MEMPHIS, Tenn. — City Council questioned Memphis Police officials about street “takeovers” Tuesday after an event blocked an underpass near the airport over the weekend.

Videos stills shown at a council meeting appear to show dozens of cars parked on Winchester at Swinnea underneath an airport runway overpass Saturday, with some people standing on top of the vehicles.

“I can only imagine if you were coming into Memphis or leaving Memphis via the airport and you saw some activity like this, that you probably wouldn’t want to return to Memphis, Tennessee,” council member Ford Canale said. “This type of behavior scares people so much that it makes them want to consider moving out of this city.”

Memphis Police said street takeovers are a nationwide trend that was fueled by the pandemic.

MPD received two calls on the event that night. Officers were dispatched but the disturbance cleared prior to their arrival, they said.

Interim Chief C.J. Davis said MPD had seen a lot of car takeovers in another precinct in the city, so resources were sent there.

MPD is moving to the airport area in the next week or so, and is trying to avert this type of activity, Davis said. Tennessee Highway Patrol is working with them and she says 15 more officers will come to the area permanently.

“We know we have to continue to move where these problems are and try to get in front of them before they actually happen,” Davis said.

She also said she was working on an ordinance allowing a 10-day hold on vehicles involved in these incidents to deter them.

Canale said he preferred permanent seizure of the vehicles. “We could sell them at auction, we could crush them, whatever.”

“Unfortunately, we’ve had too many of these happen in our city over the last several months and I think these guys, for whatever reason, just think this type of lawlessness is OK and they’re going to get away with it,” Canale said. “This type of behavior has got to be stopped. It cannot continue to be allowed on our streets or, colleagues, we’re not going to have a city left.”

Council member Rhonda Logan asked why MPD couldn’t post additional officers in high-traffic areas where car takeovers are likely to occur.

“We cannot afford to have the airport and the bridge locked down with this kind of stuff,” Logan said.

Davis said when they find out about events ahead of time, MPD will send officers ahead of time to break it up. She said this was the first such event at that location.

She said MPD is not generally allowed to monitor social media because of a judge’s consent order — but said they could monitor social media for investigations into events like this.

Council member Jerri Green wanted to know why no arrests were made.

“A lot of these individuals have weapons and when they come, there’s so many of them,” Davis responded. “What we’re also thinking about is officer safety, when they’re sort of outnumbered.”

Some council members suggested the county sheriff’s office should take a role in response.

Davis said the department is committed to taking back streets and needed help from city council to end events like this.

Council member Philip Spinosa said Davis would have their support.

“This whole body expects to see this end, like, yesterday,” Spinosa said. “Tell us what you need and we’ll do what we can to support you.”

Police said residents can call 901-545-COPS to report car takeovers.

“Incidents like these happen in seconds, so we need the public’s help getting a description and vehicle tag numbers if they can be obtained safely,” MPD said in a statement.