[BCM] Boston PD no friend of a cyclist

Wed Jun 28 11:19:10 EDT 2006

In bullet points:

*	
	I don't think you can have it both ways.  Either the messengers
start following the rules (even though they're adrenaline loaded) or
they're ruining it for the rest of us.  Most of the messengers I know
are totally awesome people, but man I wouldn't want to be having to tell
them where they've broken the rules biking.  Awesome to watch in action,
but eek!  Look at all the broken rules.  Which as said, a) ruins it for
the rest of us, and b) gives police prejudice.  The biggest problem is
similar to cars actually.  Most cyclists/messengers/car drivers aren't a
problem, but the significant minority who are.........oooo.  People get
very het up about it and we all get tarred with the same brush.
*	
	Officers are trained to deal with angry people.  Maybe not well,
or maybe to (as Tom said) assert authority over them to take control of
the situation.  The only thing that unites angry people is their anger,
not what they're riding, driving or walking around on.  I think few cops
interpret anger as "you deserved what you got."  But if they've got you,
angry, standing there ranting on, and a driver no where to be seen, it
is you they get to deal with and the person who angered you is far away
and unlikely to be caught.  In the end run, that means little is to be
done at a practical level.  So they're going to wipe their hands of you
and return to fighting crime and saving the day elsewhere.  This can
come across to an angry person as "you deserved it."
*	
	You've always got the right to file the complaint, even if the
cop tells you that you don't.  Take the info you've got (times, places,
names if any, license plate numbers, etc) and hie thee to the nearest
relevant police station.  You file that mutha.  Sometimes it will get
results.  Most times it won't, but still, even a stopped clock is right
twice a day so your complaint could be one of those times.  Good luck!

________________________________

From: bostoncriticalmass-bounces at bostoncriticalmass.org
[mailto:bostoncriticalmass-bounces at bostoncriticalmass.org] On Behalf Of
Rob Arnold
Sent: 28 June 2006 15:48
To: Boston Critical Mass
Subject: Re: [*BCM*] Boston PD no friend of a cyclist

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
<mailto: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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