Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on August 1, 2012 at 10:26am

Aniika,

I feel for you, having had cops harass me in the past many times.   Perhaps you can contact one of the many pro-cycling lawyers who advertise here on The Chainlink and see what they can do for you.

Also take up Charlie Short's invitation to discuss this as well.  While he might not be able to fully fix the core problem he can probably help make this particular issue go away for YOU personally so this individual cop never bothers you again. 

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Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on August 1, 2012 at 10:46am

+1

h' said:

Anika has clearly provided what she chose to provide publicly. There is absolutely no need to know the details in order to provide the advice she requested (Nice work Cam).

Can't folks get their titilation elsewhere?

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Permalink Reply by David Barish on August 1, 2012 at 10:57am

I agree. However, Anika chose to post.  I really cannot react to her post  until I know what happened.  If it were me, it might remain private as well. I read the headline but I have long learned to  temper reactions to headlines and wait for the story to unfold before my head and heart become engaged.

James BlackHeron said:

+1

h' said:

Anika has clearly provided what she chose to provide publicly. There is absolutely no need to know the details in order to provide the advice she requested (Nice work Cam).

Can't folks get their titilation elsewhere?

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Permalink Reply by spencewine on August 1, 2012 at 11:05am

Um....she put "Threaten" in her title. And regardless if it's threaten to kill bikers with a car or write a ticket, or anything...it's uncalled for. But I can't imagine she would file a complaint simple because an officer was going to write her a ticket....doesn't make much sense when you would just appeal it.

Clint H said:

That's all well and good, but the conversation continued beyond the advice, with people who are not Anika describing certain things as threats that, with the information we have, we don't know are threats. I'm new here, I know, but my impression was that this was a discussion board. As in, a board where things are discussed.
 
h' said:

Anika has clearly provided what she chose to provide publicly. There is absolutely no need to know the details in order to provide the advice she requested (Nice work Cam).

Can't folks get their titilation elsewhere?

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Permalink Reply by spencewine on August 1, 2012 at 11:09am

Just trying to push the "Raise the Flag" threads out of the front page. I don't think it'll ever happen though.

h' said:

????
Anika asked:

 I need to know what my future course of action can be and if there is a way to file a report against this officer. I do have his name, car number, time of incident and details.

Others had no problem providing informative answers. Normally an OP would come back at this point and say "thanks", or one would assume the OP is busy at work and will do so when able,  and the thread would slowly sink, but I guess we're running an entertainment deficit here.

A pinch of Dug, a dash of Gabe and maybe a sprinkling of O would be useful at this point.

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Permalink Reply by blair on August 1, 2012 at 11:13am

Just my own two cents re: filming police...

Some judges in Chicago will allow video of on-duty police officers if the audio has been removed.  I was part of a trial that was thrown out (police attacked someone at the tail end of June 2010 Critical Mass).  Bunch of bogus charges were dropped because of independent witnesses and several videos.

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Permalink Reply by Leah Jone on August 1, 2012 at 12:13pm

I saw an altercation between a cyclist and cops downtown, tweeted about it and wound up emailing with Gabe Klein. They have monthly meetings and bring up these incidents to discuss. I don't know if it will resolve anything for you, but he is willing to listen.

dan brown said:

anika - very sorry to hear about this. Rather than pursue the issue with the CPD (in my experience they always protect their own) I wouyld approach it from another angle : I would send a letter and also in email form to your alderman; the alderman for the Shakespeare District; and also Gabe Klein (the bike advocate for the city department of transportation). then after a few days I would folllow up with phone calle to each; and maybe even visit your alderman in person.

 

keep us posted

 

Dan

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Permalink Reply by Anika on August 1, 2012 at 5:17pm

I have no issues with sharing additional details but have not had the opportunity to do so until now. Plus, I thought it wise to calm down and revisit the issue over the course of the day after contacting and talking with others. Thank you to those of you willing and able to provide some details on organizations to contact.

I will be following thru with my complaints against the officer thru several different venues. I rode this route a few additional times this afternoon since it is part of my normal day and I did not nor would I do something different.

Basically, I was traveling west bound on Palmer from California with my final destination west of Kedzie. I passed the police station parking lot entrance/exit located on Palmer. The street in this area is a residential one way west bound with parking on either side and enough space for two moving lanes of traffic. A hundred feet or so past the station parking lot a marked SUV pulled up next to my bike, blew his horn and yelled put his window at me before pulling quickly passed. I yelled back "share the road" - nothing else.
After continuing further on Palmer, I saw the officer pulled over talking to a gentleman in the bike lane across from the park. I biked around his car and thru the Kedzie intersection only to have the officer pull up next to me and force my bike into the parked cars there. I asked (actually rather calmly) if there was something he needed. Of course, he said no but did I have a problem. I responded with "yes, I don't appreciate people blowing their horns at yelling at me". At this point things escalated with the officer demanding my license and threatening a ticket. When I requested further information, I was told I have no business being on the street. When I asked where I should be instead, I got no response.

I pushed further and the heart of the matter was that the officer believed that I wasn't biking close enough to the parked cars. On this one way street, I bike on the right approximately 2 feet from the parked cars or the equivalent of where the left line is in a bike lane. My bike is 6 feet long and between 2 1/2 and 3 feet wide. With kids in it,we are also a few hundred pounds. If a car pulls out in front of me suddenly or a door opens, we are at real risk. There is no recovering such a large bike. The officer believed I should be able to touch the parked cars. He also insisted that he was responding to an emergency with his lights and siren and that I should move out of his way. He and I were the only road users as the time. His insistence that I couldn't bike where I was continued. When I asked what he would do if I were a car, his response was "nothing would happen in a car but I could kill you on a bike". That comment doesn't come across well with a child sitting less than a foot behind me. I suggested that he try biking in the community and see where he would chose to safely ride before honking and yelling at a biker next time. I also pointed out that if my 5 year old had been riding with me, his honking and yelling would have only caused her to turn into his car rather than away from it.

Our discussion concluded with him generalizing all bikers as "hipster bikers who are traffic hazards with no business being on the road since they can't follow the rules". Several other rude comments commenced but nothing more than this guy generally being a dick and unbelievably disrespectful. He moved on when I noted his name, car number and incident time down and let him know I would be discussing this minimally with Active Trans.

I am fairly knowledgable regarding rules of the road since I have children with me constantly keeping me in check. And with a young rider with me, it is even more necessary to be consistent. It is my understanding that I am entitled to take a lane of traffic, correct?

This may seem minor to some but this is not the first time I've had issues with marked cars in the area. Often, they pull out of the lot leaving far less than 3ft of space between us. Also,this particular officer clearly had issues with me as I had a run in again a few hours later when I pulled up to the California/Milwaukee intersection on Milwaukee headed east bound and he pulled from California onto Milwaukee westbound flashing his lights and sitting on the side staring me down until I passed thru the intersection on my way. My bike is far to obvious for him not to notice and there was no reason for that behavior otherwise.

I am concerned that I will continue to have issues with the police while on my bike in this area. It may only be this one officer but regardless some education should take place. I am not certain that anything will come of this but at the very least I want it to be on record in case other bikers in the area have similar issues and then possibly something will be done.

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Permalink Reply by O on August 2, 2012 at 2:02am

Maybe it would be useful for there to be a location (perhaps on this site) the subjective interpretation of Chicago bicycle ordinances are explained. I wonder whether there is not some vague set of understandings (commonly held) which could be cleared up if someone who actually "knows" were to offer guidance.

I see riders launch into the intersection on red lights all the time. Often then veer to the pedestrian crosswalk and proceed to the median strip where they "pause" (usually doing a track stand) before veering back into the righthand lane on the other side of the intersection.

In fact yesterday I watched a fellow cross Butterfield road in this manner. But when he reached the median strip he actually rode into oncoming traffic along the left edge of this four lane road before veering back towards the intersection. I was frightened for his safety since that is a roadway where the speed limit is 55 mph.

What was odd was that as he was doing all of this the light was almost green, so why the rush? He had stood there with the long line of cars waiting for the light change. But I am guessing that most cyclists have no idea of how dangerous this maneuver is nor whether it is illegal.

One gray area that would be nice to know the truth about is what constitutes a "full stop" at say a stop light. Do you have to put one or both feet down? Can you approach and do a mini-trackstand before the light turns green?

These are things that would be good to know. But I will bet that each municipalities police interpret things differently.

h' said:

It is my understanding that I am entitled to take a lane of traffic, correct?

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Permalink Reply by Brendan Kevenides on August 2, 2012 at 2:48am

Anika,

Terrible story.  It is particularly worrisome for me because I live right around the corner from that police station.  I want to say that I've seen you riding around with you kids...

Anyway, definitely follow up with Active Trans.  The other thing you may wish to consider is attending the next neighborhood CAPS meeting.  That would be one open forum where the police actually seem to listen to people in the neighborhood.

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Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on August 2, 2012 at 3:09am

Good suggestion about the CAPS meeting.  That could be helpful.  Following up with Active Trans is also a good idea.

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Permalink Reply by O on August 2, 2012 at 3:43am

Sorry. Since you did not use the quote feature in your reply anyone replying to your entry gets this. Next time quote properly. The quote should be attributed to Anika.

h' said:

Misquote.

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