Arresting the exhibition that leads viewers part of the puzzle to fight crime, restore peace, order

A new city ordinance that allows Birmingham police to arrest and charge show-driving spectators is the newest weapon in the fight against a problem that has plagued the city for some time, the police chief said.

“If it wasn’t for the spectators, there wouldn’t be as much activity because that’s what drives the activity,” Chief Scott Thurmond said. “They will be arrested. Hopefully it will be a deterrent, knowing that BPD is dealing with this behavior.”

The Birmingham City Council on Tuesday voted for the ordinance aimed at those who watch and broadcast live driving exhibitions “to prohibit loitering, remaining or loitering in a public place for the purpose of participating as an organizer or spectator in any driving exhibition or street racing. the public roads of the City of Birmingham.”

A citation could result in a $500 fine or up to 180 days in jail.

Birmingham police applaud the ordinance.

“Our observations have shown us that one of the main contributors to illegal driving at the fair is the public or ‘spectators,'” said Deputy Chief Michael Pickett, who heads the department’s Bureau of Special Operations.

“Many of them help block public roads and entrances to private businesses while encouraging drivers to do more extreme and dangerous acts,” Pickett said. “It also provides cover for criminals to hide from the police and escape from the police when trying to arrest those criminals.”

Last year, Mayor Randall Woodfin approached police department leadership asking for a plan to combat street racing and exhibition driving, which authorities say has picked up sharply in the wake of COVID.

Pickett took over the project and the first round of Operation Knight Rider took place in April.

Pickett’s team analyzes the data, and that data is used to narrow down and target hotspots for resource deployment. Police also encourage residents to call with tips.

“We’re going to show these criminals that the streets of Birmingham are not going to be a place to show off your vehicle skills,” Pickett said.

Woodfin joined members of the Jefferson County legislative delegation in November 2022 to announce plans to file a bill to ban and impose penalties for certain forms of “exhibition driving,” which include street and drag racing, burnouts, donuts and similar activities defined within the invoice.

That legislation was passed and signed into law by Gov. Kay Ivey last year.

Previously, drivers could only get one ticket.

They now face a minimum of misdemeanor charges and up to a Class B felony if someone is injured or killed or if there is property damage.

In the month since Operation Knight Rider began — April 12 to May 12 — the initiative has resulted in 34 arrests, with three of the cases being referred to the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Northern District of Alabama for federal prosecution.

Total arrests include 45 felony charges, 32 misdemeanor charges, 10 show driving charges and nine charges of fleeing or attempting to elude police.

Officers recovered nine stolen vehicles and impounded a total of 25 vehicles.

In addition, the operation led to the seizure of 22 weapons – a rifle and 22 pistols, three of which were equipped with machine gun conversion devices (“switches”).

During the operation, the police recovered 4.1 kilograms of marijuana, 39 grams of cocaine, 228 grams of methamphetamine. They also seized $11,723 in cash, which Wade said was suspected drug proceeds.

“The Mayor’s Operation Knight Rider was a huge success and was widely publicized with the number of arrests, seized vehicles, narcotics and weapons seized in this operation,” said Birmingham City Councilor Hunter Williams. “One thing we’ve struggled with is enforcement of those who aren’t behind the wheel.”

“We have the event organizers, who post on social media, for a meeting, to run exhibits,” Williams said. “We have those who are streaming it live, and we have those passive participants who are actually often the ones who are injured as they stand out and watch this exhibition drive through the streets of Birmingham.”

Some observers on social media question the city and department’s focus on exhibition driving instead of homicides or shootings.

Thurmond said he has to look at the bigger picture.

“Exhibition driving is much more than the people driving. As we have seen from the arrests, there are drugs, there are guns, there is money, there are stolen cars. They are all part of the same circle of people,” the chief said.

“Knight Rider takes guns off the streets, takes criminals off the streets, we recover stolen property, we get people who use and sell drugs off the streets,” he said. “These are people who could be involved in a homicide.”

“You have to look at the total crime picture here,” Thurmond said. “Getting guns off the street could prevent a homicide. Getting people who sell drugs and steal cars could prevent a homicide.”

“It’s targeted at people who cause trouble,” he said. “They don’t just do this activity. They are involved in many other criminal activities.

Previous events in Birmingham have shown the dangers that driving can bring to the show, authorities said.

A fiery crash on Dec. 9, 2022, on John Rogers Drive at Gun Club Road left several people injured and two drivers were later charged.

It was just after 9pm when, according to witnesses, a Dodge Charger was doing donuts and a Nissan 370z was racing another vehicle when the two cars collided and then at least one of them veered into a crowd of pedestrians.

The charger caught fire.

Firefighters from Birmingham, Irondale, Cahaba Valley and Trussville responded to the scene after reports of several people lying in the road after being hit.

Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service reported at the time that 13 people were injured, nine of them seriously.

Birmingham police said it appeared a crowd had gathered to watch the driving and racing exhibitions. There were several donut skid marks and burns on the sidewalk.

There were dozens of passers-by watching the exhibition while driving, witnesses said.

Marvin Puerto, 20, and Brandon Marquise Waller, 25, are charged with six counts each of second-degree assault. Authorities said Waller was driving the Charger and Puerto was driving the 370z.

A 14-year-old boy was killed in July 2022 when he was hit by a vehicle following an exhibition driving in Birmingham.

In August 2022, a large crowd gathered in a parking lot in the 800 block of Second Avenue North, where drivers were doing exhausts and donuts when gunfire erupted. According to police and a video circulating on social media, a burning vehicle hit another vehicle in the parking lot.

The collision happened just after 3am that Sunday. The video shows a man immediately opening fire after the cars came into contact.

One woman was killed and four others were injured.

Ronald Demetrius White pleaded guilty to reckless homicide in the death of 19-year-old Ja’Kia Winston.

“With everybody having guns, this could easily turn into a homicide or a shooting, which we saw a few weeks ago in the incident at Shell with all the people out there,” Thurmond said.

“It’s all part of the puzzle of preventing violent crime in Birmingham,” he said, “and restoring peace and order.”