Kansas City’s sideshow problem: What happens when you call police for help?

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - The impromptu events go by different names: sideshows, takeovers, and slides. They have become the bane of neighborhoods. City leaders are exasperated. Police are fed up.

The squeal of tires, engines revving, smoke in the air. It’s around midnight in Kansas City. Cars are spinning around the intersection at Martin Luther King Boulevard and Eastwood Trafficway.

The videos flood Instagram. Some show weapons. Smoke fills the air. Crowds cheer. Sometimes spectators are hit by spinning cars.

“I heard the nuisance, the noise. I knew exactly what it was,” said Taryn Kelly, who reported a sideshow at Eastwood Trafficway and Martin Luther King Boulevard on the early morning hours of Aug. 19, 2024.

What happened next highlights everything police and the city are battling when it comes to people witnessing and reporting crime.

Call 911 and you’ll wait — way past national standards

Kelly posted about her experience on Facebook. She even tagged the mayor for a response. She called 911 twice. The first time she sat on hold longer than a minute - 1:26. The second time she waited longer than four minutes - 4:15.

Her hold times are way past national standards for how quickly emergency calls should be answered. Her hold time reflects a common experience in Kansas City.

“What’s going on? Why is it taking so long for somebody to answer this? I saw the nuisance, the crowd getting bigger and getting more concerning. I saw a weapon as well,” said Kelly. “I was just thinking about myself, my neighbors and my community.”

Police response

When police responded, Kelly could see one police car roll up and blare its horn. People ran, but the officer did not get out of the cruiser. She made it clear she understood the response.

“I don’t blame them,” said Kelly. “One police officer, two police officers, compared to 50, 60 people, cars, weapons, chaos. I don’t blame that at all.”

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KCTV5 asked police about the incident. A spokesperson said that in all, seven units responded to the scene with a total of nine officers.

The first officer arrived 19 minutes after the first call, it was an hour and 26 minutes before all the units showed up.

Eventually, four spectators were cited on municipal charges—but no drivers were arrested.

“It happens at least once to twice a month,” said Kelly. “Everyone disperses, runs. Nothing ever gets done.”

The ongoing struggle

KCTV5 has covered sideshows before. They happen at various locations across the city. Sometimes they include fireworks and weapons. And often, if the police show up, they simply move to another location.

People living near where these sideshows happen complain about the noise. They say tire screeching is a nightly soundtrack.

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The sideshows can be dangerous.

“The kid was ran over,” one spectator from a sideshow told us. “They literally ran over his head, and his shoe fell off.”

A person was hit at the sideshow Taryn Kelly reported and was taken to the hospital.

“I’d like to see some action,” said Kelly.

That’s why she tagged Mayor Lucas in her post.

The city’s response

We caught up with the mayor and shared the information we learned about the sideshow Kelly reported.

He shook his head, not in disbelief, but in frustration over the hold times.

“Here’s the thing,” said Lucas, “if this part of the system doesn’t work, then everything else collapses.”

“We’ve got to respond to emergencies,” said Lucus. “And we need to make sure this is a community that people can live in. If you’re dealing with 40 minutes just waiting…why would you call 911?”

Kansas City recently increased fines for municipal violations for participants and spectators.

Police action

KCPD declined our request for an interview about sideshows, but they did answer some questions in writing, explaining that sideshows can be dangerous to stop and they have to balance the risk.

A couple of weeks after Kelly posted about the incident in her neighborhood, police also took to social media.

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They posted several pictures showing their work to bust a couple of sideshows over a recent weekend. They recovered weapons and arrested two people.

“The streets belong to all of it,” the post read, ”and we will continue the work.”

For more KCTV5 Investigates reports, click here.

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