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Spectators of sideshows could face steep fines or jail time under a new law voted by the Alameda County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.
The ordinance makes it illegal to be within 200 feet of a sideshow, which is an outlawed gathering of cars that often involves reckless driving and stunting. Violators of the law could receive a misdemeanor charge and be fined up to $1,000 or face up to six months in jail.
Under the new law, proving a violation must include evidence of prior acts of being present or attending a sideshow event in the last three years.
The board considered the law in response to the growing number of sideshows in Alameda County.
The ordinance was passed by a 3-1 vote. Supervisors David Haubert, Lena Tam and Nate Miley voted yes. Supervisor Elisa Marquez voted no and Supervisor Keith Carson was excused from the vote.
Supervisor Marquez insisted drivers must be the target, not spectators.
“Increasing patrol and blocking areas where sideshows are going to take place has been a mitigated effort,” Marquez said. “I would prefer to see more work done than enforcing this ordinance.”
Alameda County Public Defender Brendon Woods also has problems with the law, including whether the ordinance is even constitutional. He is also concerned about people of color, such as Black and Hispanic people, being swept up by law enforcement just because they are Black and Hispanic.
“This ordinance has such the potential to do that,” he said.
The ordinance was jointly authored and introduced on June 13 by Miley and Alameda County Sheriff Yesenia Sanchez.
In a letter submitted last week to the entire board in the proposition of the ordinance, Sanchez and Miley said the rule would “provide law enforcement with another tool to stop and prevent sideshows and reduce risk” in the county’s neighborhoods.
In San Francisco, cars involved in sideshows are seized for 30 days. Pico Rivera in Southern California made it illegal for people to be within 500 feet of sideshows, and violators can be fined up to $2,000. Turlock in the Central Valley recently passed a similar law to Pico Rivera — all ostensibly passed to keep neighborhoods safe by attempting to reduce the activity.
The newly approved ordinance takes effect on Aug. 9.