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Dallas Police hopes to crack down on private events

Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia is urging city leaders to create a “promoters ordinance” similar to the one in San Jose, where Garcia previously worked.

Why it matters: An ordinance in Dallas would require promoters to get city approval before any event involving more than 100 people.

Driving the news: Garcia spoke Monday to the Public Safety Committee at City Hall, detailing “lessons learned” after two mass shootings at two different concerts in Dallas resulted in two deaths and 27 people injured in the last month.

As the law stands, event promoters and property owners likely won’t face criminal charges related to the violence.

Dallas city attorney Christopher J. Caso told the committee that his office has reached out to San Jose to discuss what has worked and what hasn’t with that city’s promoters ordinance.

Caso said the city will also meet with promoters to discuss best practices.

Flashback: Last week, Garcia said off-duty DPD officers shouldn’t have been allowed to work at the South Dallas concert and that officers will no longer be allowed to work at any events that don’t have proper city permits.

Zoom in: Several city leaders made reference to “out-of-town promoters” putting on events in Dallas, but Bossman Bubba, the promoter featured on flyers for the concert in South Dallas that led to 17 people injured, lists Dallas as his hometown on social media.

He didn’t reply to Axios’ requests for comment.

What they’re saying: “This is important,” Garcia told the committee. “Landowners simply cannot rent out their property and not be held responsible for what happens.”

The intrigue: Dallas Police received approximately 15 calls about the most recent event before the mass shooting, according to Garcia. Most were about road blocks and parking violations.

The bottom line: It’s not clear that a permit for either of these two events would have prevented the shootings.

Florida lawmakers could crack down on ‘pop-up’ events

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Authorities would be able to impound vehicles for days and double fines on noncriminal traffic infractions to crack down on large unsanctioned events put together through social media, under a measure heading to the Senate floor.

Bill sponsor Tom Wright, R-New Smyrna Beach, said the proposal (SB 1954) wouldn’t apply to protests but is designed to help manage “out of control” social media “pop-up” events. The Senate Rules Committee approved the bill Tuesday.

“With the internet being so popular, we are having people put together events that are unsanctioned and saying basically, ‘Come to this area, and let’s party like it’s 1999,’” Wright said. “And our law enforcement’s hands are tied to do much about it.”

The proposal would allow authorities to declare areas as “special event zones” in response to unpermitted events that are promoted through social media and are anticipated to attract 200 or more people and disrupt traffic. The zones could blanket entire cities.

The bill would double fines for noncriminal traffic infractions in the event zones and allow law enforcement to impound vehicles for up to 72 hours for traffic violations.

The proposal also would allow local governments to impose more stringent regulations than what’s in state law about vehicle radios or other sound-making devices.

The proposal is backed by the Professional Wrecker Operators of Florida and is opposed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida.

Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, called the bill “crazily overly broad, wildly disruptive.”

“If you cross a lane without putting your blinker on, you get fined, it’s doubled. And we can impound your car, which seems a little bit intense,” Brandes said.

A legislative staff analysis said local governments would be able to recover from promoters or organizers relevant costs and fees tied to special event zones, from law enforcement to sanitation, even if the events are canceled.

Sen. Audrey Gibson, D-Jacksonville, questioned the impact to spring break if people are faced with arrests and cars being impounded.

But Sen. Dennis Baxley, an Ocala Republican who supported the bill, said the measure could help local governments when “these things happen out of control.”

“Anything that would eliminate chaos in a party state is helpful,” Baxley said.

Wright said the proposal grew out of a truck meet last year in Daytona Beach that created gridlock on Florida A1A.

“Pop-up events are happening where someone goes online and says, ‘Come to a particular area and bring your dirt bikes, bring your jacked-up trucks, bring some sort of vehicle and break all kinds of laws and stop traffic, start fights,’” Wright said.

He added that people in Daytona Beach were “shooting each other from truck to truck. They were going across yards, tearing up yards with their big tires. They were going onto the beach putting sand on people that were there sunbathing.”

A similar measure (HB 1435) by Rep. Tom Leek, R-Ormond Beach, has cleared two panels and awaits an appearance before the House Judiciary Committee.