[*BCM*] Boston PD no friend of a cyclist

[Rob Arnold]

Of course the problem with politeness is that often when a cyclist is
physically assaulted by a driver, politeness is the farthest thing from the
cyclist's mind. Coursing through the cyclist's veins is a fairly potent (and
justifiable) mixture of fear, anger, indignation, and adrenaline...all of
which combine to taint any civil interaction that follows. Hence, a lot of
cursing. Hence irrational behavior on the part of the cyclist. Meanwhile,
the driver, whose life hasn't actually been threatened, is able to calm down
much more quickly so therefore looks like the "victim" in the situation. And
the narrative of the innocent driver versus the abusive cyclist is very easy
to swallow in the downtown area where "angry messengers" are the norm. But
before we blame messengers for ruining our streets for cyclists, remember
that these kids are running on adrenaline all day, and are in many
near-misses and actual accidents. Their aggression is often a by-product of
the true environment of the  chaotic streets. Most messengers are awesome
people.

I, for one, would love to see police officers trained to expect a cyclist to
be angry and to not assume that that anger is a sign that the cyclist
deserved whatever abuse was visited upon them. And I know many of my friends
would love to see officers trained NOT to discriminate against messengers.
Many of the angry ones are legitimately angry over legitimate issues. I
wouldn't be skeptical about the police's ability to defend my rights had I
gotten any kind of reasonable response the first several times I've
approached them asking for help. One incident involved serious bodily injury
to me, and the officer had the gall to tell me that the accident was my
fault even though the driver, in a fit of road rage, had slammed on his
brakes immediately after cutting me off, which caused me to collide into the
rear of his car at 25mph. In another incident, a different responding
officer said I had no legal ground to file a complaint, even though the
driver of a minivan had swerved into me intentionally, pinning me between
itself and a pickup truck. I didn't get injured in that situation, but if I
went down, I'd have been under the wheels of both vehicles. At what point do
I, then, have the right to file a complaint? Very few cyclists first get on
their bikes hating authority. The hopelessness gets drilled in steadily over
time. Whoever's in charge of that police training certainly has a lot of
work on their hands. I wish them godspeed, because we really could use some
allies in uniform.

Rob

On 6/28/06, Anne Wolfe < axw at michelmores.com> wrote:
>
> Turtle's right - that is a reality for some people.
>
> Speaking from the strictly personal standpoint, I've always been nice to
> cops.  It's that growing up in the country "if you have an issue ask the
> nice policeman/policemen are our friends" thing.  And whether as a
> consequence or not, I've never had cops be anything but nice back.
> Being the one person who's NOT in their face all day, and asking nicely
> with please and thank you, they'll totally go the extra mile for you.
>
> Swearing and saying "give me your badge number so I can report you"
> seems to make them cranky, from what I can see.
>
> I also find that being nice even when people are being jerks frequently
> gives you something to actually hang your hat on when you DO complain.
> If you're nice, people will sometimes tell you just about anything.  You
> can then later include that in the complaint you make.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: bostoncriticalmass-bounces at bostoncriticalmass.org
> [mailto:bostoncriticalmass-bounces at bostoncriticalmass.org] On Behalf Of
> turtle
> Sent: 28 June 2006 15:09
> To: Boston Critical Mass
> Subject: RE: [*BCM*] Boston PD no friend of a cyclist
>
> Anne wrote:
> >
> > But as previously noted, if you go
> > into a situation looking for a fight, that's generally what you're
> > going to get.  And indeed, that's what Jon got. And then having been a
>
> > jerk, and sworn, and been established as a jerk by the fact he did the
>
> > same at the car driver, he insulted the cop further by saying "oh, if
> > I was a public servant, I wouldn't be a stupid cop like you, I'd be a
> > fire fighter" thus implying that cops are worse than fire fighters to
> > a guy currently serving as a cop and then being shocked SHOCKED I tell
>
> > you when the guy he's already insulted, sworn at and demeaned tells
> > him that his civil service job of choice is not so great.
>
> I agree that aggressive tactics aren't the most effective. However, it's
> an odd fact of humanity that some people are so used to being verbally
> (and even physically) attacked that they expect it, and even give you
> MORE respect if you fight back, rather than be a "sissy" in their eyes.
> I'm thinking that in this police officer's case, that might be true,
> since he did end up backing down to Jon and not arresting him.  People
> like this like to push your limits to see how much you care about your
> position and watch to see how aggressively you will defend it.  If you
> pass the test, and stand your ground, they know you are serious and give
> you the respect you want.
>
> I don't like it, as you know, but it's reality for some people.  And in
> this case, I think the officer might have gotten what he wanted out of
> the deal (getting a chance to assert his "authority" and getting a rise
> out of somone in the process - it's a game to them, kinda like boxing,
> but with words).
>
> Having said that, I want to say that I don't promote this kind of
> antagonistic behavior as a way to get what you want.  Throwing a tantrum
> isn't a particularly mature solution to adult problems, in my book.  And
> I think that there are probably better ways to deal with even people who
> are naturally pugnacious, like this officer.  But, I also don't think
> it's the end of the world, and tantrums like this are not as bad as some
> people may think.
>
> Peace, Love, and Bicycles,
> Turtle
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