CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO)—Cleveland Police, the Bibb Administration and the special Street Takeover Task Force hope the pilot program will deter crime created by street takeovers.

In September, simultaneous street takeovers at more than a half-dozen intersections and even a stretch of I-90 in Cleveland caused chaos as muscle cars blocked traffic by performing dangerous stunts. The city’s police chief described the crimes as horrific.

Now city leaders hope a pilot program will deter illegal activity.

The plan includes street milling or adding something similar to rumble strips to the road to make it harder for speeding cars to make dangerous moves like donuts and burns. In many incidents last month, criminals who took control of the streets wore masks and pointed guns at drivers. In one case, at least four or five people jumped on the hood of a police car with the officer inside. One person then punched the cruiser to taunt the officer.

A Cleveland resident named Alex told 19 News: “These coups and stuff like that are going to do something in the short term, but they’re going to find a new place to do it. So I don’t think this will be stopped.”,

Lance Richards of Louisville, Kentucky, thinks the street milling idea could make it safer for pedestrians, joggers, and even drivers to get to their destinations without interruption in Cleveland: “We saw similar things in Louisville, Kentucky. I don’t know if they’re talking about rumble strips or milling, but they’re impounding cars. “If you move the cars away, the problem goes away.”

Longtime Cleveland City Councilman Michael Polensek said the plan had not been presented to the safety committee and that he was interested in learning how the pilot program would affect walkers, runners and snowplows. However, Polensek is also waiting for the administration’s approval to send back a draft regulation that, if approved by the council, would toughen penalties for vandals trying to take over the city’s streets.

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