‘Dispersal order’ alerts over Bridgeport Speedway crowds cause confusion across Philly area
The owner of the Bridgeport Speedway said no “unruliness” occurred. But authorities said arrests were made related to speeding and disorderly conduct around the motorsports park.
Many residents in the Philadelphia region took to social media Sunday night after a notification popped up on their phones indicating an “immediate dispersal order” had been lifted. However, for some, the order to disperse never came in the first place.
The confusion led many to post online, “Did anyone else get an alert for a Dispersal Order Lifted?” one local Facebook user posted. “We didn’t even know we were under one?”
Rumors swept the internet about large crowds gathering for Car Music Fest, organized by ImportExpo, at the Bridgeport Speedway in Gloucester County. Social media users reported large crowds and heavy traffic.
Logan Township Police Department, the agency that initiated the dispersal order, confirmed several cases of vehicles racing on roads, passing other cars unsafely, and passengers riding on top of cars.
The car show was organized without prior notice or approval from Logan Township, and drew an estimated crowd of 25,000 people — some from as far away as Massachusetts and Virginia — with attendees parking “wherever they chose,” exiting their vehicles, and walking to the venue, according to the police department.
In addition to motor vehicle violations, police received reports of public intoxication, public urination, lewdness, disorderly conduct, littering, and “numerous” fights.
Police arrested one man for disorderly conduct. Several other municipal ordinance violations were filed in association with the car show.
The owner of Bridgeport Speedway, which did not organize the ImportExpo show, said he was not aware of incidents besides the large crowds.
“The overall problem was simply the volume of people attending the event. Unfortunately, it caused a lot of unwanted traffic in the community,” Speedway owner Doug Rose said. “Social media also spreads many untruths without knowing any facts. The event was not shut down for any unruliness.”
Gibbstown resident Pamela Reistle Ott was on the phone with her father, who resides in Bridgeport, when she saw the alerts on her phone before she was scheduled to visit her parents at 4 p.m.
“I couldn’t get from Gibbstown to Bridgeport to their house. It was scary, seeing that many cars driving pretty recklessly on our otherwise quiet back roads,” Reistle Ott said. “When the first alert came over, I warned my dad, who did not get the alert on his phone. We checked back in with each other with each alert, and we’re so grateful when it was all over with.”
According to the PBS WARN dashboard, which tracks regional alerts, the dispersal order went out at 4:47 p.m. Sunday, but some reported having received the alert sooner. A second alert announcing that the order was lifted went out around two hours later, which many across the region shared on social media.
Logan Township Police Department, the agency that initiated the alert, and Gloucester County did not respond to requests for comment on what incident spurred the dispersal order, or why it reached residents in Pennsylvania. Other local law enforcement agencies, like Harrison Township and Delaware County’s Middletown Township, shared the alert on social media, amplifying its reach.
Reports of local neighborhoods and public spaces becoming parking lots, with speeding on surrounding roadways, and large gatherings swirled on social media Monday.
Philadelphia’s Office of Emergency Management confirmed that the city did not take part in issuing the alert, and the dispersal order was not distributed through “ReadyPhila,” Philadelphia’s own emergency alert system.
The organizers of the car show, ImportExpo, a multicity car show traveling to parts of the United States and Canada, did not respond to a request for comment. But ImportExpo did post rules to its Instagram before the event advising attendees to “respect the property,” pick up trash, and avoid fighting and arguing.
Why did people in Philadelphia get this dispersal order?
Wireless emergency alerts are the notifications sent to phones during severe emergencies, said Michael Giardina, deputy director of operations for Philadelphia’s Office of Emergency Management. Amber Alerts and severe weather warnings from the National Weather Service are common examples of these alerts.
“The reason why someone in Philadelphia, or perhaps a lot of people in the region, would have received the dispersal alert is that those alerts work off of cell phone towers,” Giardina said. “When an alert of that magnitude is sent out, a mechanism identifies who should receive that alert based on which cell tower they’re connected to.”
Residents of Philadelphia and the surrounding areas can sign up for the City of Philadelphia’s alert system by texting ReadyPhila to 888-777 or by visiting phila.gov/ready.