After a coalition of prominent businesses in North Portland complained to the city about street racing, the mayor’s office has drafted an ordinance aimed at cracking down on the illegal events.
The newly formed group North Portland Coalition for Safe Streets -- including representatives from Columbia Sportswear, Subaru and Sherwin-Williams, among other companies -- sent three letters over several months outlining their concerns.
The group said they are “frustrated” with the “dangerous practice of street racing in the industrial areas of North Portland.”
“The practice of street racing in our neighborhoods on city streets continues unabated without any compliance or enforcement,” the letter read. “Scheduled events are actively and unabashedly advertised on social media. We are concerned for the safety of our employees. They are afraid to come to work. They are threatened and harassed and put into dangerous situations just so they can provide for their families.”
The mayor’s ordinance proposes a revision to city code and asks City Council to approve two different misdemeanor offenses for “street racing” or “sliding” — labeling them “Unlawful Street Takeover” and “Unlawful Staging of a Street Takeover Event.”
For years, street “sliding” has attracted crowds who gather to watch drivers peel out and burn rubber at major Portland intersections, often on weekend nights.
Now, the city wants to find a way to punish people who participate in “street takeovers”, defining them as staged events where drivers use their cars to block roads, bridges and intersections to perform “dangerous maneuvers.”
The ordinance would impose a maximum 6-month jail sentence and a $500 fine for each violation, unless it’s a person’s first offense. In that case, offenders could participate in a diversion program approved by the district attorney.
But it’s unclear how the city would enforce such a code.
The drafted ordinance cites several incidents since 2019 in which “street takeovers” blocked major intersections and pointed to other cities like Tacoma that have successfully enacted similar rules to mitigate street racing.
On Aug. 1, a street sliding gathering at the intersection of Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. and Columbia boulevards drew a crowd of hundreds, Willamette Week first reported.
Portland Police did not respond to that gathering, Lt. Greg Pashley, a spokesman for the bureau confirmed.
“The on-duty supervisors made the difficult decision to respond in the event there was a specific threat to life safety, beyond the risky behavior people were engaging in at that intersection,” Pashley said. “Their determination was that resources did not allow for other options. No other such life safety calls arose and eventually the crowd dissipated.”
In April, a motorcyclist died in a collision with another car on North Marine Drive. According to police, investigators believe both drivers were involved in speed racing. Authorities reported that there were approximately 350 people in the area for an illegal street racing event taking place at the time.
A 2018 Oregonian story on street racing found that four people were killed in Portland street racing-related incidents from 2015 to 2018. Many more were injured during that time period, including an 18-year-old girl who was in a coma after being hit by a racer.
Neither the mayor’s office or the police bureau had data immediately available about how many of the city’s traffic fatalities in recent years have been connected to illegal street racing.
Racers told The Oregonian/OregonLive in 2018 that they knew police were relatively powerless to put an end to their fun. Police have long said they don’t have the resources or staff to break up the gatherings, and that it isn’t necessarily safe for them to get involved, either.
After record retirements and departures from Portland police, Pashley said the bureau still does not have the personnel to deter street racing in the city.
“We are in a response mode more than in a deterrent mode or prevention mode,” Pashley said.
Sam Adams, a senior advisor to Wheeler, said the ordinance would be an important — though imperfect — first step toward cracking down on the events.
“It’s what we can do with limited staff,” Adams said. “When we do respond, we want to be sure there are potential consequences and penalties. It is doing the best we can with the resources we have, and those resources are only available depending on the time, day and place of events.”
Adams said the street racing issue is an example of why the city needs more police officers.
“In the meantime, we’re not throwing up our hands and saying there’s nothing we can do,” Adams said. “We’re doing everything we can with what we’ve got, we are asking for help and we’re taking tougher actions against those who are caught.”
Pashley said that while the Oregon State Police has helped Portland police in the past with street racing, he’s not aware of any current plans or collaborations.
--Savannah Eadens; seadens@oregonian.com; 503-221-6651; @savannaheadens
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August 07, 2021 at 03:45AM
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