Sideshows are a growing problem all over the Bay Area. To try to combat the problem in a regional approach, the San Jose Police Department has started what it calls the "Bay Area Working Group on Sideshows."In a statement about the working group San Jose police said:"The San José Police Department is tackling sideshows head-on as they continue to threaten public safety. We are no longer dealing with simple donut tricks.
It just gives you a sense of the fact that this phenomenon is spread out, we see people quickly convening from throughout the region and sometimes from other parts of the state," Mahan said. On Wednesday, San Jose police convened the first meeting of the sideshow working group. In all about 20 agencies – including both San Francisco and Oakland police, Alameda County and Santa Clara County sheriff’s departments, and the CHP – all attended the meeting.