecrackers, brandishing guns, and damaging public and private property. 

Participants communicate beforehand on social media about where and when to meet, with many getting involved and posting about it to gain online popularity and notoriety, Chamberlain said. 

The takeovers really took off in 2020, when pandemic-related boredom and social isolation brought young people to the streets. They became a nuisance on the east side in particular, which prompted Lee to bring the matter before the city council last October.

In the months that followed, police invested in surveillance equipment, formed working groups, and cracked down on street racing three separate times, at a cost of $24,000 in overtime pay, City Manager Tim Thomure said in an April update to the city council.

Last weekend, Chamberlain said, police were able to break up a large street racing crowd before anything occurred, but quick fixes aren’t always possible.

During the last weekend of September, four Tucson intersections were taken over by crowds of young people in cars. The chaos and noise lasted from late that Saturday night until the early hours of Sunday morning. In the end, a stolen car was torched and a man was shot. 

Chamberlain said these street takeovers, which often get planned spontaneously on social media, are not limited to certain parts of the city. And it’s not just young men. Police see plenty of young women participate, too.

“Our challenge is that our resources are already stretched so thin, and with how spontaneously these events happen, sometimes it’s hard to get an officer there in time to disrupt the crowd before it gets too big and overwhelming,” he said.  

News headlines show this problem is happening in cities across the country.

In Ohio, New York and Maine on recent nights, for example, mobs of young people – teens and young adults — used their own cars to block streets, trapping people in intersections and creating havoc. In one instance in Maine, an officer was briefly trapped in her cruiser as participants sat on the hood of her car. 

 “This is something occurring across the nation," Chamberlain said, "and there have been several deaths outside of this area.”

In Tucson, arrests for street takeovers are mostly misdemeanors but those charges can rise to felonies quickly, especially for those arrested regularly. 

“Those are not the only consequences,” Chamberlain said. “Other consequences include having their vehicle impounded and having their activities reported to insurance.”

This will make it difficult for them to find affordable car insurance in the future, he said. 

If people hear of a planned event, or see it on social media, they are asked to call 311 or 88-Crime. 

“And if someone finds themself in the middle of one of these,” Chamberlain said, “stay in your car, do not engage and call 911.” 

Everybody’s coming to town: As election officials start sending out ballots, vice presidential candidates Tim Walz and JD Vance are campaigning in Tucson tomorrow, the Tucson Sentinel’s Paul Ingram reports. Vance is holding a rally at the Tucson Speedway, but the Walz camp hasn’t said where he’ll campaign in Tucson yet.

Much ado about nothing: A Republican state lawmaker is crying foul over the Kamala Harris campaign sending mass text messages to students at Arizona’s three state universities, Capitol Media Services’ Howard Fischer reports. Sen. Jake Hoffman says the universities illegally sold students’ data, while the schools say students’ directory information is public record and used by everybody from student housing companies to a women’s clothing boutique to the U.S. Navy.

Costly cuts: After years of budget cuts from the Legislature, the Arizona Board of Regents says they need an additional $732 million to fund the state’s universities, KJZZ’s Greg Hahne and Capitol Media Services’ Fischer report. The regents say they want to avoid raising tuition and pointed to funding cuts from the Legislature. Over the past 16 years, state funds went from covering one-third of the universities’ operating budgets to 12% this year.

Looking good: The ballot counting machines in Pima County passed their final test, KOLD’s J.D. Wallace reports. With representatives of both major political parties watching, officials from the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office tested more than 600 ballots and the tabulation was accurate.

Lots of support: A recent poll shows nearly two-thirds of Arizonans are in favor of Prop 314, the Sentinel’s Cris Seda Chabrier reports. While the ballot measure has widespread support, experts and activists say it would essentially be an updated SB1070, Arizona’s infamous immigration law that was largely ruled unconstitutional more than a decade ago.

Hearing from the candidates: Southern Arizona’s Congressional District 6 is one of the key congressional races in the country. KGUN’s Craig Smith sits down with the incumbent candidate, Republican Rep. Juan Ciscomani, and Kenny Darr interviews Democratic challenger Kirsten Engel.

38.2: The percentage of homes sold in the Tucson area last year that were affordable for a typical family.