BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

Don't the cars have numbers?

On the day that the police themselves follow the laws, I will ride my magic unicorn to work.

meanwhile, i almost saw a cop get killed by a car yesterday at the intersection of penn/butler. the officer was standing ont he corner because of construction, blocking the entry to butler. dude comes flying down 34th st, runs a red light, and continues on to butler without looking. he notices that it is blocked, so slams on his breaks and swerves at the cop, stopping within feet. he then turns and speeds up penn ave.

the concept of the cop now pointing at law abiding drivers and telling them they need to look where they are going and not run red lights...

I will ride my magic unicorn to work.

Is this the one that farts rainbows?

This is such an utterly corrosive, antisocial attitude. Law enforcement should not be doled out on the basis of whether a mode of transportation, collectively speaking, is or is not obedient. And of course, it's typically only bikes who get this kind of talk, because it's plainly absurd as a matter of general principle. I don't care if a pedestrian just jaywalked five minutes ago, or if 95 percent of pedestrians jaywalk (as they/we all do). That pedestrian remains entitled to equal rights in the future if, while behaving normally and legally, they get nailed by some reckless driver. Goddamn. Same goes for drivers, of course!

If it farts rainbows it better get their emissions sticker. Gotta obey the law and all.

Send it in to 311, Ryan. They can track down who it was, or at least narrow it to the 3 or so squads in the area.

Yeah, complain about the cops via 311. Right. More unicorn thinking when it comes to the police.

I think I've said it here before, but one of the more profound pieces of advice my dad gave me in gradeschool was that as I got older I'd realize that all of the bullies in school went on to be cops, and to avoid contact with them if ever possible.

Remember kids, the only thing Jordan Miles was guilty of was not running away from the Pittsburgh Police fast enough.

" I don't care if a pedestrian just jaywalked five minutes ago, or if 95 percent of pedestrians jaywalk (as they/we all do)." That's only because jaywalking isn't enforced. Visit a city where it is enforced (Seattle) and you will find that only about 5% of the population jaywalks (with the streets immediately surrounding the University being the exception).

A 311 complaint wouldn't hurt, might help, and is easy to do with the web form.

I don't think this is really harassment, though. The cop may have seen, or thought he saw, something in your behavior that made him think you needed a reminder. That's part of his job, after all. His own ignoring of the traffic laws so he could get a cup of coffee is a more reasonable issue for complaint.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONPo-wslB40

We have a federally mandated civilian police review board in this town that's only power is to give police officers months long paid vacations for killing or maiming innocent people. And you think a 311 call is going to do something?

The cop may have seen, or thought he saw, something in your behavior that made him think you needed a reminder. That's part of his job, after all. His own ignoring of the traffic laws so he could get a cup of coffee is a more reasonable issue for complaint.

No. He said NOTHING about my own behavior and even said so when I asked him what I did. I was riding in the same bike lane he and the truck in front of him were driving in, stopped at every light, etc. I think he was just irritated that he couldn't use the bike lane to park.

Also, the title of the thread has "harassed" in quotes. In the grand scheme of things it wasn't a big deal. Just thought everyone should know.

Tell him to get back to work. Report it to 311 and get a way to identify the vehicle and/or officer.

I think the presence of the civilian police review board has very little to do with this. They are supposed to serve as a final check on police behavior. I don't think that means the entire management system of the police department has broken down, and citizen complains have no effect whatsoever. So yeah, I think a 311 call might have an effect.

I do think the entire management of the police department has broken down.

They've been shooting kids in the back, executing folks on the side of the road, beating up teenagers walking to their grandmother's house, reinstating officers with histories of domestic violence amongst other things for years with no consequences whatsoever, except for the aforementioned paid vacations. Forgive my cynicism for thinking a 311 call about a cop scolding a cyclist won't do anything.

I am sorry - I should have explained my comment about reporting it to 311 a little more fully. I did not mean to imply that there would be any results from such action. My thought was that it would simply let the City know that a public official, in the course of performing a public service (in uniform, in a PD vehicle) was callous in their comments to a member of the general public. It's an image thing as much as anything else. Other city employees are held to standards in these areas - I presume police officers are as well.

How many 311 reports would it take to get officers to stop parking on the sidewalk after Pirate games when directing traffic?

I suspect that, much like filing police reports even when you don't expect an investigation, it's not a bad idea to get the data logged in some form (outside of PD control).

That's going to be my pet project next summer. They park their personal vehicles on the sidewalk and direct traffic. After Pitt games I've only been run down during a walk cycled while they are watching.

I once got pulled over by a cop in the south side for NOT running a stop sign that my two friends had just run. the cop, who was behind me, got pissed that i made him stop, even though there was a car who had the right of way at this particular 4 way cause he was there first. the cop flashed his lights and asked me "what the f*ck was i doing?" or something to that effect. he said he was in a hurry.

this def reinforces what brad said about bullies --> cops

LAME

The problem is I am sure that what he said he used a stern, forceful, and disrespectful tone. But he was careful with his words. So that when you read what he said on paper without the tone it sounds like he simply was giving advice. I know he was being a jerk and I'm not defending him but it seems like he knows how to word things to stay out of trouble. The problem with tracking him down is I remember when I worked over at West Penn the cops would all meet at the A plus and Starbucks before they started their patrol in the morning. The A plus would have 5 or 6 cars parked their getting snacks and the Starbucks would have several cops in line getting coffee then they all would go their separate ways. I still say 311 is a good idea.

Call the Zone Commander & ask why his derp units are harassing law abiding cyclists.

Pittsburgh police officer in "derpity derp: the movie"

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=derp

Unfortunately Pittsburgh PD is not actively pursuing a community policing philosophy. That, compounded with violence towards them and a healthy dose of groupthink leaves us with *some* individuals who are not always the friendliest (to all degrees) towards those they are charged to protect.

I gave an officer an earful over an unsafe pass about a year or so ago then followed up with 311.

Dude didn't say he was sorry, but the officer who replied to my 311 rant was pretty cool. I was much calmer then, he and I had a nice chat and he said that he would follow up with the zone commander.

I once called a station to ask about the process to file a formal complaint about an officer's behavior and I was told to "think about what doing" and that if i filed said complaint the police would make sure to make "the rest of my life a living hell".

Between that, their behavior during the G20, and everything Brad mentioned, I have very little faith in anything good coming from filing a 311 report.

Filing a 311 report, while useless, will be one small step to something bigger if it ever happens. If crap keeps happening and nothing is done now there is no ground to stand on when the question becomes "Well, did you report it?" Also, YouTube is a great place to post videos of poorly behaving cops and bus drivers.

Does the CPRB have any reporting process? I realize they have no teeth whatsoever, and obviously they have to deal with the huge incidents that make the news, but a thousand minor incidents are just as troubling as one major incident.

The cops in this town are such crap...

I (while driving) was tailed by one in the Southside all the way from the Birmingham Bridge up to the intersection of Josaphine and S. 18th street...

So while I was waiting for a gap in traffic to make my left turn (during rush hour) this cop, swerves angrily to my right, squeals his tires, flies through the intersection almost hitting 2 cars, rolls down his window and starts cursing me out, and then gets in the line of traffic moving up the hill (without turning his flashers on).

He was on his cell phone the entire time he was tailing me through southside 2 feet from my rear bumper.

I called 311 and complained about the POS but I doubt they do anything with those calls but laugh at all of us peasants who want to complain about the mayor's personally trained pigs.

I did make sure to tell 311 I was calling on my cell phone while driving since the pigs are allowed to do it — then I guess the new law doesn't apply.

I'm sure it didn't matter as I was sitting in traffic at a dead stop while people on their bicycles passed me going up the hill hahaha...

The law only applies to texting. TALK AWAY!

The Pittsburgh Police are what they are, and have always been that way. And they're not going to change as a result of being mocked on a message board. There is obviously a lot of energy out there in response to Police behavior. Maybe there is a more constructive way of channelling that.