LAPD

Two weeks ago a group of cyclists got together with the LAPD and created the Cyclists/LAPD Task Force. The Task Force addressed issues concerning law, safety, education, enforcement, policy, road rage, the Cyclists' Bill of Rights, the Bike Plan, theft, data, and crime scenes.

At City Watch and his personal blog Soap Box, Stephen Box punched an SUV sized hole in the Mayor and Police Chief Charlie Beck's claim that the City of Los Angeles has become the "second safest big city in America, after New York."  Box's contention is that because the city assumes that most traffic crashes are "accidents" even when there is plenty of evidence to the contrary, that the city can keep its official statistics low and avoid having to spend resources to keep the city safe.

(Updated, January 13, 2010: While the release was handed to Mr. Morales, it turns out it was not cleared by the central media relations staff.  At their request, the names of the victim and suspect have been removed both here and in the previous comments section.)

Earlier today, the LAPD Southwest Division engaged in a sting on unsafe drivers that threaten pedestrians attempting to cross the street.  With marked squad cars and motorcycles flanking the intersection, police officers crossed the street legally in unmarked crosswalks.  The officers were out of uniform, but were still carrying badges and even guns in plain view.  A news van was also parked nearby.  With such an amazingly visible police presence, you would think that the sting would be skunked.  After all, who would be brazen enough to flagrantly violate traffic laws with a small army of law enforcement officers camped out on the street?

By the time the bike portion of the "Bike-Only" City Council Transportation Committee hearing began at 3:45, one hour and forty-five minutes late, it was clear that the bicycling-love-fest that we've seen at past "Bike-Only" meetings wasn't going to happen.  Not only did the meeting start late because of an over-run of the City Council meeting, but Councilman Richard Alarcon had already stormed out of the room because Councilman Bill Rosendahl had caused the full Council to lose quorum and Councilman LaBonge had already snapped at the audience for talking during public comment.

When Streetsblog spoke with Councilman Bill Rosendahl about his priorities as Transportation Committee Chair, he promised a number of sweeping changes and regular "bike themed" committee hearings.  Next week he is going to make good on some of his projects when he chairs his first "bike-only" City Council Transportation Hearing.  You can read the full agenda here, or just read on as we'll preview each issue that will be discussed.

The now Streetsblog-Famous Lt. Andre Dawson gave me a call last night to discuss where the LAPD is in working on its bike policy after we traded messages about last Friday's incident between the LAPD and Critical Mass.  We discussed a couple of issues, including last week's clash, and there's a couple of quick notes he agreed that I should pass on.

Bike discussion sites have been abuzz since last Friday with news that things got ugly when Los Angeles Critical Mass breezed onto Los Angeles Street and ran into an LAPD Squad Car facing against traffic with its lights flashing.  According to eye witnesses, the two officers tackled cyclists off their bikes at the front of the mass and were still trying to drag massers off their bikes at the tail of the mass.  Witnesses claim that there was no announcement that riders should dismount nor any attempt to signal out riders that were lawbreakers, just an attempt to randomly grab cyclists and detain them.  From at one poster at Midnight Ridazz:

Over the last several weeks, Mayor Villaraigosa and his new police chief, Charlie Beck, have been holding community meetings and town halls throughout the city.  At nearly every stop, they were met by cyclists who are concerned with the rising violence on the streets and the worsening relationship between some riders and the LAPD.  In West Los Angeles, Alex Thompson pigeonholed his Councilman, Bill Rosendahl, and questioned the Chief on street justice.  In the Valley, Bike Advisory Committee Chair Glenn Bailey organized cyclists to get out for the meetings.  Downtown, it was the Bike Coalition and representatives from Echo Park Bicycles, who have organized meetings on bike theft in recent weeks.  These are just a small sampling of the mobilization efforts cyclists underwent city-wide.