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<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=814350815-28062006><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>In bullet points:</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<UL dir=ltr>
<LI>
<DIV align=left><SPAN class=814350815-28062006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2>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.</FONT></SPAN></DIV></LI>
<LI>
<DIV align=left><SPAN class=814350815-28062006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2>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."</FONT></SPAN></DIV></LI>
<LI>
<DIV align=left><SPAN class=814350815-28062006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2>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!</FONT></SPAN></DIV></LI></UL><BR>
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader lang=en-us dir=ltr align=left>
<HR tabIndex=-1>
<FONT face=Tahoma size=2><B>From:</B>
bostoncriticalmass-bounces@bostoncriticalmass.org
[mailto:bostoncriticalmass-bounces@bostoncriticalmass.org] <B>On Behalf Of
</B>Rob Arnold<BR><B>Sent:</B> 28 June 2006 15:48<BR><B>To:</B> Boston Critical
Mass<BR><B>Subject:</B> Re: [*BCM*] Boston PD no friend of a
cyclist<BR></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>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. <BR><BR>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. <BR><BR>Rob<BR><BR>
<DIV><DEFANGHTML_SPAN class=gmail_quote>On 6/28/06, <B
class=gmail_sendername>Anne Wolfe</B> <<A href="mailto:axw@michelmores.com"
target=_blank defanghtml_onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">
axw@michelmores.com</A>> wrote:</DEFANGHTML_SPAN>
<BLOCKQUOTE class=gmail_quote
defanghtml_style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">Turtle's
right - that is a reality for some people. <BR><BR>Speaking from the strictly
personal standpoint, I've always been nice to<BR>cops. It's that
growing up in the country "if you have an issue ask the<BR>nice
policeman/policemen are our friends" thing. And whether as a
<BR>consequence or not, I've never had cops be anything but nice
back.<BR>Being the one person who's NOT in their face all day, and asking
nicely<BR>with please and thank you, they'll totally go the extra mile for
you.<BR><BR>Swearing and saying "give me your badge number so I can report
you"<BR>seems to make them cranky, from what I can see.<BR><BR>I also find
that being nice even when people are being jerks frequently<BR>gives you
something to actually hang your hat on when you DO complain. <BR>If you're
nice, people will sometimes tell you just about
anything. You<BR>can then later include that in the complaint you
make.<BR><BR>-----Original Message-----<BR>From: <A
href="mailto:bostoncriticalmass-bounces@bostoncriticalmass.org" target=_blank
defanghtml_onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">bostoncriticalmass-bounces@bostoncriticalmass.org</A><BR>[mailto:<A
href="mailto:bostoncriticalmass-bounces@bostoncriticalmass.org" target=_blank
defanghtml_onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">bostoncriticalmass-bounces@bostoncriticalmass.org
</A>] On Behalf Of<BR>turtle<BR>Sent: 28 June 2006 15:09 <BR>To: Boston
Critical Mass<BR>Subject: RE: [*BCM*] Boston PD no friend of a
cyclist<BR><BR>Anne wrote:<BR>><BR>> But as previously noted, if you
go<BR>> into a situation looking for a fight, that's generally what you're
<BR>> going to get. And indeed, that's what Jon got. And then
having been a<BR><BR>> jerk, and sworn, and been established as a jerk by
the fact he did the<BR><BR>> same at the car driver, he insulted the cop
further by saying "oh, if <BR>> I was a public servant, I wouldn't be a
stupid cop like you, I'd be a<BR>> fire fighter" thus implying that cops
are worse than fire fighters to<BR>> a guy currently serving as a cop and
then being shocked SHOCKED I tell <BR><BR>> you when the guy he's already
insulted, sworn at and demeaned tells<BR>> him that his civil service job
of choice is not so great.<BR><BR>I agree that aggressive tactics aren't the
most effective. However, it's <BR>an odd fact of humanity that some people are
so used to being verbally<BR>(and even physically) attacked that they expect
it, and even give you<BR>MORE respect if you fight back, rather than be a
"sissy" in their eyes. <BR>I'm thinking that in this police officer's case,
that might be true,<BR>since he did end up backing down to Jon and not
arresting him. People<BR>like this like to push your limits to see
how much you care about your <BR>position and watch to see how aggressively
you will defend it. If you<BR>pass the test, and stand your ground,
they know you are serious and give<BR>you the respect you want.<BR><BR>I don't
like it, as you know, but it's reality for some people. And in
<BR>this case, I think the officer might have gotten what he wanted out
of<BR>the deal (getting a chance to assert his "authority" and getting a
rise<BR>out of somone in the process - it's a game to them, kinda like boxing,
<BR>but with words).<BR><BR>Having said that, I want to say that I don't
promote this kind of<BR>antagonistic behavior as a way to get what you
want. Throwing a tantrum<BR>isn't a particularly mature solution to
adult problems, in my book. And <BR>I think that there are probably
better ways to deal with even people who<BR>are naturally pugnacious, like
this officer. But, I also don't think<BR>it's the end of the world,
and tantrums like this are not as bad as some <BR>people may
think.<BR><BR>Peace, Love, and
Bicycles,<BR>Turtle<BR>_______________________________________________<BR>Boston
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