Raise the Hammer
Hamilton Police need to be better prepared for a future in which respectable citizens live and patronize downtown, and are likely to be riding bicycles.
By Jonathan Dalton
Published June 23, 2009
In a city where motor vehicles kill more people each year than violent criminals, the police department has responded by targeting the victims, most often cyclists and pedestrians.
While this is nothing new, and I could relay countless anecdotes of mistreatment and outright misinformation portrayed by police officers to cyclists, one recent incedent has profoundly highlighted the marginalization of cycling in our police force and the impediment it presents toward positive change in our transportation patterns.
I will now relate to you my account of Friday, June 19, 2009.
A friend and I were cycling south on James Street, past Barton. A van pulled up behind us, accelerated at full throttle and passed us in the oncoming lane. This seemed like a needless act of hostility, and quite possibly impairment. Offended, I yelled at the driver an exclamation quite commonly used in such instances.
To the utmost shame of the Hamilton Police Department, this driver happened to be an on duty police officer driving an unmarked police vehicle.
Realizing who was now confronting us, we immediately stopped on the side of the road. The two officers asked for our identification, which we presented. They then returned to the van, and my friend and I waited, for about ten minutes. Knowing we had not committed any infractions, we wondered why they were still there. Eventually, I calmly started cycling further down the road, believing the situation was over.
Just past Wilson St., the van pulled up beside me again. Once more, I immediately stopped and stood on the sidewalk.
I should stop here and mention that while I've endured many wisecracks about my chosen community of downtown Hamilton as rough, sketchy, 'cracked out', and otherwise dangerous, I have never felt threatened walking or biking the streets here. I have never been a victim of violence or intimidation, until the following exchange.
While I stood still holding my bike upright, one officer grabbed the bike, picked it up to chest level, and threw it forward about eight feet, crashing down on the sidewalk. At the same time, the other officer grabbed me, shoved me into the wall of Hamilton City Centre and handcuffed me.
Needless to say, I was enraged, and demanded why they were arresting me with such force for simply riding my bike. Neither informed me of the reason I was being arrested, or gave me opportunity to defend myself. Instead, I was left on the curb, handcuffed, with the police van idling in the roadway, spewing exhaust into my face.
Eventually I was given two tickets, one for 'being intoxicated in a public place', and one for 'no horn, bicycle'. Their validity is yet to be determined by the court, but here are a few words in my defence:
I was not intoxicated, nor did I display any of the symptoms of intoxication, such as incoherent speech, vomiting, stumbling or urinating in public.
I was not interrogated with regards to drug or alcohol use and no sobriety test was administered.
There was a bell on the handlebar stem, which is sufficient under Section 75.5 of the Highway Traffic Act, under which I was changed.
The officer did not examine the bicycle; he just threw it, causing damage to my personal property and means of transportation.
In summary, a cyclist was riding down the road, was passed aggressively and illegally by an unmarked police vehicle, and vocally objected. The police grabbed his bicycle and threw it to to the ground with such force that it sustained damage.
Let me present a contrasting scenario: A motorist is driving down the road, is passed aggressively and illegally by an unmarked police vehicle. The police pull him out of the vehicle, and then pull out their nightstick and smash the car with such force that it sustains damage.
Wouldn't the second scenario be more shocking to read in the news? Such is the degree to which bicyclists have been marginalized and even criminalized in our society.
Perhaps someone on a bicycle is, on average, more likely to have a low income, more likely to use drugs, more likely to abuse alcohol, and more likely to commit crimes, than someone in a car. This may be nonsense, but it is certainly the common perception in our police force.
At a time when our city's leadership, along with the rest of the world, are trying to encourage cycling, such blatant ignorance and discrimination by the police is disgusting. Also disturbing is that an officer who patrols these streets daily managed to misspell the name of one of Hamilton's main streets on the ticket.
The city has identified the need to attract young creative professionals. This demographic tends to prefer urban areas with diversity, nightlife and walkable streets. Creative professionals frequently choose to walk, cycle and use public transit. They make enough money to support local businesses, and prefer to do so. They want to work in the city, and they are our future.
I am all of the above, and yet I was treated like a thug for the crime of riding a bicycle down the street at 2:00 AM. Clearly, the police need to be better prepared for a future in which respectable citizens live and patronize downtown, and are likely to be riding bicycles.
By Blue Shield (anonymous) | Posted June 23, 2009 at 09:50:20
Shitty time, man. While your behaviour is also subject to interpretation (pedaling away), cops should never escalate a situation and obviously have no right to destroy property or use physical force beyond that prescribed by their Use of Force continuum. From your account it seems they did all of those things. Hope you've filed a grievance, even if you don't have much faith in the outcome.
By madmatt (anonymous) | Posted June 23, 2009 at 10:09:11
A few years back, my bike was stolen 3 blocks away from Central Police Station on King William. I immediately filed a report and was told to look for it myself in the pawn shops. 3 months later I came across it in a shop on King St. I still had the seat bag, lights and cyclometer, so it was easy to prove it was mine, not to mention that it was not a common make or model. The officer who accompanied me to the store told me that he believed the bike was mine, but as the pawn shop owner had "followed procedure" by asking for the sellers name and taking a photo of him, I would have to buy the bike back. Of course the sellers name was made up; the officer recognized him but told me that it was pointless trying to pursue him. Apparantly the law is being changed, but I'm sure if my car was stolen they would have made an effort to do something if it ended up in a car lot. Their attitude was "it's only a bike, don't bother us".
By grassroots are the way forward (registered) | Posted June 23, 2009 at 10:28:56
Sounds like this officer has an anger management problem, never mind being a bully. Anyways, the police are some of the worst drivers on the road. Many times they fail to use signals, weave in and out of traffic, not in an emergency situation. At best one would think that they would be setting the example. So if they are doing this when driving a police car, you can probably bet that they drive this way when off duty.
Anyways I watched video sometime ago in the US it was, where a bike rider was riding late at night and was on the sidewalk. The cop car pulled up and told the rider to get off the sidewlk of which they did. I mean in the video there was no one around not even cars. Anyways after the rider came off the sidewalk, these officers pushed the envelope further. They pushed this rider off their bike and proceeded to arrest them. I did not see anything that this rider was doing that would warrant such violence.
Very sad what is going in our society these days.
By frank (registered) | Posted June 23, 2009 at 10:37:23
I think there's a bit of a problem arising in the police force in the past few years and it may be a result of a lack of mentoring or simply because there are a lot of new officers...
This weekend I was driving up the RHCE when 3 officers pulled onto the highway at Greenhill (all of them younger guys) with lights on, blocking all three lanes of traffic and proceeded up the highway at speeds between 20 and 30km/h. There was no accident, no one was speeding, they weren't in the process of pulling someone over they were just being a pain. Needless to say, as soon as the road got to 4 lanes, I passed them slowly, using my signals and continued on my merry way... As I did that, a driver behind me attempted to do the same only to have the officer jerk his car over the line into his lane.
I don't think the attitude is simply a problem with bikes... It's an overall issue and it needs to be addressed. I've also long suspected officers of using lights and sirens to run lights in order to get back to the station in time for lunch or end of shifts.
By frank (registered) | Posted June 23, 2009 at 10:37:59
My advice in your situation would simply have been to dial 911 and report it.
By highwater (registered) | Posted June 23, 2009 at 10:40:33
Too bad you didn't catch it on video. This cop lost his job:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUkiyBVytRQ
By highwater (registered) | Posted June 23, 2009 at 10:46:07
I think there's a bit of a problem arising in the police force in the past few years and it may be a result of a lack of mentoring or simply because there are a lot of new officers...
A google search of the officer in question shows that he was a west end beat cop in 2003, so he's not that new.
By hagnel (registered) | Posted June 23, 2009 at 11:55:13
I am shocked that officers of the law would behave like this. I hope you have filed a grievance but I wouldn't hold your breath for a resolution.
By highwater (registered) | Posted June 23, 2009 at 12:23:17
I remember writing about that at the time.
That's probably where I saw it then. Either that or Streetfilms. I couldn't remember.
By UrbanRenaissance (registered) | Posted June 23, 2009 at 13:17:42
That's awful, I hope you've also send your post to The Spec and CHCH news. Without media scrutiny I doubt we'll see much in terms of a resolution to this problem.
By reuben (registered) - website | Posted June 23, 2009 at 14:04:27
definitely send it to the spec. they may print it, or at least investigate it since there has been so much talk lately about biking and bike lanes in the city.
By grassroots are the way forward (registered) | Posted June 23, 2009 at 14:29:17
While it may be a good idea to send it to the spec, I doubt very seriouly anything will be done. If officers who have been sexually harrassed, bullied, by one of their own cannot get justice, where does that leave the public on issues of bullying and violence?
I'd send it in - what's the worst they'll do, not print it?
Thats disgraceful and a total abuse of power...I'd definitely send that into the Spec and the Hamilton Community News. We can't let things like this go unnoticed! Fight back!
By Michelle Martin (registered) - website | Posted June 24, 2009 at 00:44:07
Absolutely. I look forward to seeing the story in the spec-- complete with a nice colour photo of Jon in front of his bike, looking p.o.'d.
By Jonathan Dalton (registered) | Posted June 24, 2009 at 08:40:42
Likewise, it's easy to come on the internet and make baseless claims about police infalliability.
The harassment begain with an illegal and hostile act by the driver, before a single word was uttered.
By Frank (registered) | Posted June 24, 2009 at 10:25:59
Highwater:
I think there's a bit of a problem arising in the police force in the past few years and it may be a result of a lack of mentoring or simply because there are a lot of new officers...
A google search of the officer in question shows that he was a west end beat cop in 2003, so he's not that new.
The Google search of which officer? I didn't see any names... And you missed my second reason...
By JonC (registered) | Posted June 24, 2009 at 10:37:45
Truthseeker, the day you hear about a cop getting a ticket for failing to come to a full stop, or failing to signal a turn, let me know. To anyone that wonder's what I mean, pay attention to the next cop car you see, particularly at stop signs, and invariably they will break at least one of these laws at their next turn. It's a sense of entitlement.
Is Jon Dalton's story true? Maybe. I wasn't there, but based on some behaviour I've witnessed, it wouldn't blow my mind. Here's an example that millions of people have witnessed. If you watch CNN at all, the cop that pulled over the ambulance.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-1012508...
The short of the story is there were both on emergencies. The ambulance, carrying a passenger, passed a car, which prevented the cop from passing both of them for that two second interval. The officer then proceeded to pull over the ambulance and arrest the attendant, while passenger is screaming in the back. That's what a cop could do to an emergency worker, which is about as close to colleagues as cops get.
There have also been enough reports of police abusing cyclists for it to warrant being looked into, the big recent high profile one being... http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-1012508...
At a minimum, watch the video... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUkiyBVyt...
By highwater (registered) | Posted June 24, 2009 at 10:57:42
@Frank,
The name of the officer was revealed on another internet forum. Jon has chosen not to reveal it here and I respect his decision. I missed your second reason because I was not attempting to rebut it, I only have evidence that he is not a new officer.
By Michelle Martin (registered) - website | Posted June 24, 2009 at 16:11:53
On the topic of inappropriate responses by police and why they must be held accountable: this story made me sick to my stomach, just saw it now http://thespec.com/News/BreakingNews/art...
And I am not down on cops in general-- the vast majority do a thankless job honourably, and I'm grateful to them. But obviously the best cops aren't going to be afraid of scrutiny, and would be glad to see incidents like this fully investigated, at the very least in order to learn from the mistakes of others.
By grassroots are the way forward (registered) | Posted June 25, 2009 at 03:13:54
Michelle Martin: Yes I agree with you, there is something very wrong about this story. How do they justify shooting someone five times?
By smoosh (anonymous) | Posted June 25, 2009 at 09:20:39
The police behaviour does not surprise me (nor should it surprise anyone with a realistic sense of human behaviour - most cops are OK most of the time, but aggression can breed behind that uniform) - what is likely to happen is, it will get to court and be thrown out on a technicallity - meanwhile, the police have gotten away with damaging someones property, roughing them up by throwing their weight around. I hope this is pursued further by lodging a complaint with police services, though the likelihood of a positive outcome there is low (their word against yours).
Good luck!
By frank (registered) | Posted June 25, 2009 at 09:49:54
Michelle, Holy overkill! I had missed that story before. Interestingly enough in the middle of all that is this quote "Why coudln't they use a taser". I'd love to see something else. Forget tasers. Paintball markers with special rounds that are reusable or pepper spray bullets. If you've ever played paintball, you'll know that it can stop you in your tracks and it's far less damaging to a person.
By Michelle Martin (registered) - website | Posted June 25, 2009 at 10:12:19
Frank,yes-- overkill indeed. Didn't someone at least try to talk to his mother?
I wonder if even any of those suggestions of yours would have been necessary if the cops had had a little rudimentary training to deal with situations like this. Remember that people who work in social services, health care and even public education, in situations ranging from institutional settings to group homes to private homes to classrooms to hospitals manage all kinds of escalating behaviour from individuals who are sometimes a great deal larger than themselves and they do it without pepper spray, etc. (good grief-- they'd lose their jobs if they used something like that)
By nobrainer (registered) | Posted June 25, 2009 at 10:29:27
Meanwhile the RCMP is busy protecting the public from.....11 year old girls http://www.cbc.ca/canada/north/story/200...
By frank (registered) | Posted June 25, 2009 at 11:02:13
Sorry guys, I wasn't specifically referring to this situation. Obviously I feel that there are far more nonviolent ways to get your point across and they should have been utilized in this circumstance. A member in a police force needs to have people skills. If they don't, they simply shouldn't be an office of the law since it's the utilization of these skills that their profession so relies on.
I was actually thinking about the various cases where a taser was used where it may have been appropriate or at least seemed so at the time where the usage of said CEW caused a persons' death. Death by paintball is very rare.
By kfas (anonymous) | Posted June 25, 2009 at 14:56:52
A little concerned by the amount of police hate out there. These are courageous men and women doing a shitty job. Lets cut them some slack.
There are assholes out there in every walk of life.
By nobrainer (registered) | Posted June 25, 2009 at 15:02:26
"Let's cut them some slack." Yeah Jon Dalton is unreasonable to expect that a police officer shouldn't pass him dangerously in a van and then throw his bike on the ground, arrest him, cuff him, and give him a ticket for not having a horn when his bike has a perfectly legal bell. Oh, and giving him a ticket for public intoxication but not charging him with driving under the influence (which he would do if Jon was actually intoxicated).
Yeah let's cut the officer some slack, poor guy's got a tough job, no one appreciates his work keeping the street safe from law-abiding cyclists.
As for police hate on this forum look at the comment scores ^ the only comment that was unqualified negative ("Police suck") was downvoted, that tells me people here aren't anti-police but just don't like to see police abuses of power.
By grassroots are the way forward (registered) | Posted June 25, 2009 at 17:28:35
Yes I agree, where is all this hatred? Police are people and well some people are just nasty. There are bullies in all walks of live. What about our fine woman in blue, who never got justice eh?
By volterwd (anonymous) | Posted June 25, 2009 at 21:28:19
"hat bull crap...it is easy to come on the internet and spew any story. Did you go to the station and register a complaint at the time? If not, why not? Did you at least wait til you sobered up before going to the station? If not why not? I dare say, the police, even when they are told to "f...off.." or whatever you said, are used to this...they don't harass people just for the sake of it or charge people with intoxication unless they have some evidence"
Police do harass people randomly. Did you not even bother looking at the video presented by highwater?
There are thousands of videos of cops being douches abusing their power. yes we don't know what happened, and we should be cautious in accepting his story as fact but your in complete denial.
By adam2 (anonymous) | Posted June 26, 2009 at 00:24:11
As a cyclist, Jon's story and courage has a huge effect on me. This is not the kind of world I want to live in. I'll cycle just as much, or possibly even more. We have a right to choose our form of transportation. For every additional cyclist on the road it makes things that much safer for other cyclists. I am sure the police involved are not used to seeing bikes at 2am, but that doesn't excuse their behaviour. They need to get used to it and they better brush up on what they know about the law and cyclists.
The police are public servants with a job to do. I pay taxes and expect the police to perform their duties in a civil manner. If other police read this and feel we are painting them all with the same brush, then they should realize that the actions of this officer taint them and their profession as a whole.
By mikeonthemountain (registered) | Posted June 26, 2009 at 12:24:22
It took me a couple days to get back here and comment but likewise as a full time commuter cyclist and simply as a fellow human I am saddened to hear any such incident occurred.
In the united states this type of story is an almost daily occurrence. The police are increasingly beating and killing whomever they wish. In most areas of Canada we still enjoy a much higher social safety standard by comparison, even if imperfect. Myself, I have found every conversation with a Hamilton police officer professional, sensible, and down to earth. My sincerest wishes are that this be the case for everyone. Law enforcement necessarily needs to be held to a very high standard due to their police powers.
It seems like the incident started with road rage. That it was a police officer is secondary - it allowed a physical response that any other road raging driver would never dare as they would be arrested.
But at the core it is road rage plain and simple. I can see it getting worse before it gets better. The cycling plan is a timid little bit of lip service only and forget about ever turning into Portland or Montreal.
So as people continue to lose their minds ... most important in my opinion is do not respond to road rage. It escalates the situation.
Some neanderthal tries to kill you then yells at you and flips you the bird because you selfishly dare to occupy 20cm of asphalt so you can bike to work ... it is going to happen occasionally. I know it sucks ... I have experienced it ... it is difficult to diffuse your anger without reacting.
But they just want you to be as upset and miserable as they are. They'll SHOW YOU!! In my experience so far, not responding AT ALL works the best. Don't even skip a beat with your pedaling. They won't run you over, they don't want their insurance to go up. They can do nothing but change lanes, flip you the bird, then go home and have the stroke or heart attack that they are setting themselves up for with all their anger.
Try to see the good people. Wave thank you when someone lets you in. Wave hello to a kind person. They are WAY MORE of them. These are your neighbors who at minimum do care about something, can behave themselves, and have basic emotional intelligence.
Cheers and stay safe and relaxed!
By kfas (anonymous) | Posted June 26, 2009 at 16:37:48
No one likes to see abuse of power, but I have yet to see one video link posted of a cop going out of his/her way to do good.
Is that because it doesn't happen?
A lot of you are using a wide brush here.
And for the record, I come across a bunch of asshole cyclists too. I'll try to catch some of them in action.
By arathbone (anonymous) | Posted June 26, 2009 at 17:07:32
I agree with the other poster who called it road rage. I don't think the police are significantly different than other individuals, and will act in similar ways.
Just a note though. With the huge volumes of laws, its no surprise the officer didn't realize that the bell was not acceptable under the Highway Traffic Act.
By JonC (registered) | Posted June 26, 2009 at 21:51:15
"I have yet to see one video link posted of a cop going out of his/her way to do good."
That's because I expect cops to do good deeds. They're cops. As was already pointed out, the commenter that stated 'police suck' was down voted. Jon's story is about an abuse of power and so other incidents of abuse are being discussed. I don't see very many wide brushes being used to define police officers, but feel free to point out the specific comments instead of using a wide brush to label all posters as cop haters (see what I did there).
By notacop (anonymous) | Posted June 26, 2009 at 22:08:45
Dicks are everywhere, and some happen to wear uniforms. Some also ride bikes.
alsopassingintheoncominglaneisntillegal
By volterwd (anonymous) | Posted June 27, 2009 at 11:21:24
"Dicks are everywhere, and some happen to wear uniforms. Some also ride bikes"
Generally speaking a bike rider can't lock me up or destroy my life with a few lies.
By BillyB (anonymous) | Posted June 28, 2009 at 15:12:04
It seems like the theme here is that in virtually ALL cases, we need to slow down and ask for the details before jumping to conclusion, and there is never really a need to hurt each other - physically or with words, no matter what job we do, transportation we use, or games we play.
I think we really need to get the people back on the streets for this city to thrive, and it is going to take some work to change the current mind-set. I linked to this post while looking for somewhere to help out in the city. It seems I've found a good cause and may meet a few of you nice people along the way. This could be fun.
BB.
PS: Frank - when the police drive three cruisers at low speed across all lanes of the highway, they are usually making a temporary road closure for an ambulance to get through. In this particular case, there were two small children missing since 6am, cold, wet, and in the tall grass just a few km up the road - luckily found alive. These officers were looking for the missing children. Wouldn't it be ironic if you died one day because someone was irritated that their shopping was delayed because an ambulance was "in their way". As one who has made the trip on a stretcher from the east end to St Jo's, I can verify there were plenty of honks and jeers from a few (but ONLY a few) drivers. Please remember that breaking the law as you did is still breaking the law - like the officer(s) breaking the law with their abuse of Jon Dalton and his cycle.
By Michelle Martin (registered) - website | Posted June 28, 2009 at 23:44:01
Billy B-- nice synthesis.
By frank (registered) | Posted June 30, 2009 at 15:50:07
BillyB in no way did I break the law. The 3 police cruisers were in the left 3 lanes of traffic and I simply moved into the 4th lane of traffic after signalling and passed said cruisers at a low rate of speed. Nowhere do I find in the HTA that I have to stay behind a police cruiser when there's an available lane.
If what you're saying is actually the case, then I might suggest a far more appropriate and efficient way to find a child or children at 8 am on a Saturday morning. Park the cruiser on the side of the road and get out to look! 3 police officers can easily cover the area of grass on the shoulder from greenhill to the 4 lane section in a far more thorough manner than driving in the left 3 lanes! Which brings up my second point: why they were blocking the left 3 lanes of traffic (i.e. the side where the 3 foot high barrier wall is) in the four lane section of the highway rather than say the shoulder and the first two travelled lanes? And finally why did I at no point see any of the officers looking over at the grass? In fact, the officer in the cruiser I passed didn't even see me until I was beside him!
Sorry that you had to ride in an ambulance - my brother drives one. I know there are some people who feel that they shouldn't move over or they just freeze instead of moving over. Let me assure you that I'm not one of them. Many times I've been driving down the road and pulled over for an emergency vehicle travelling the opposite direction while those around me continue on their way.
By BillyB (anonymous) | Posted June 30, 2009 at 21:57:26
Thanks Frank - You're right. I read your post that the police were traveling "with lights on" and with a quick check of the Highway Traffic Act and some case law I now see the section I was thinking of applies only when following fire and ambulance vehicles. Luckily we worked out the facts with a few words instead of pummeling each other :-) I wish that would happen more often.
Let's all have a safe and fun Canada Day.
BB.
PS: thanks for people like your brother than can handle the gruesome stuff.
By Undustrial (registered) - website | Posted July 01, 2009 at 16:44:56
When it comes to issues of aggression, cops are not "just like regular people" in several important respects:
a) They are armed b) They are capable of making your life VERY difficult, and their word carries more weight in a court of law regardless of what actually happened c) They very rarely recieve much in the way of punishment for offenses - witness Kevin Dhinsa, the guys who arrested Michael Dixon or the guy who shot Dudley George. Suspension with pay? That's what most of us working people can call paid vacation. d) Policing tends to both breed agressive, dominant behavior and attract people with those sorts of tendencies. Not all cops are like this, but any analysis of policing issues will show that this is a very serious problem, and has been for years. e) Police answer to a higher authority, and it isn't you. Even if both you and the officer can plainly see that no harm was done (eg: smoking a joint, or riding a bike without a horn), they are still required to enforce the law (which they may, or may not). f) Nobody forced them to become cops. And in terms of dangerous jobs, it's still far safer than fishing, logging, construction, farming, flying, trucking or steelworking.
Police need to be held to a higher standard of behavior than ordinary people, not the other way 'round. Maybe if they spent a little more time learning to de-escalate confrontations and a little less time practicing with tasers, we'd see less cases of police brutality.
By Chris A (anonymous) | Posted July 02, 2009 at 16:00:01
To the person who posted asking for police to be "cut some slack". No way, no more, no how a public willing to put up with over the top behaviour and police who close ranks around each other have led to abuses like the rcmp clowns who tasered Robert Dziekanski. That is what cutting slack for thugs in uniform does. The public shoulkd have had its fill long ago of cops investigating cops trading off favours to keep each others dirty laundry hidden. The two nazis who were involved in this incident should be releived of their jobs and face assault charges. Jon, these goons really need to have their names published as a public service. Public service is something that these gutless turds will never understand as it obviously plays no part in their current thinking. That is if you can call what these two prats do with their heads thought. I would also suggest you dispute these two unjustified tickets and please announce your court date. I would really enjoy meeting and greeting these two. Perhaps a few dozen like minded souls might convince these clowns that a change in public attitude is taking place. I highly recommend you go into court with a number of people as the courts are prone to be self serving and will likely try to railroad you if they think you can be intimidated or sweep it under the rug if you stand firm. No cop who is doing their job needs to be cut any slack. Any second rate officers who have a problem with that can do us all a favour and quit. Cops get paid more than enough to attract the right kind of public service minded people to the job.
By artistinhpvs (registered) - website | Posted July 02, 2009 at 19:14:03
Jon, unreal!
I will never have problem with police but actually i do. reporting a crime. I used to be hassled cycling my hpv's but I earned my respect.
Here's my old story. OPP stopped my riding up #6 one Sunday yrs ago. I was in an enclosed trike self built (heavy sucker) but I was doing like 12kph. Police pulled me over I was riding too slow. This was a blasted Sunday morning. He tried to arrest me I resisted arrest. Big cop but I was fitter. He got pissed off and burned rubber.
I was working sundays at Circle M flee market back then.
After work I cycled to Burlington OPP & complained.
Ever since then I got respect.
Another time I rode similar recumbent night shift baker at Tim's on Bronte Rd. Winter night I was pulled over I forgot why. I had front/rear lights but this cop halton police insisted (?) I think ride on sidewalk(?) I almost got arrested but I stood up to my rights and I insisted I must leave and not be late for work.
so I said to this officer "call another officer" that I have right on road. And I can't ride on sidewalk anyways snow and ice.
turn of events when 2nd officer showed. He knew me (way more known now) and was a good chat. the other officer was sooo pissed off he left and drove away.
I will never forget look on that officer's face.
I did have run in again but at Tim's. He didn't recognize me until I brought it up. He said "YOU!"
Jon, U ride a different bike so do I and i don't give a damned what any1 thinks. Long's we obey rules & stand up to ourselves!
Oh! were U on last CM? I was late but same Fri that bad accident on York Blvd. I rode out around 6:15 to Hess hopefully to meet U guys tell the story. How ironic cyclist and 3 others killed just before 6.
I contacted Brian about this and replied he'll suggest improvements for cyclists safety.
I might consider joining the cycling committee as I know what should be pretty well inside & out. too bad a freekin budget is more important than safety.
BTW, were these really police officers? Did they show their ID?
Jon, when did this happen?
Richard
By Mr. Meister (anonymous) | Posted July 05, 2009 at 01:45:06
I would love to hear their version of the story!
By hamtown (anonymous) | Posted July 23, 2009 at 09:26:39
My theory is that police officers often target cyclists that look like they have the money to pay the ticket. i've noticed cops passing by even the most cracked out cyclists who are riding the wrong way on king st.
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