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One Way to Take Care of Business
A report last year from LAPD Chief of Police William Bratton signaled the end of enforcing bicycle licenses, a law that was so little known within the department, you couldn't obtain one at most police stations like you were supposed to. City Council then approved the matter in January.
Fast forward to last Saturday night when two bicyclists were detained in handcuffs, one of them for not having a bicycle license when pulled over during a large group ride in Hollywood. One cyclist was in cuffs being cited for not having a bicycle license and an out of date address on his drivers license when blogger Alex Thompson began taking photos. Then Thompson was detained, cuffed and cited for allegedly crossing the street against the red flashing hand.
"Handcuffing someone for not having a bike license? For crossing the street against a flashing red hand? What country am I living in?" questioned Damien Newton at LA Streetsblog.
The LAPD is allowed to handcuff detainees in two situations. One is on when officers are responding to a call with weapons. The other is at an officer's discretion, based on how cooperative a person is or if they think the situation could turn violent. "Everything is done is to keep it from escalating to the next level," explained Officer Sam Park, noting that handcuffs can be used in any situation including minor ones like traffic stops and jaywalking. "You never really know who you're dealing with on the street."
Additionally, if no actual arrest is made, no record of a detainee being handcuffed is made either.
As for the citations written Saturday night, Thompson and the other cyclist plan on fighting it in court. And no matter the outcome, this issue will come back to City Council, who scratched the bicycle license law from the books. To that, Newton huffs, "is the City Council just an advisory group these days?
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Seems more than a little heavy-handed. As a cyclist, I've been really happy with the few dealings I've had with LAPD. It only takes a few bad apples to spoil the bunch, though.
By not recording the cuffing of a detainee who was later released, the police and government have no way of knowing which officers might be abusing this power. Cuffing can be VERY intimidating to someone questioning an officer's actions or authority. I wonder if some officers abuse their ability to cuff uncooperative people.
I've only once seen a cyclist before, during and after he was detained in cuffs, then his bag searched, during a bicycle ride. Officers picked him out of the crowd for blocking an intersection, a method called corking to allow a group to continue to ride through a light, red or green, while blocking cross traffic.
I also came upon a cyclists in hand cuffs in Sherman Oaks for not having a light at night. He was cited and released.
The big concern here is that 90% of the time, I hear about minor bicycling infractions and handcuffs being used in the same incident.
Maybe I'm crazy here, but it's my understanding that the police can't search your vehicle without your permission, unless they have probable cause or can see illegal activity within the vehicle. So how is it that police can handcuff and search a rider's bag without permission? If the bag is sealed, how is that any different than searching the closed trunk of a car?
ITA db. Also if they are not required to record when or how often an officer cuffs a suspect who is not arrested, they have no record of whether an officer might be abusing that power.
BTW tonight on pbs channel 58, KLCS, at 8:00pm, e2, will air a half hour episode about Paris France's Velib program which is a city wide bicycle sharing system.
Something we could learn from here in L.A.
Yeah, maybe the cop was abusing his power (which sometimes happens), but these stories never include the possible flip side, which is that the bicyclist might have been unruly, or simply stated, an asshole (which seems to happen a lot).
@andytseng
It seems you are aware of the possibility that the cyclist was an asshole. I didn't notice any provisions for cuffing assholes in the cuffing policy - did I miss something?
I assure you, the young man who received the bogus ticket for no bike license was cordial and non-threatening to a fault. I watched him pulled off his bike without warning, and immediately cuffed.
I am, on the other hand, quite the back talker when I'm being cuffed for nonsense. I wasn't given the chance to talk back before being cuffed - they slapped those on instantly. But you can be sure I gave them 15 minutes of my opinions while they wrote me a ticket.
And why shouldn't I? They said they were ticketing me for crossing when the red hand was flashing. When I actually looked at the ticket this morning I saw that I was cited for violating 21453 (a) :
"21453. (a) A driver facing a steady circular red signal alone shall stop at a marked limit line, but if none, before entering the crosswalk on the near side of the intersection or, if none, then before entering the intersection, and shall remain stopped until an indication to proceed is shown, except as provided in subdivision (b)."
This law only pertains to people operating a vehicle as defined by the California Vehicle Code. In other words it applies to drivers and cyclists.
I WAS WALKING WITHOUT A BIKE.
Good job Officer Winter.
In the name of fair and balanced reporting, why don't you mention the theft, vandalism, underage drinking, and rampant traffic violations that occurred during the bicycle ride in question?
This would be a good place to start your investigation.
http://midnightridazz.com/forums.php?topicId=8382&pgnum=1
In the name of not condemning someone based on guilt by association, conjecture or rumor, why didn't those fine LAPD officers cite these specific gentlemen with the applicable charges for "theft, vandalism, underage drinking and rampant traffic violations?"
The answer is obvious, Armin.
Maybe because they had easier pickins with Mr. Thompson who by the sounds of things was spouting off in front of them.
I gotta say I love how far Midnight Ridazz has devolved over the last few years. So glad I stopped attending back in '05. Maybe you could organize a ride to Pan Pacific Park to remove the tags that were left behind?
I assure you that "easier pickins" is NOT in the California Penal Code or the Cal. Vehicle Code. Neither is "spouting off." If they observed these guys doing any of the heinous things you allude to above, they would have cited them for it. But they didn't, did they?
Rather than nabbing the people committing the crimes you mentioned...they wasted YOUR tax dollars and mine on questionable charges that will surely be contested.
But hey...if you want to hate on Midnight Ridazz and talk about how cool it used to be and, as a result, how cool you are for distancing yourself from that scene...be my guest. You've made up your mind and have your opinion. Opinions, which we all know, are like butt holes...everyone has one.
However, the point of this particular blog is that LAPD obviously didn't get Bratton's memo about the suspension of the bike license law and someone who was cuffed for jaywalking and possibly taking pictures of police arresting someone else.
I think we'd agree that our tax dollars would be better spent on catching real criminals.
Message from Glenn Bailey, chair of the City of Los Angeles Bicycle Advisory Committee:
As soon as I learned what happened to these bicyclists I contacted the LAPD Wilshire Area Captain, Eric Davis. We had a productive telephone conversation and he subsequently sent the email message below and gave me permission to share it with bicyclists.
Email from Captain Eric Davis:
Thanks for the feedback on this matter. With regards to the citations
for no Bike License, the "No License" section has been canceled. And, in the spirit of the law the entire citation for the those two violators will be canceled.
The policy for the moratorium on bike licenses has been discussed with
my command. This is a lesson learned, your cooperation and understanding on this matter is appreciated.
Hopefully, this event can be viewed as the start of constructive
dialogue on the rights of bicyclist and the community. Wilshire Area's
main objective is to ensure and enhance public safety for everyone.
Thanks,
Eric
ERIC T. DAVIS, Captain
Commanding Officer
Wilshire Area
Mr. Bailey, the problem here is not so much the use of incorrect or out of date laws but the use of bad policing techniques.
The policemen in question doubtless knew that this particular bicycle ride had a reputation for disorderly behaviour and wanted to do something about that, but what they did was pick on one cyclist from the bunch who was not displaying any disorderly behaviour at the time and harassed him and charged him with a minor offense.
What this achieves is making the riders pissed off at policemen in general, the rider in question extremely pissed off and the disorderly behaviour more likely to occur. I wouldn't be surprised if graffiti found after that night had vitriolic messages specifically directed at the police force.
What the police should do is to observe the behaviour they wish to prevent in action, arrest the perpetrators and charge them with the crime they committed. The should not pick a random person from a group they suspect might commit a crime and charge him with whatever they think might stick.
It might be a smart idea to send some of the city's bike-mounted police along on this ride. This would give them several opportunities to improve the state of the ride such as chatting with participants during the ride to improve police-community relationships, being present to deter anti-social behaviour, showing a police presence to members of the public and being present to make sure that the bike ride goes smoothly.
It seems that both groups need to change their attitudes. If you work on the police, the police can then work on the riders.