Chicago police step up enforcement related to drag racing, data show

CHICAGO (CBS) — A night of racing turned deadly after a shooting in Brighton Park where police said someone opened fire, hitting five people and killing three of them.

They were gathered watching a caravan of more than 100 cars doing donuts and blocking traffic at Archer and Kedzie. CBS 2 Investigator Megan Hickey dug into the numbers to see if the ordinance really has been effective or not.

That ordinance was passed in July to help police crack down on street racing and drifting by allowing them to tow cars and issue fines.

But since then, the problem has persisted, leading to questions about whether the law is tough enough.

The ordinance was supposed to be an effort to prevent sights like the one seen early Sunday morning, by fining anyone who participates in illegal street racing or drifting between $5,000 and $10,000 and allowing Chicago police to tow cars that were involved.

But it didn’t appear to discourage the crowd gathered at Archer and Kedzie over the weekend.

As of Friday, CPD said it’s made 35 arrests, impounded 26 vehicles, and made 72 “requests” for vehicle impounds related to the new ordinance.
According to data obtained through FOIA by the CBS 2 Investigators, enforcement is up considerably. Between Jan. 1 and Aug. 28 of this year, there were only seven impounds for illegal street racing.
For all of 2021, there were also just seven impounds, and there were no impounds at all in 2020.



  


            
                 
  




Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd), who sponsored the ordinance, told me it’s not the law that’s to blame. He said the incident “appears to have gone on for some time without a timely police response.”

Arthur Lurigio, professor of criminal justice and psychology at Loyola University Chicago, told CBS 2 he agrees that a crowd like the one seen on Sunday required a more robust response.
“I think we are able to tell in advance whether these gatherings are going to occur,” Lurigio said. “So what we should be doing is dispersing them before they become a critical mass of people who are going to be difficult or impossible to disperse without serious clashes between the police.”



  


            
                 
  




Brighton Park has had at least 26 calls to CPD for street racing and drifting so far this year and it’s not even the spot with the most complaints.



    Megan Hickey




  


            
                 
  






        

Megan Hickey is a member of the 2 Investigator team, focusing on topical investigative stories.