CINCINNATI — Cincinnati City Council voted to pass a resolution on Wednesday to support House Bill 56, which ups the penalties for people participating or spectating in street takeovers.
“What it does is it increases the penalties for those operating these vehicles and causes significant harm to people or property through these street takeovers or people who are operating the vehicle and flee from police who are trying to stop them,” said council member Liz Keating.
The proposal would make street racing, stunt driving and street takeovers a misdemeanor. If someone participating drives away from the police, it’s a felony.
“This is not fun and games,” Keating said. “These are not professional stunt drivers. Someone is going to get killed and we have to stop this.”
“We thank God nobody has been killed here in Cincinnati,” said council member Scotty Johnson.
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Additionally, there’s a second component to this bill.
“It also does require that local police departments have their own pursuit policy,” Keating said. “Cincinnati does lead the state in having our own policy. This does not change our pursuit policy, but it does encourage other jurisdictions to do so.”
Cincinnati revised its pursuit policy last year. Officers are only allowed to engage in a vehicle pursuit if the person who is driving away is suspected of committing a “violent felony offense.”
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Two people on council voted against the resolution: council member Seth Walsh and Vice Mayor Jan-Michele Kearney.
“It seems a bit overreaching to me because it really creates problems going forward in their lives,” Kearney said. “I mean, they’re young. They’re doing something really stupid, but I don’t know if I want them to have a felony record.”
Kearney told WCPO last week she was trying to find solutions, including the possibility of opening up the Hamilton County Fairgrounds to give participants an outlet off of city roads. During Wednesday's meeting, she said something has to be done, suggesting even increasing fines and tacking on additional penalties.
“I also don’t want police pursuits. Right now, we don’t pursue in these situations. We don’t pursue motorcycles doing wheelies. It’s dangerous for our officers. It puts them at risk. It’s dangerous for pedestrians. It’s dangerous for other cars.
House Bill 56 now heads to an entire house vote.
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