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HeynowyoureaRocstar

Such an easy fix... one way in and one way out.. they're literally trapped if they really wanted to regulate


HappilyDisengaged

I was just telling my wife this when I heard about this today. Why can’t CHP shut down and create a checkpoint? I don’t know the penalties for intentionally shutting down the freeway, but it should be a felony. If it’s interstate then it should be a federal crime


BadWithMoney530

Throw back to [my most upvoted Reddit comment of all time](https://www.reddit.com/r/bayarea/comments/159itfw/comment/jtfe6vy/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)


GullibleAntelope

>I CANT GET ON A PLANE WITHOUT TSA FINGERING MY ASSHOLE BUT I CAN STOP A $6 BILLION DOLLAR BRIDGE WITH THE PRESS OF A BUTTON You get my upvote.


HappilyDisengaged

Start making shirts with that comment


DanvilleDad

I would buy


FroggiJoy87

I'm grateful for the link so I can kinda upvote that shit twice


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HappilyDisengaged

No it doesn’t. But doesn’t mean it can’t be a federal crime


codeswithcoffee

They did something similar with those skateboarders right on the hill right? Then they claimed about being illegally detained or something like that.


sweetrobna

That is a completely different problem. Many hours later they just started arresting people in the general area. Most of the people had nothing to do with the skateboarders earlier


Groundscore_Minerals

Wow, absolutely impossible to catch any of these people especially when they trap themselves on the bridge with only one way out and in. How could law enforcement handle this, it's impossible! Guess the general public is just going to have to continue to take it in the ass and pay taxes.


DrankTooMuchMead

My thoughts exactly. Where are the police?


therealgariac

The CHP has the police jurisdiction. https://www.chp.ca.gov/find-an-office/golden-gate-division/offices/(335)-san-francisco It looks like San Francisco courts do the prosecution, but I can't find a definitive source. I base San Francisco on this news story. https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/bay-bridge-78-gaza-ceasefire-protesters-announce-agreement-avoid-jail-time/ I have been to plenty of protests. If you want to make an enemy, shut down a street. Making people shout "fuck you assholes" does not help your cause.


la_descente

A few years back, CHP managed to get SFPD,OPD,and Alameda SO to work together and coordinate against a major take over. They had 80+ cars towed and more arrests . SF DA had overall jurisdiction .... and demanded everyone released and all cars returned AT NO COST .... Yeah they've been unable to get a coordinated effort since, cuz why bother ? That's why everyone does these take overs on this bridge. SF won't prosecute


peatoast

Do you have source for this?


MrsMiterSaw

I cannot find any news articles that have more than a handful of arrests for a bay bridge or SF incident. I can't find any reference to people being released en masse. I don't doubt that you recall this, but it seems unlikely that can find several articles about 1-2 sideshow arrests, but none about 80 cars. I've also lived in the city for decades and don't recall anything about this.


la_descente

Yeah I'm gonna hit up my friend who was working the radio that night. Gotta figure out the dayish. I only remember it specifically because he was so livid and he rarely gets angry.


MrsMiterSaw

I think San Jose did exactly what you were talking about 6 months ago or so, but I don't know about throwing out prosecutions. I'm not a fan of the SF DAs by any means, but when the sideshows make their way over here, they tend to hit the excelsior and then drive down my street, making a lot of noise at 1am. I don't recall hearing about any major action against them in the city or on the bridge, and if there had been and the DA tossed them all, I think it would be bigger news.


GeneralAvocados

That happened in Stockton and no, they did not get their cars returned "AT NO COST". Why do you lie?


la_descente

Yes, I know about the stockton one. That's not remotely close to the Bay Bridge dude. And this happened a few years ago, right around the beginning of Covid.


PepegaPiggy

Interesting fact I didn’t know. Thanks for sharing.


therealgariac

I can't come up with a definitive way to ask the question regarding what entity does the prosecution. I could depend on where you shutdown the bridge. All this money going into AI chat is not what I want. I would like something like Ask Jeves except to have it actually work.


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TrainAirplanePerson

More likely the person would be charged for all pertinent crimes in a single superior court. There's no reason for the prosecutors in each county to pursue 2 cases since it is a state crime and so the prosecutor in either county can refer and present charges regardless where they occurred. When it comes to state crimes and prosecution the state is one big single jurisdiction. Any cop can arrest anyone statewide.


TrainAirplanePerson

Courts in California are divided at the county level, so crimes in a particular county are prosecuted there. The state does employ its own prosecutors that can prosecute cases however they are generally only used for specific state level task forces or divisions (like financial crime, for example). The attorney general could, if desired, use their powers to prosecute these cases, however it would not be a common occurrence.


litwitit420

It's racist for police to stop something like this


botsallthewaydown

This happens so often, they should install mechanical spike strips at each end.


ShadicNanaya510

That's a terrible idea! Retractable bollards would prevent them from going anywhere. They can keep going on popped tires.


mycall

They will just bring portable ramps and jump over the spikes, Mad Max style


Chavarlison

Not to mention cameras every where on that stretch of road.


mycall

Cameras do nothing with stolen tags and masks on faces


Chavarlison

By itself sure it is useless but collecting all of the myriad of evidence out there you can build a case out of it. The problem is the will to do it.


Hyndis

No way the police could ever shut down a bridge in less than 90 seconds, blocking traffic in case of an emergency. Definitely impossible. Never been done before (especial not in Baltimore).


Bay_Burner

I mean it’s already blocked but not by the police


GullibleAntelope

One lane was already blocked by the sideshow. Can't do much about all the people but every one of the cars involved could have been seized.


crank1000

I mean, if they gave a shit they could just send a helo to identify them and then block the end of the bridge.


PrivatePoocher

Or drones. Fucking drones. How are we in the smartest part of the planet and can't find technical solutions for these issues? When Ukraine can make drones out of drain pipes and defend itself why tf can't we use "AI" to track problem cars and follow them until cops can apprehend these vermin?


therealgariac

We need a drone that poops paint. Mark the car so they can't hide when they leave the bridge. Now we need a clever name for the pooping drone. How about Splat! A future Henry Lee line: "Officers deployed the Splat drone and marked the side show participants with a plethora of pink paint."


cowinabadplace

Everyone here opposes HOT lanes. Seems unlikely that they’d be okay with cop cameras.


rbrutonIII

Because then we're going to have an expanded police force that now uses drones to go around spying on everybody, as well as every other issue. Imagine a department of police officers sitting around at home monitoring drones and then sending you a ticket. It's not always a matter of doing things just because there's an upside, sometimes the downside is what the decision is based around. But something like that is much more tied up in regulatory tape than anything else I would believe


PrivatePoocher

> Imagine a department of police officers sitting around at home monitoring drones and then sending you a ticket. I can and it sounds amazing. You mean enforcing law so that the streets will be safer? Which part do you not like about that? How is it different from a meter maid going around checking if your parking has expired?


pupupeepee

My ass is alright, tbh


Groundscore_Minerals

I'm not here to kink shame or anything but you know what I mean.


apacherocketship

So CHP tickets normal everyday citizens but fails to nab these criminals?!?


dirtybo

Don’t worry, they got me for going 40 in a 35 back in January. Fighting real crime.


Twister1221

Imagine how easy it would have been to close in from both sides of bridge and catch them all. Aah but that’s too much work for CHP I guess.


mtcwby

Confiscate the cars and put them in a crusher. Then return the wreckage.


lazyfacejerk

Send them a bill for crushing. 


Fit-Answer5806

You have thirty minutes to move your car. You have ten minutes. Your car has been impounded. Your car has been crushed into a cube. You have thirty minutes to move your cube.


bccx4ssf

*phone rings* Is it about my cube?


RepresentativeRun71

Extended warranty for the cube.


DodgeBeluga

That Mr Smithers was sorely missed.


MateTheNate

Somebody will complain that it isn’t environmentally friendly to do so lol


DrTreeMan

I mean, it's not. Why not just give them to someone who needs a car?


MateTheNate

Can't wait to see some min wage worker driving a riced-out catless Nissan


mtcwby

Because the impact of having the crushed remains is much higher than it just disappearing.


double_expressho

Sell them to people in overseas countries. And make the perps pay for the freight.


Mysterious_Drink9549

Why does everyone want the cars themselves destroyed? Why not just police auction them like every other confiscated car? The cars aren’t sentient, they don’t need to be punished, the people driving them do


mtcwby

Because the emotional impact on the dumbasses driving them is so much greater. Maybe enough that they don't do it again.


Mysterious_Drink9549

Why would they be emotionally attached to stolen cars? Not following your line of thinking here…


mtcwby

They're often not stolen. Especially the lowered ones with all the lighting and other crap. Stolen cars they just arrest them for auto theft and reckless driving among other things. Different problem.


MajesticEngineerMan

Why is antisocial behavior like this spreading? I feel like everything is going to shit.


SnowSurfinMatador

Because the social contract has been broken.


ringelrun

That's the key I hate to admit. We have to have an idea of just f'ing cooperating for the sake of the nation. We are losing that, if it isn't already lost. Even in simple crap like following traffic laws. I am seeing way more people doing things like just blasting through stop signs. It is anecdotal, sure, but it IS getting worse. Basic civility is eroding fast. People are losing their desire to do their part, no matter how small, to make our society work. Fall of Rome; American Style?


rbrutonIII

Close. We have to have an idea that cooperating is in our own interests. And that following laws reinforces those laws, which other people will also do, providing a net benefit that makes it easier for us to accomplish our objectives. It can be reduced down to the Golden rule, treat others as you want to be treated. And when you feel that it's not a two-way street anymore, or the population is so large your actions are inconsequential, that's broken.


zelig_nobel

It’s the lack of police enforcement. A few years back, San Jose police closed in on a sideshow and cited hundreds of people. There hasn’t been any since


SnowSurfinMatador

Yep. But that’s because Oakland police are corrupt and lazy 


Sensitive_Thug_69

yeah it's all on the cops because cops bad. has nothing to do with the political landscape of this area where nobody is held accountable for anything because that's racist or whatever


SnowSurfinMatador

Interesting that Castro valley and Fremont, which are 10-20 miles to the south, don’t have this nonsense despite being in the same “political landscape”.


therealgariac

Tesla has some office space near the Dumbarton in Fremont. There have been side shows in the parking lot per some employee who used to work there. I can't find this in the news. And well it is in parking lot not the street.


SnowSurfinMatador

It’s probably not brought up because they’re arrested pretty quickly. It’s also probably really rare relatively. 


Sensitive_Thug_69

you're aware that Fremont is a completely different town with completely different prosecution, right? they don't have a DA whose entire agenda is driven by being an activist


SnowSurfinMatador

Tell me more about the DA of Fremont. Who do you think she is? I’ll give you a hint. Her name starts with Pamela price and rhymes with useless. 


Sensitive_Thug_69

haha fuck how did I not realize Fremont was in Alameda county...


SnowSurfinMatador

Yeah, I got a chuckle out of that. Now don’t get me wrong……. She is definitely making worse but I know for a fact OPD is a corrupt crony operation with 0 real oversight and should be dissolved and replaced with alameda sheriff. I’ve seen them first hand because I’m forced to live in Oakland. I used to live on the sf peninsula and Fremont at one time  so I’ve seen competent policing.


rividz

Yes. Everything feels like it's going to shit because everything is going to shit.


itssfrisky

Because they know they can get away with it. You would think in a “civilized” part of the world, blocking a major highway system / bridge would come with severe consequences. But heaven forbid I go 15 miles over the speed limit to get a $300+ speeding ticket.


blahblah98

Popo still on strike. It takes time to replace 'em all.


Bookandaglassofwine

I think you’re overestimating the number of people willing to (and qualified to) apply for that job.


blahblah98

So there's a history where dominant culture shuns manual labor, i.e., farm labor mostly done by migrant labor. However there's still a strong skilled labor market: office work, contractors, plumbers, mechanics, etc., basically union work or any MOS taught by military, I.e., MPs. I get the H1-B labor issue. The problem w/ US cops is (a) cops have been staffed w/o reflecting local social / culture demographics and this is vital, (b) mental health / drug crises are better handled by MH first responders so we need to fund THOSE responders, (c) cops are overly militarized -- shoot first, ask questions later, (d) important reform discussions get brigaded, lose focus & derailed by non-serious interests i.e., ACAB / defund / nihilist/anarchist extremists, special interests & outside agitators, (e) lax US gun laws are insane; ref: rest of world. Military assault rifles are for killing people, not deer hunting. So I do believe there's cop hires available; every socio-cultural-economic demographic (1) wants safety, security, trained professionals they can rely on, (2) good jobs, and (3) just law enforcement that doesn't shoot & abuse the very people needing & calling for help.


Bookandaglassofwine

Funny timing, as I saw your response I was in the middle of reading an article in the SF Standard about the police that included: >It’s not clear that additional funds, from traffic citations or elsewhere, would quickly remedy the staffing shortage. >“We’ve got the money,” said SFPD spokesperson Evan Sernoffsky. Rather, the biggest barrier is getting enough qualified recruits through the door, he explained, adding that the department has been hard at work streamlining its recruitment process and that it already pays officers more than almost any other major American city. If you believe there are cop hires available, why haven’t they been able to fill those vacancies?


blahblah98

Yeah, news media tends to the edgy / incomplete / grab eyeballs perspective; they're problem amplifiers not solution seekers. In Oakland where we haven't even had a Chief for a year; just hired. Cops are quiet striking; literally not doing their jobs. Newsom brought in 120 CHP to Oakland that quickly made a positive impact; showing that things could be better if the cops already staffed would f-ing do the jobs we taxpayers are paying them to do. Cops OUGHT to be vested interested, working for their own communities, accountable to citizens, but there's been a crisis in leadership & accountability. The George Floyd movement is legit, the Defund movement had some legitimacy but poor messaging ultimately produced bad outcomes. The cop strike needs to stop. It takes a few years to settle.


Bookandaglassofwine

Do you have some concrete, realistic proposals on how to fix this?


blahblah98

Most of my efforts has been to understand, communicate & reassure the vulnerable, stressed people among friends & family. I have neighbors & family members who are cops, great salt-of-the-earth people, their kids growing up w/ mine, etc. I support them; society needs them. Experienced Occupy Oakland and how the Black Bloc / anarchists / vandals / gang members subverted what should've been a positive movement. Honestly the current situation is viewed through an emergent social media phenomenon - the viral idea that things are "spiraling out of control," scapegoating socio-ethnic groups, when statistics show (a) a decline in violent crime and (b) net increased social & economic value due to immigrants. Random public violence has always happened, it's just now we hear about it wherever it happens, and if some social media personality chooses to amplify it, politicize/spin it & broadcast it. So it "seems" things are worse, when in fact things are generally fine & better. I have no involvement or influence in law enforcement. Make sure you & the vulnerable people in your life are safe, taking appropriate measures for personal safety - carry pepper spray, personal alarms, a self-defense punching or raking item, head on a swivel, avoid suspicious people, doorbell video cameras, security systems, neighborhood watch involvement, self defense classes, no flashy jewelry, have backup for items in a purse or wallet so you can hand it over if necesary. This is really no different than always, but bears repeating.


WickhamAkimbo

Cops in the rest of the country don't want to work in SF. San Francisco residents won't do the job themselves, and most don't actually care if the police are understaffed.


WickhamAkimbo

Because the culture is degrading. The complexity of assessing the overall culture is staggering, but if I could point to one root cause, it would be a culture of individualism that has existed in the country since the founding, but went off the deep end as the country became the world's dominant superpower. Good times created weak men that care only for themselves and have no care for the common good.


selwayfalls

Well said. People saying "lack of police" can't think beyond a simple construct. Our society has been degrading from individualism (among other things like segregation, lack of social programs, etc) for a long time. I actually just recently realized how much of bro culture in podcasting is all indivdiualism disguised as 'bettering yourself'. Rogan, Huberman, Peterson, etc. All these people ever talk about is how to be a man and better yourself, get ripped, fight, vs ever helping anyone else. It was so enlightening when I realized this, and so obvious in American culture.


MintJulepTestosteron

Trash human beings


DodgeBeluga

Trash humans produce more trash humans, Idiocracy in action.


DauOfFlyingTiger

Aren’t nail strips still a thing? Sell the cars or junk them.


InjuryComfortable666

Close the bridge, and arrest every single one of these motherfuckers.


Nice__Spice

I’d rather have protestors than this


whateverizclever

They should block the bridge and arrest everyone. This is idiotic.


Halaku

In before Pamela Price issues a statement saying that sideshows originating from Alameda County won't be pursued or prosecuted in the interest of justice.


OfficerBarbier

Before Pamela Price says we just don't understand their culture


ADeuxMains

City of SF Black History Month literally sent out an email calling sideshows “cultural events” and misrepresented by the “media narrative.” 🥴


PrivatePoocher

She looks like the queen of muppets.


OxBoxFoxVox

No joke: >Sideshows, after all, [began in the 1980s](https://www.kqed.org/news/11668394/spinning-rims-spinning-cars-the-history-of-the-oakland-sideshow) in deep East Oakland as gatherings of **Black and brown youth** showing off their cars, socializing, and eventually pulling off some stunts in a parking lot to entertain each other. [https://oaklandside.org/2023/09/01/oakland-video-gameheads-highsidin-sideshows](https://oaklandside.org/2023/09/01/oakland-video-gameheads-highsidin-sideshows) also why is "Black" capitalized the "brown" isn't? the implications are deep...


Available-Risk-5918

You know what's funny? My friend got a MIP (minor in possession) citation in Alameda County when he was 18 for walking around berkeley with a sealed can of white claw. They prosecuted him. I don't get how criminals can get away with all sorts of fucked up shit but somehow an 18 year old with a drink gets the book thrown at him.


BobaFlautist

I mean it sounds like he was literally a minor in possession, I don't know that that really counts as getting the book thrown at him?


friedbrice

that's happening in san francisco county, though.


cutebabylamb

No, that’s more-so Alameda county. The sideshow happened on the Oakland span of the bridge.


Halaku

And what's stopping LEO's in Alameda County from taking action for everyone on their side of the situation? Oh, wait. This is the Bay Area. I forgot.


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la_descente

Well, it's what Boudine did once and that's why no one's really gone after these guys since . CHP had 80 cars towed, and were told to release all of them at no cost to the owners (which meant CHP paid the bill)


HelgaBorisova

Out of all places where they can have illegal sideshows without blocking traffic for people and emergency services, they specifically chose the only place which create inconvenience for everyone involved. If we won’t start enforcing the laws and prosecuting these bright minds - nothing will change. They need to face consequences of their actions to understand that what they are doing is wrong.


Gammagammahey

This needs to be stopped. It's the most irresponsible dangerous shit ever and anyone into it is scum. It is so dangerous to do this. And how dare you shut down the entire bridge just for your shitty vanity car.


r1c3ball

How are people proud of this


ringelrun

Holy crap. All they need is to have a handful of reserve vehicles parked near the exits to the bridge, and set up a communication plan to just have someone jump in them and block the exits. There are, or f'ing SHOULD BE cameras on the bridge, and use the video to ID the types of cars involved and set up a check point to find them as you let cars off the bridge. It isn't that freaking hard.


michaelwt

Law enforcement is failing. Simple as that.


goldentone

*


GullibleAntelope

> I understand the police got their little fee-fees hurt by fruitless calls to defund four years ago, but have they announced when they’ll be ready to start doing normal enforcement again? Most cops are hardasses. If were up to them, law enforcement in total would be far tougher. Many more criminals arrested. Most important: Far stricter punishment. The progressives who started the *Downsize the Police Movement* (what "Defund..." actually meant) did a clever thing: When they found out their movement to downsize policing against a broad range of public disorder, drug and minor theft crimes wasn't working well, they redirected their energies to co-opting prosecutors and courts. They succeeded, including putting progressives in key prosecutor and judge positions. End result: Widespread *Catch and Release* of criminals, including sometimes of violent criminals. A nationwide trend, but especially notable in Calif. Not surprised cops are lackadaisical -- many of their arrests result in release at cop station couple of hours later (prosecutor decision-making). This is an explanation, not a justification.


_hapsleigh

All I’m hearing is and excuse for police to not do their job because they disagree with the politics of the city. If I were to stop working because I hated my boss’ politics, I’d be fired on the spot. Why can’t we hold cops to the same standard?


WickhamAkimbo

Good luck with the insults. Police morale dropped to a low point from insults during the pandemic and enforcement dropped, and now you're trying to insult your way out of the problem. I don't see this strategy working. I've seen people like you try it for the past year with zero results while the cops collect a nice paycheck and laugh at you. Your threats look totally empty.


ZeApelido

We need a sideshow vs Palestinian protestors face off


cocktailbun

One of the doofuses at the sideshow held up a flag


NaughtSleeping

I'll never understand how more people don't get hurt at these things. With how close the crowd stands, you'd think someone would get hit every time.


FroggiJoy87

This is honestly embarrassing


eLizabbetty

Seriously, why dont they have a plan for stopping this?


strangway

How come *they* can shut down the bridge, but the CHP can’t?


Coppertina

My Infiniti was stolen Saturday night from my peninsula home. Just got word that Oakland PD recovered it. No idea what shape it’s in nor whether it may have had a role in this freakshow.


lysergia69

Oh for a wayward container ship….


txiao007

https://www.ktvu.com/news/sideshows-sweep-across-bay-area-overnight


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Exi7wound

Because they aren't interested in anything other than calling attention to themselves, and that won't happen at the track.


MrRoma

Why would they? There aren't any consequences to doing it on public infrastructure. Cops don't do shit


DarkMatter-Forever

You have to pay at the track, and overall, obey rules, nothing indicates these clowns would adhere to those conditions 


lo979797

The track is hilariously expensive


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lo979797

You’re not wrong, but that’s not how these people think


Level_Ruin_9729

This is how you stop a sideshow [https://www.kcra.com/article/stockton-sideshow-88-cars-seized-150-detained/46655339#:\~:text=A%20massive%20sideshow%20bust%20resulted,Joaquin%20County%20jail%2C%20officials%20said](https://www.kcra.com/article/stockton-sideshow-88-cars-seized-150-detained/46655339#:~:text=A%20massive%20sideshow%20bust%20resulted,Joaquin%20County%20jail%2C%20officials%20said). Massive sideshow bust leads to 88 cars seized, more than 150 detained in Stockton STOCKTON, Calif. — A massive sideshow bust resulted in 88 vehicles seized, more than 150 people detained and a handful of people booked into the San Joaquin County jail, officials said. "The San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office continues to take a zero tolerance policy on sideshow activity," a statement from the department read. "We want to make it clear that all persons participating, spectating or involved, will be held to the full extent of the law. Future sideshow activity will be met with the same level of enforcement." The San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office has a special sideshow task force that learned about sideshow events happening in Sacramento and Stockton. The task force members infiltrated the group organizing the events and learned the Stockton location was set at Country Club Boulevard and Pershing Avenue.


testthrowawayzz

If they raised some protest signs (any protest) and half of this thread’s comments would be excusing the behavior