KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City, Missouri, Central Patrol police officers worked more than 60 calls for service in a two-hour time period Sunday night, including one about a crowd outside Union Station shooting off fireworks and holding a sideshow.
Video obtained by 41 Action News shows a car doing burnouts around a group of people lighting large fireworks.
A spokesperson for KCPD said officers assigned to that part of the city had 62 calls for service from 11 p.m. Sunday to 1 a.m. Monday, including nearly a dozen shootings.
They were called to the sideshow around 12:30 a.m.
Police said the crowd and cars disbursed upon officers’ arrival.
The spokesperson said unless someone is injured or a sideshow created an imminently dangerous, life-threatening situation, officers “would handle a sideshow in the manner we always have.”
KCPD said it is looking for ways to respond to sideshows and other problems they can lead to, such as shootings, litter, vandalism and noise complaints, but have to operate in the confines of their police procedures and laws.
Earlier this year, the Kansas City, Missouri, City Council passed an ordinance banning sideshows, related events and spectators.
Those involved in sideshows could face fines and jail time.
According to Kansas City, Missouri, Mayor Quinton Lucas, KCPD officers have the power to investigate and track vehicles involved in sideshows.
They can also seize the involved vehicles for 30 days while the prosecutor’s office works to bring charges.
KCPD said Monday they don’t pursue the cars as the drivers flee the scene because of the danger a police chase poses to the public.
Shortly after the ordinance was passed, a KCPD officer was nearly hit by a car while trying to break up a sideshow.
In February, police told 41 Action News they are working on ways to safely take sideshow offenders into custody.
The sideshows take place in multiple areas of Kansas City, including around the Power and Light District, Midtown, the northeast and east side.
In addition to the sideshow ban, fireworks are also illegal in Kansas City city limits.
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