For the first time since 1986, lowriders will once again be able to cruise the streets of San Jose.
On Tuesday evening, the San Jose City Council voted unanimously to repeal its decades-old ban on cruising.
Councilmember Raul Peralez, who proposed the repeal earlier this year, previously called the ban “discriminatory in nature” as it conflated the lowrider community — which is largely Latino — with illegal activities like gangs, side shows and speed exhibitions.
When the law was originally passed, the city cited traffic congestion, criminal activity and cruising creating an “environment of fear” as reasons for the ban.
Peralez, who previously owned a 1965 emerald green Chevy Impala Super Sport with a black vinyl hard top, said he was subjected to the law as a teen, often getting pulled over by the cops and searched for drugs or weapons.
The law is also broad, he said, as it defines cruising as “the repetitive driving of any motor vehicle past a traffic-control point in congested traffic at or near the traffic-control point.” By his logic, any driver lost downtown who made a few turns could be in violation.
“It’s very, very broad, and unfortunately it was utilized very broadly in an attempt to stop other elements in our community, crime and gang violence, that we didn’t want to see,” he said. “But we’re ultimately using way too broad of a brush and in my mind a blatantly discriminatory and inherently racist policy.”
The San Jose Police Department has been against the repeal since Peralez proposed it, despite not having enforced the law in over a decade. Since 2007, when the department implemented its electronic citation system, no citations have been given out for cruising, according to Police Chief Anthony Mata.
Even though it hasn’t been used in some time, the chief on Tuesday emphasized its importance as a tool in case officers needed it.
“We’ve seen that during Cinco de Mayo or during the upcoming hot August nights on Story Road where unfortunately there’s individuals in cars that take over a shopping center and do loiter, they do drink, drugs are there and there’s violence,” he said. “It does impact our community.”
The city, however, does have other laws that officers can use in those situations.
“I still don’t quite understand what we’re losing if we approve this and take this off the books,” Councilmember Sergio Jimenez said. “In my mind, some of the stuff that does in fact happen out there, the burnouts and people drinking and a host of other things in the parking lot, it seems to me that there are other tools that are utilized to address some of those issues and those aren’t going away, and we’re not shedding those simply because we’re repealing this.”
With the repeal, San Jose is now a part of the growing list of California cities that have overturned bans on cruising. Last month, the Sacramento City Council repealed its ban, and National City passed a six-month trial period to allow cruising. This month, the state Assembly Transportation Committee also passed a resolution encouraging cities to repeal anti-cruising laws.
Source: www.mercurynews.com