Houston, we have a problem!

[Johnny Rockit]

Thankfully, here in the Northeast we call it Cars and Coffee. All Mustangs are welcome.

Sponsored

 

[ice445]

Cheap speed attracts morons, this should surprise nobody. Its easy to forget on here since most of us are older and chill, but those 7th owner s197 and early s550 are out there and respect nobody

 

[shogun32]

Huh, I thought multiple police cruisers on site and close nearby was universal at all repeat events.

The organizers are a special kind of stupid not to have police there after the very first incident.

 

[WItoTX]

Huh, I thought multiple police cruisers on site and close nearby was universal at all repeat events.

The organizers are a special kind of stupid not to have police there after the very first incident.

I am local to Houston and used to attend quite often. I will try to keep this short and explain the situation. This whole mess started with Covid, when we had the meets in an old mall parking lot. Where it was, TBH, it was fairly safe for the stupid to happen (believe it or not), and police were there, patrolling, pulling people over, and writing tickets. Everything was kept relatively in check. Then Covid cancelled the meet. And our County Judge (Think County Mayor) shut down EVERYTHING. I remember videos of guys doing the 610 ring in a fraction of the time, because there were just no cars on the road. Hell, during this same time, the record for the cannonball was set.

Fast forward to mid 2021. The mall was torn down, and parking lot sold to developers. The Coffee and Cars folks decided they wanted to have the meet at some trendy spot in downtown Houston, farther from where the people who go to these things, with interesting cars, actually live. Oh, and in the meantime "defund the police" happens here in Houston, in addition to the city becoming a "no pursuit" chase city. Finally, DEI has happened to HPD. So now incompetence is running rampant, instead of law and order.

So now, we have less interesting cars coming to the meeting because people with interesting cars tend to get up early and get there first. We have a longer drive to get there. We have fewer cops patrolling, with zero ability to do anything, being directed not to do anything by their superiors, and many of the new police force are DEI hires who wouldn't be qualified in a sane world, being tasked to "run security" for these events. Which means sit in your patrol car and collect your check (To be fair, not ALL of HPD is this way, but there are far more than before). Also, these police officers are "working security", not on duty.

A lot of serious car people have stopped going into these meets. Cars and Coffee Houston is going to die on the vine because they refuse to do the right thing, and force HPD to do it's job, and send ON DUTY officers. OR, C&C could, say, post one guy up to take the tags of these idiots, then next event they show up, tell them not to come in.

Finally. They still allow Mustangs, Camaro's, and Chargers in. But they better be f*cking special. Mine has made it in. A couple other track focused friends cars have made it in. People dropping north of $10k on aero, wheels, 200tw tires don't tend to treat their cars this way.

 

[Gnatsum21]

I don't go to those..too afraid another Mustang will crash into mine..

 

[IPOGT]

Not sure how one “fixes” a PEOPLE problem by banning a car.
I think they should charge admission and have police officers who happen to be enthusiast’s themselves attend, get them some overtime pay and crowd support and keep it clean.
That’s a much better, more inclusive and effective way of handling this situation.
It’s a sad world when you have to constantly have someone with a uniform, badge and arrest authority in order to have others act civil.

 

[WItoTX]

Not sure how one “fixes” a PEOPLE problem by banning a car.
I think they should charge admission and have police officers who happen to be enthusiast’s themselves attend, get them some overtime pay and crowd support and keep it clean.
That’s a much better, more inclusive and effective way of handling this situation.
It’s a sad world when you have to constantly have someone with a uniform, badge and arrest authority in order to have others act civil.

Agree 100%. IMO, I think, after meeting a few organizers myself, they only want to see high end cars, and that domestics are beneath their "show". It will be the downfall of the program, as every gearhead I know that now has a P-car or better started by wrenching on a Mustang, Camaro, or some other American classic.

 

[Evolvd]

You can ask “where are the cops” but you don’t understand how they operate. They don’t just show up to an event because someone asks them to. They’re on duty which means they have patrol routes or other areas that require their attention, not babysitting a bunch of morons in shitbox cars doing burnouts.

Off duty cops are just that, off duty. That means they aren’t going to show up unless they’re getting paid to do so which means someone has to pony up the cash. Since C&C events are free to the public who is going to dig into their pockets for that? And that’s even assuming any cops want to be bothered with it.

It’s the same issue we have locally. They managed to get two sheriff’s deputies to come by but they’re on foot and looking out for pedestrians and fights. The idiots still do their burnouts leaving the event and the deputies can’t do squat about it on foot.

 

[IPOGT]

They have eyes and a radio. They can actually do quite a lot. Trust me

 

[MAGS1]

Question for those in law enforcement or know more than I do about it. Can LE use the various YouTube videos out there to go after these morons? I do like to watch some YouTube videos of C&C’s and other meets in various locations to see what types of cars attend. And inevitably they all focus on the morons doing burnouts exiting or hitting curbs and whatnot. Most do not blur the license plates so they’re easily visible to LE if they watch.

 

[BlkMach10510]

Question for those in law enforcement or know more than I do about it. Can LE use the various YouTube videos out there to go after these morons? I do like to watch some YouTube videos of C&C’s and other meets in various locations to see what types of cars attend. And inevitably they all focus on the morons doing burnouts exiting or hitting curbs and whatnot. Most do not blur the license plates so they’re easily visible to LE if they watch.

You can open an investigation based off the video but for a judge to be happy you would need more evidence unless you have faces to go with the plate number plus date and time plus location. Video is usually only part of the investigation.

Retired Military Police

 

[WItoTX]

You can ask “where are the cops” but you don’t understand how they operate. They don’t just show up to an event because someone asks them to. They’re on duty which means they have patrol routes or other areas that require their attention, not babysitting a bunch of morons in shitbox cars doing burnouts.

Off duty cops are just that, off duty. That means they aren’t going to show up unless they’re getting paid to do so which means someone has to pony up the cash. Since C&C events are free to the public who is going to dig into their pockets for that? And that’s even assuming any cops want to be bothered with it.

It’s the same issue we have locally. They managed to get two sheriff’s deputies to come by but they’re on foot and looking out for pedestrians and fights. The idiots still do their burnouts leaving the event and the deputies can’t do squat about it on foot.

They do show up when the permit requires it. Such as Houston.

 

[jayson_b24]

You can open an investigation based off the video but for a judge to be happy you would need more evidence unless you have faces to go with the plate number plus date and time plus location. Video is usually only part of the investigation.

Retired Military Police

You meant to say "basically infantry". JK, not sure when you were in, but this was a common running joke when I was in. Now my daughter is a 31E, so I razz her. Thank you for your service!

 

[VoR]

I have never been to a C&C and didn't realize how organized they are. I thought it was a bunch/handful of people parked in a public lot near a doughnut shop or something, super casual.
If you go to one of these huge ones are you trapped there until the end or do people come and go?
Where is the big one in Southern California?

 

[BlkMach10510]

You meant to say "basically infantry". JK, not sure when you were in, but this was a common running joke when I was in. Now my daughter is a 31E, so I razz her. Thank you for your service!

I was real Infantry when I was in the US Army. In the Navy I was a Master-at-Arms. Believe me a huge difference, my coworkers in the Navy knew nothing about Infantry. I got picked for tactics because of that, lol.

Sponsored