'Biking while black': Chicago minority areas see the most bike tickets

Okay as the article points out there are lots of potential explanations for this but not a single North side area listed in the top ticked areas?

As Chicago police ramp up their ticketing of bicyclists, more than twice as many citations are being written in African-American communities than in white or Latino areas, a Tribune review of police statistics has found.

The top 10 community areas for bike tickets from 2008 to Sept. 22, 2016, include seven that are majority African-American and three that are majority Latino. From the areas with the most tickets written to the least, they are Austin, North Lawndale, Humboldt Park, South Lawndale, Chicago Lawn, West Englewood, Roseland, West Garfield Park, New City and South Chicago.

Not a single majority-white area ranked in the top 10, despite biking's popularity in white areas such as West Town and Lincoln Park."

Read full article at the Tribune site...

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Carter O'Brien on March 23, 2017 at 2:05am
No argument from me that the intent here is not safety, and I'd be 100% on board with more enforcement downtown, but we all know the color issue on Michigan Ave is green, as in, that's what the tourists bring.

I would just offer that riding on the sidewalk is not a long term, viable alternative to biking in the street. People shouldn't feel so threatened by traffic that is what they resort to.
Permalink Reply by Josh L. on March 22, 2017 at 3:03pm

The issue with Sheridan around Hollywood is that Sheridan is just too narrow for bikes and the traffic is too great given the volume of cars headed down to the LSD.  This is the reality because of those God awful building they allowed to build on the lakefront there in the 60's-70's.  

I know it's a slight inconvenience but just head a few blocks West and take Winthrop which is one way going South.

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on March 23, 2017 at 3:15am

I lived on that section of Sheridan years ago and experienced firsthand how much of a threat bikes on the sidewalk can be to seniors. And there are a LOT of seniors living there. An injury due to a fall can be life altering or life threatening for them.

It's not that big an inconvenience to use Winthrop or Kenmore. If you're going a short distance on Sheridan, walking the bike isn't the end of the world.

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on March 23, 2017 at 6:19am

Well said, as usual.

Permalink Reply by Yasmeen on March 23, 2017 at 3:11am

Streetsblog Chicago, "The CPD’s “Biking While Black” Enforcement Practices Have Got to Stop"

http://chi.streetsblog.org/2017/03/21/why-the-cpds-biking-while-bla...

Permalink Reply by curt(is) locke on March 23, 2017 at 5:48am

Gambling in Casablanca -- I'm shocked! Shocked!!

Pardon the cynicism, but if you don't really understand this as yet another case of endless examples of institutional racism, I suggest you enroll in my son's 9th grade Human Geo class at Kenwood. They know what time it is.

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on March 23, 2017 at 7:37am

Angela - I'm not justifying the "drug dealers moving product" excuse. I was stating what I hear about police tactics. I NEVER said that it was okay. 

I don't condone it.

The war on drugs and racist tactics associated with it need to end now.

Permalink Reply by Carter O'Brien on March 23, 2017 at 7:51am

The fella who suggested this whole probable cause thing was legitimate seems to have deleted his comment.

Institutionalized racism certainly goes deeper than just the war on drugs, addressing that problem would just seem to offer immediate relief on multiple fronts.

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on March 23, 2017 at 7:54am

The CPD officer who shared that perspective about drug dealing and probable cause did so because he wants people to know how wrong and racist this is. 

Permalink Reply by Carter O'Brien on March 23, 2017 at 9:29am

That's great ( I was referring to a poster here, unless the site is being wonky/I'm an idiot & just can't see it). There are cops out there who fully understand how terrible the system is & want to change it, these guys have been active for a long time:

https://lawenforcementactionpartnership.org/

In 2002, five police officers founded Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit composed of police and other criminal justice professionals dedicated to educating the public about the harms of drug prohibition. In January 2017, while reaffirming our commitment to ending the War on Drugs, LEAP became the Law Enforcement Action Partnership in order to advocate for solutions across a broader range of drug policy and criminal justice issues.

Permalink Reply by Josh L. on March 24, 2017 at 1:17am

Right. In my posts I'm just trying to give some context around "probable cause."  They don't have probable cause to assume somebody is a drug dealer because they are biking on the sidewalk.  It is harassment.

Permalink Reply by Chitown_Mike on March 29, 2017 at 4:06am
I don't see where anyone made the connection between the 2. A PC for a stop can lead to more PC or even reasonable suspicion to further a stop, up to and including protective patdowns for weapons (as the law reads).

Stop and frisk aren't any of that. They are wrong and unconsitutional regardless of the officer had PC to stop someone who was riding on a sidewalk. I think you are drawing a conclusion that hasn't been stated or I missed. Even if an officer stops someone, where ever, for riding on the sidewalk but cannot produce, in Chicago's case with the report officers need to fill out, "reasonable articulable suspicion" for a patdown ONLY for weapons, anything they find without that line of reasoning is null and void as fruits of a poisonous tree. Plain feel doctrine for narcotics means nothing if they can't articulate why they felt someone was armed.

Its all very interesting to read and it's out there to read.

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