CPD culture and its hostility toward cyclists - and one suggestion to protect cyclists in light of this

I don't think I'm going out on a limb when I say that the CPD typically errs on the side of motor vehicle drivers vs bikers, in carrying out the law.

But I think it's worth noting that this isn't so much an attitude of indifference for cyclists so much as contempt for cyclists.

Here's some quotes from the comments section as well as the authors of second city cop blog, an unofficial CPD blog:

"not one cent of taxes paid by these slugs. More of the gimee-gimee crowd. Gimee protected bike lines, gimee protection while I'm riding all paid on the back of the motorist and motor fuel taxes. I'm ready to start playing bumper tag with some of these nitwits and how they ride their bikes."

"I still don't get this Divvy thing. The people who are using it are mostly people who would have walked anyway. Isn't it more carbon-friendly to walk rather than cause a bike to be manufactured? Others might have taken a cab, or the CTA, or a car, those are all money-makers for the city... Anyway, I'll continue to drive my 454 Suburban and pretend that we're still a first-world nation."

https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=13350456&postID=346239...

"But we do know that Rahm wants justification for taking out another hundred plus miles of serviceable vehicle lanes for bikes lanes that can only be used 6 months out of the year."

"Someone with "a lot of close calls" is either a (A) shit magnet or (B) a problem biker. Knowing bicyclists as we do, we're going to guess B."

http://secondcitycop.blogspot.com/search?q=Biking&m=1

"Any bicyclist suing the city for the condition of the streets should get a percentage of their lawsuit based on that which they pay into the system. That would be ZERO%. They pay NOTHING in gasoline/license/permits/taxes. They are a law-ignoring nuisance who should collect based on what they pay! Sorry for your loss, but it's a gain to the motoring majority."

https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=13350456&postID=275409...

[Regarding a hit and run]
"If that happened, it's horrible..........unless it was the jackasses from Critical Mass. Then I hope the driver was behind the wheel of a truck."

"Start writing the bikes traffic tickets for every violation.Have the bike units in every district concentrate on the bike routs at stop signs and other areas as the Rahmccycles have no regard for traffic laws. Remember its for the children"

https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=13350456&postID=178193...

"He can have his bike lanes but let's charge the people using those lanes and defer the costs to them. If you ride in those lanes you need a "bike city sticker" - 75 buck a year. If you get caught riding in lane without one - 75 dollar ticket. See - I just found s way to pay for it."

http://secondcitycop.blogspot.com/2011/09/rahms-bike-insanity.html?m=1

"First off, the "bike lanes" in most of this city are for shit!!! Secondly, come down to 001 or 018 and take a look at the number of Divvy bikes being ridden by the fine, upstanding youth of our "fair city." The harass citizens, commit crimes on them and are a general menace to society. Third, we all know Rahm has his 9 1/2 fingers all up in this shit and he's getting a cut. Fourth, the non-criminal element that rides these hideous monstrositys, have no clue about bike rules. They too, are menaces to the citizens. Just get rid of the damn things!"

"Make every bike owner 12 and older require a city sticker tag. Have bike traffic units start citing these crazy cyclists who think traffic signals, and general traffic rules of the road don't apply to them."

https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=13350456&postID=891010...

...

Now I will say that there were also some pro biking comments, but nothing going so far as positing that police should actually enforce laws that protect cyclists, more along the lines of "hey chill out biking isn't so bad", or "I bike, but only recreationally and on trails in the suburbs, and people are crazy to bike in the city". Whereas the posts that seemed to take delight in cyclists being run over, or posts suggesting stricter enforcement against cyclists, taxing cyclists, demeaning cyclists etc were not shouted down and there was and is this tacit acceptance of hostility to cyclists.

I mean, anyone can post comments on that blog, and we don't know for a fact that these are CPD people posting, but does it seem like that big of a stretch given what we've seen (just looking at Argonne's many posts detailing cars not ticketed, parked in bike lanes and his follow up 311 reports that seem to fall on deaf ears)?

I realize that all police are not a monolith, but they are quite a bit more monolithic than other industries and professions where there's more tolerance to having a diversity of opinion. They are very insular and do make an obvious effort to back eachother and have some uniformity of approaches and political opinions, thus the blue line and blue wall and all that.

This hostility towards cyclists from the CPD is systemic and it's part of their culture.

So what do we do about it?

Here's my two cents: the CPD has proven time and again that it is not up to the task of enforcing laws against parking in bike lanes, and writing tickets against drivers who door cyclists. I think laws should be passed that give the power to issue tickets protecting cyclists to other agencies that currently already have mechanisms in place to write tickets and prosecute and adjudicate those tickets.

Make it so that dooring or parking in bike lanes is a public health violation (a rebuttable presumption of liability with a due process right to contest it), or an environmental violation (for example), and let the agencies that already enforce certain laws under their ordinance now have the power to issue these additional tickets and (if they win) collect the fine money to be applied towards their general funds.

This will also incentivize private attorneys to take on cases where there's now been a civil finding of liability (in dooring cases) so the injured party only has to prove damages and not liability.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Argonne69 on September 19, 2017 at 10:50am

"not one cent of taxes paid by these slugs. More of the gimee-gimee crowd. Gimee protected bike lines, gimee protection while I'm riding all paid on the back of the motorist and motor fuel taxes. I'm ready to start playing bumper tag with some of these nitwits and how they ride their bikes."

Really? Not one cent, huh? Anyone who thinks the gas tax and vehicle sticker pays for the roads is smoking crack, or has a single digit IQ. The vast majority of road money comes from property taxes I'm sure. Hey, guess what? I pay quite a bit each year to the city in property taxes. There's also the head tax my employer pays. Oh, and don't forget the sales tax.

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Permalink Reply by Maurice on September 21, 2017 at 6:10am

I'd love to compare tax bills with people advocating a bike tax. I don't own a car, yet I pay well over $10K / year in taxes to the city.

Or we can just start charging drivers the REAL cost of their infrastructure. That'll reduce the number of drivers really quickly and free up an awful lot of general tax dollars for other uses.

These are the same people who complain that Amtrak doesn't turn a profit.

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Permalink Reply by Brian S on September 19, 2017 at 11:36am

If we really care about changing this, the most effective way (in the current environment) is to go to CAPS. That's not a quick fix, it's not easy. But it would certainly get a chance to hear what the police think about the problem, and in my experience, issues raised at CAPS meetings are looked into.

So I realize that someone might live in Lincoln Square and be really frustrated with the quality of the bike lanes on Wells St. Unless you have a lot of free time, it's hard to get to a meeting down there, but that's how CPD would like it to work. Look up the police precinct, and go to the meeting.

Failing that, many district police offices are staffed with a CAPS officer that you can call or write to if you have a concern.

I attended CAPS in my district (17th) for a number of years and found when I complained about parking issues, people driving too fast, etc. they would report what happened at the next meeting.

So while the comments are disappointing, internet comments are... the internet. (DNA Info's comment section is evidence of this.) If we want to ask the police to do something, call 911, go to CAPS. Multiple times. Because seeing citizens in the face complaining tends to help.

And let's be honest... the real problem isn't the enforcement of the law. It's that it's broken in the first place. That's where I hope we can fix this -- education and better street design.

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Permalink Reply by V W on September 20, 2017 at 4:48am

I appreciate the suggestion. I did some reading on CAPS and it sounds like the program is a shell of itself, with its budget getting smaller over the years and the program becoming more decentralized and disorganized. Which isn't very reassuring. Also, I don't know how well received it would be to say "the problem is you and your attitude towards cyclists." Also, a biker who lives in one district may have issues in multiple other districts, would issues raised in his local district concerning other districts be appropriate to even raise? I know that all sounds super pessimistic but I think it should he understandible that we cyclists are frustrated and reticent to trust that the CPD can be responsive to issues that are so deeply rooted. But yes I would be interested in seeing how that would play out if bike advocates show up at these meetings and front some of these issues.

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Permalink Reply by David Henri on September 20, 2017 at 2:38am

I've noticed that most of the links you provided are comments from 2011 and 2014. I didn't see anything relatively new. It also appears that there are a few very angry (and illiterate) people commenting on that blog. I would pay it no attention.

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Permalink Reply by V W on September 20, 2017 at 4:42am

Do we have any reason to believe police culture has changed that much since then? Also here are some quotes from 9/17/17, 3 days ago:

"Divvy Bikes. Great Idea on paper.

So is Communism."

"This bike bullshit is symptomatic of idealistic capitalists
with extreme leftist socialist leanings. "

"First off, the "bike lanes" in most of this city are for shit!!! Secondly, come down to 001 or 018 and take a look at the number of Divvy bikes being ridden by the fine, upstanding youth of our "fair city." The harass citizens, commit crimes on them and are a general menace to society. Third, we all know Rahm has his 9 1/2 fingers all up in this shit and he's getting a cut. Fourth, the non-criminal element that rides these hideous monstrositys, have no clue about bike rules. They too, are menaces to the citizens. Just get rid of the damn things!"

"Divvy bikes and bike lanes is a waste of money that should be going to pensions!"

"Make every bike owner 12 and older require a city sticker tag. Have bike traffic units start citing these crazy cyclists who think traffic signals, and general traffic rules of the road don't apply to them."

"Rahm loves spending taxpayer money for bike paths, illegals and thugs.
Anyone, naive enough to ride bikes considering the vast robberies and assaults is out of their minds."

https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=13350456&postID=891010...

I still see cars parked in bike lanes literally every day, parked with no consequence. We all see them in the What's this doing in the bike lane thread. So I think we shouldn't ignore the fact that this might be more than just indifference towards cyclists on the part of the CPD.

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Permalink Reply by Jeremy on September 20, 2017 at 5:55am

"Divvy bikes and bike lanes is a waste of money that should be going to pensions!"

That one is funny. Ed Burke and Mike Madigan both are partners at law firms that get property tax reductions for clients. People like JB Pritzker (I don't know if he used one of those firms), who disconnected the toilets in a house he owns in order to claim the property was uninhabitable. That got him a property tax decrease; money that could have gone to the pension funds.

Ed Burke was a police officer. Now he helps the wealthy (like Trump International Hotel) avoid paying taxes into the police pension funds. I would love to hear the FOP line on that.