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Just Doing Their Jobs or Excessive Enforcement of the Law?
By The Changeling | November 7, 2007
Photo courtesy of winknews.com
A little over a week ago, I was reading a post by my fellow Bed-Stuy blogger, Robert Jones, Jr., author of the wonderfully written blog, This is the Diaspora. The post was really disheartening. In it he describes what happened to him when he and his partner were riding their bikes through the neighborhood during one of the last warm days of October.
Click over to read about his run in with the police.
What should we make of this episode? Has anyone ever heard of getting a court date for riding on the sidewalk? Have any of you had (or know of anyone else who has had) a similar run-in with the police around here? Why would the cops around here choose to enforce these laws? If we were in Mayberry, where everyone was law abiding, then, well, by all means, start ticketing people for these minor infractions, but in Bed-Stuy? I’m sure there are more serious crimes to be monitoring around here.
The first thing that came to my mind when I read about this unfortunate event is this: if you’re going to tackle the little offenses, then why not start enforcing the noise ordinances and ticket everyone with their blaring stereos? How ’bout ticketing the folks loitering outside of the bodegas all day while the rest of us go to work? They’ve got to be breaking some laws, right? Are there any laws stating that parents should not have their children out at 2 a.m. in the morning on a school night? If so, could you, cops of the 79th and 81st precinct, start enforcing THAT law? What about cracking down on all of the littering and illegal dumping going on? And while you’re at it, anyone care to take on public urination?
If the police in Bed-Stuy would like to improve life around here, then they need to leave bike riders alone and start focusing on more troublesome public nuisances. Once all of the big things are taken care of, then you can start arresting the sidewalk riders. In fact, they should ticket all of the people who double park and block the bike lane before they even think about bothering anyone riding on the sidewalk. This looks like another case of a city agency focusing its energies in the wrong direction.
November 7th, 2007 at 10:27 am
It’s called “riding while black”. This story makes me so angry, I want to scream. Sure, the cops in this story were all people of color, but still, all cops only see black folks as criminals or people up to no good.
November 7th, 2007 at 11:41 am
You’ve pointed out what is so problematic in this whole situation. One would think that by having police officers of color patrol neighborhoods of color this type of thing wouldn’t happen. I thought that minority cops would understand that the last thing on a black neighborhood’s must-have list would be “bicycle-free sidewalks.”
November 7th, 2007 at 12:33 pm
My wife and I were stopped and given a summons for exactly the same thing this summer. We were on Broadway near Kosciosko and had been out riding our bikes (on the street). We stopped to look at the bar Good Bye Blue Monday, or whatver it’s called, because my wife has a friend with a band who played there. We went to see the place because we didn’t know something like it existed. We dismounted. We looked in the door. Then we got back on our bikes to ride to the corner to get back on the street. We passed two cops on foot and - bad luck of course - they stopped us. They couldn’t have been ruder - they called backup in the form of a cruiser so they could run my liscense! My wife refused to give her ID. They spent 30 minutes while we stood there like morons and would not answer our questions of what was going on, what we had done wrong, what were they doing. When I approached the police car I got yelled at to stay back. I was so angry, but doing my best not to inflate the situation.
In the end they gave us each a summons, maybe the worst thing they could have done. Now we have to go spend a day in court because of this? We pleaded not guilty by mail, out of principle for the whole thing. Eventually we got a response by mail - the judge had dismissed the case. I guess someone up the chain knew this was ridiculous. What a waste of everyone’s time, not to mention resources! This is what cops are being paid to do?
November 7th, 2007 at 1:13 pm
That’s a bummer, Peter. I don’t know how you and your wife kept your tempers in check. I want to work with the police, not against them, but when they do things like this, they further weaken what little support they have in the neighborhood.
November 7th, 2007 at 1:23 pm
There are a few things going on here.
First of all, there’s riding a bike on the sidewalk. I am white and have gotten a ticket for riding my bike on the sidewalk, and it sucked but frankly it should be against the law. Sidewalks are for pedestrians. For that matter, people who park or drive in the bike lanes should get tickets too.
But that doesn’t mean that there is no such thing as riding or driving while black. The laws in Bed Stuy are obviously different for me than they are for many of my neighbors, and that is awful, awful, awful.
Case in point: the lights on the back of my car are out. Have been for about two years. When I lived in a different neighborhood, nobody noticed. When I moved to Bed Stuy, all of my neighbors were neighborly and told me that my lights are out and that I should fix them because I am going to get pulled over.
I haven’t gotten pulled over yet, and cops drive behind me all the time. And maybe I am jinxing myself, but I am not particularly afraid of getting pulled over.
And I don’t know how to put this so that I am saying exactly what I mean. But it makes me feel sorrow that I don’t have to care about this, but that my neighbors obviously do. That’s a huge difference in how one goes about one’s daily business. That’s wrong. It looks like a lot of pressure.
November 7th, 2007 at 4:07 pm
i hate when people ride their bikes on sidewalks. it’s a sidewalk, not a bike path. however, that’s clearly not the issue here as being on a sidewalk to avoid being hit by a bus or to dismount and walk your bike are totally different issues. if the laws are to be enforced without any discretion then it would be a crime to move your bike from your house to the street as bikes being on sidewalks are usually necessary at some point for that to happen.
the real problem is the cops wasting their time harassing good people when the dudes on the corner are selling drugs. or dude’s stereo blasting in his car so loud that my bedroom shakes. or what the heck is going on in my corner bodega anyway?
not that this compares in any way to what robert dealt with but i got a ticket in the east village in 1995 for jay-walking. crossed st. mark’s in the middle of the street to get to the shoe store on a sunny saturday afternoon. this was 1995 off tompkins square park so you KNOW cops had better things to be doing than giving me a summons for shopping. i think my reaction to being asked for ID and being handed a summons was “really???”
still, no excuse for what happened to robert. it’s disgusting is what it is.
November 7th, 2007 at 4:55 pm
I have a friend who had the same experience, and when he went to court there were many people there who also had tickets for “riding” on the sidewalk. Its pitiful and there are so many other things that need to be addressed before bicycles. laduchessa I was just thinking the VERY same thing yesterday when i was enduring the blasting-radio-in-a-parked-car phenomenon. What is going on in that bodega!? Anyway, the cops definately are tackling the very bottom of the long list of quality of life issues (like the dogs on marcus garvey that are ALWAYS barking? garbage strewn about for no reason…the list goes on)This is definately something to bring up during the next 79th precinct meeting…
November 7th, 2007 at 5:15 pm
This stuff happens every day to innocent people. It happened to me (http://angrynyer.com/?p=4), and it happened to this guy in the Bx. (http://angrynyer.com/?p=27)
It’s called the NYPD ‘performance standard’ aka the quota. Cops have to hand out a certain number of tickets every month to make their numbers. If they don’t, they get crappy assignments, and a lot of grief from their bosses. I know this from friends on the job.
The problem is that crime is down, so people that never have or never should have received tickets are now being sent to court over petty bullshit. Most of them were doing nothing wrong whatsoever. I certainly was not.
Welcome to the New World Order. If you’re not going to a mall or something, expect to be branded as a criminal. Skin color doesn’t matter, it just depends on if that officer has made his numbers or not. If they have, you probably won’t get the ticket… if he has not, you’re fucked in the ass without KY.
November 7th, 2007 at 6:03 pm
if you are black they already think you are on your way to commit some crime anyway. Riding your bike on the sidewalk and driving with a tail light out is an invitation for them to stop you. It is wrong but thats how they think, but when you bring up these issues and complain, people accuse you of having a “victim mentality” because it doesn’t happen to them in their neighborhood…
November 7th, 2007 at 7:50 pm
Riding bikes on the sidewalk is illegal. It really is. Just because there are other crimes doesnt mean that this one shouldnt be enforce.
In fact, this one should definitely be enforced because it’s very cut and dry. If you are on a bicycle on the sidewalk, you are breaking the law. If a cop sees it, they shouldnt look the other way any more than they should if they see drugs changing hands.
November 7th, 2007 at 8:42 pm
Angry NY, I agree with you.
The cops in the neighborhood have been ticket crazy lately, especially for parking/moving violations. I have seen several tickets for cars parked too close to hydrants. Although some cases are “ticketable,” there are bigger and more important things to worry about.
I am sorry to read that the person felt humiliated, both by the cops and by some bystanders.
November 7th, 2007 at 8:52 pm
yup, its illegal and it should be enforced. but i gotta say its mostly third worlders who i see doing it ALL the time AND on the wrong side. mostly delivery kids from mexico who don’t know any better.
that said, if i was a delivery kid i would ride the sidewalk too… there just aren’t enought bike lanes and divers in this city are WAY agressive.
November 7th, 2007 at 8:55 pm
More than execessive enforcement it was SELECTIVE enforcement, or so it seems from Robert’s description of it.
One gets the impression that police officers have been told to do this to blacks in Bed-Stuy and other neighborhoods. It’s just too widespread to be coincidence.
Weird thing is that the nypd is now headed by Ray Kelly, who rose to fame and fortune by grace of this city’s first black mayor, David Dinkins.
That said, it often seems that Kelly has sent out the word (no doubt by winks and nods, as opposed to anything in writing) that this sort of thing (stopping people of color for minor infractions) should be done as a matter of course.
The fact that the officer in question here with Robert was Latina means nothing, because if a police officer wants to climb the ladder (or even merely get along), then he or she will go with the program. What’s more, the very sad truth is that Latinos may be under special pressure to show they’re tough on blacks, to prove (skin color and hair texture in many cases notwithstanding) that they are not one of “them.”
Brooklyn Ron
(i just started a little newsy blog at brooklynron.com)
November 7th, 2007 at 10:05 pm
Yes, riding on the side walk is a crime, but as my family and I have been told on numerous occasions when we have called on NYPD/79th to deal with issues like: loud music after hours, crack down on locking school playgrounds after dark, and the illegal traffic maneuvers of the school buses on Bedford Ave as block traffic to load and unload children - they have more important things to do than tend to these “quality of life” matters.
There is a lot of discriminatory behavior exhibited by NYPD. I have been on the receiving end of it more times than I care to count in he past five years that I have lived here. I have some how managed to keep my cool because it is what will serve me best.
The Racism is in the indiscriminate manner NYPD uses in applying laws that clearly exist . . . The racism is evident in the response members of our community received when we seek to hold NYPD accountable for doing their jobs, as we request (sometimes demanding -just short of having a temper tantrum) that police officers provide the services that other communities take for granted i.e. we are too bogged down chasing drug dealers and murders in Bed-Stuy to answer a noise complaint or tend to a stolen/stripped vehicle on your block . . .
No matter how painful this was for the bikers, the recent activity on issues like this one actually give their fellow neighbors the ammunition needed to demand that NYPD deal with other issues in our community. Obviously when they think it is warranted they do deal with these “small” matters. Their experience should not go by “in vainâ€. I will remember this one as should all of the caring people of this community the next time we call for action on an issue that is not considered “priority†for NYPD.
November 7th, 2007 at 11:21 pm
I’m glad to hear others have noticed insane ticketing is on the rise - I thought I was loosing my mind. I have NEVER gotten a ticket and in the last three weeks I have gotten EIGHT. For everything from misplaced recycling (a total lie, I am a recycling maniac), to a 1 day old expired tag (fine), to a double park ticket because I was in a line of 6 double parked cars and couldn’t pass so I left my friend in the car for 2 minutes. Unfortunately I was last in the line so I got the ticket(but still fine - my bad even though it is the norm) to a $300 ticket I got for having a nail in a board that was in my front yard as part of a pile my husband and I were making of stuff from the basement to be moved into the car. No joke we were literally making and moving the pile into the car to take to the dump when he came by. Anyway, all these have been in bed-stuy and I KNOW I would not be getting them in another neighborhood. Phew - thanks for letting me vent. In terms of the biking across sidewalk - I know 3 bed-stuy people who have gotten those, some for going from their front gate to the street. nuts.
November 7th, 2007 at 11:38 pm
This is totally emblematic of CPR practiced by NYPD.
I have been pulled over and stopped numerous since I was a teenager. It never really hit home until I was pulled over with my wife and kids with no explanation and ultimately told to move.
NYPD(on my experience) are extremely sarcastic and rude and have no people skills.
This lead to undue stress on a person psyche, where every time you see NYPD the expectation is that you will pulled over.
November 8th, 2007 at 12:31 am
Where is that book about stupid laws of NYC…You walk the wrong way you get a ticket, my friend from Staten Island got a ticket for taking out their trash before 5PM. What’s next??? City is money hungry??? Who comes up with these rules anywhy?
November 8th, 2007 at 6:45 am
Ialso got a ticket for riding on the sidewalk at the entrance to the Wmburg Bridge, bklyn side. I thought the officer was kidding, so many cars, no path leading up to the bikepath. He was serious. I went to contest the summons, and there were about 6 of us with the same offence (asian, white and black). All of had our case dismissed.
November 8th, 2007 at 7:48 am
Talk about clashing cultures. Some of us in Bed Stuy think that riding bikes on sidewalks, which can cause serious accidents, is a tad bit more important than people hanging outside a corner store all day. Same with loud music.
November 8th, 2007 at 8:29 am
Wow, I just read his story. It sounds like something small town cops would do in a small town who are bored. I hope he let’s the precinct captain know. Why 5 cops? Why the frisking? Wtf?
November 8th, 2007 at 10:01 am
I know of at least 3 friends that live in Bed-Stuy and have been arrested for riding on the sidewalk. Yes, arrested. This isn’t for riding up and down the sidewalk, but merely riding off the road and up the sidewalk for about 15feet to get to their front door. The cops didn’t bother to give tickets, and instead threw them in jail for it for no good reason. They stayed the night in central booking and the next morning when the finally see the judge, the judge would throw the case out. All three were not doing anything suspicious nor did they ‘look’ suspicious and in one case, my friend was only straddling his bike and not actually riding it. I’m sure in all three cases they would much rather have gotten a stupid ticket than be arrested for it.
November 8th, 2007 at 10:12 am
I have received two summons in the past six months for riding on the sidewalk. Both instances I was within 50 yards of a sidewalk entry/exit to bike lane which I was exiting (Williamsburg Bridge, FDR ped/bike crossing). Guess I did not drop off the curb soon enough.
If you are interested, some advice from a NY bicycle advocacy group follows below on this matter.
I was amazed by the number of people at the courthouse waiting for hours to see a judge over such things as being in the park after dark, drinking from an open container on the front stoop, etc. The time, resources, and attention given to such transgressions by the police seems out of proportion to the seriousness of the crime. I personally believe that the default setting for law enforcement is to assert itself in the most trivial but invasive ways possible, to appear as though achieving results….
——–
Cyclists cited for simply riding on the sidewalk (and not endangering a pedestrian or property thereby, a violation which is treated more harshly) are in violation of NYC Administrative Code §19-176(b) which states the following:
“b. No person shall ride a bicycle upon any sidewalk unless permitted by an official sign. A person who violates this subdivision may be issued a notice of violation and shall be liable for a civil penalty of not more than one hundred dollars which may be recovered in a proceeding before the environmental control board.â€
If this citation is issued by a regular NYPD police officer, the ticket will most likely instruct the recipient to report to criminal court for adjudication, rather than the environmental control board. As such, cyclists who receive this summons should be able to obtain a dismissal when appearing before the judge in criminal court, as instructed on the ticket. During proceedings, the cyclist defendant should inform the judge that § 19-176(b) states that civil penalties for violating this provision can only be recovered in proceedings before the ECB, and not the criminal court. You should not plead “not guilty,” but rather ask for a pre-trial dismissal for wrong venue. The criminal court judge should then dismiss the case (unfortunately, the judge wont always get it right). The City is extremely unlikely to commence proceedings before the ECB because it would require re-serving the cyclist (in person) with a proper summons. Your mileage may vary.
If there are any mistakes on the ticket (like the cop wrote your name or address wrong or wrote the wrong traffic rule or the wrong streets) the judge should throw out the summons on a technicality. Though, you should have something (like your driver’s license, the correct law or a photo) to prove the cop made a mistake.
In the event that the case isn’t dismissed outright, the judge may offer to reduce the fine if you plead guilty. If you plead not guilty, you will receive a trial date. At trial, the cop will give his testimony and explain what he saw you do. Listen for any missing details or any differences between what he said and what he wrote on the ticket. Then you can ask him questions and dispute any of his claims, citing existing laws.
If you make a reasonable case, mention the danger cyclists face and unequal enforcement, and tell the judge you’re a law-abiding cyclist and this was your first ticket (but only if it was-don’t lie!), the judge may reduce the fine or drop the charges.
If the cop doesn’t show, the judge usually discards the ticket
November 8th, 2007 at 10:16 am
i got pulled over for riding on the sidewalk about a year ago, along bedford ave in bed-stuy. it was lame, but i got that it was against the law. the thing that really annoyed me was that the cops looked at my license, saw i lived in carroll gardens, and said, “oh, they probably don’t pull you over for this in your neighborhood.” it’s true. i see people do all sorts of illegal stuff on their bike - biking on the sidewalk, riding through red lights, going the wrong way on a one way street - all the time, in front of cops. really, if there are going to be laws, they should be enforced the same across neighborhoods.
November 8th, 2007 at 10:20 am
DEB with The Taillights out,
Deb, you are an idiot.
Your tail lights have been out for TWO YEARS!!!
Message to you,
DRIVING A CAR IS NOT A RIGHT! IT IS A PRIVILEGE!
I hope at least the BRAKE LIGHTS WORK.
You should get a ticket for that and more stupid to be telling everyone what a dope you are.
My sister had an accident due to the other car not having working lights. When the A-Hole tried to tell the officers his light were working and it was my sisters fault, the officer checked and found that THERE WERE NO BULBS IN THE TAILLIGHTS!
She has constant back pain and can’t play sports with her children.
MAINTAIN YOU FREAKIN CAR BEFORE YOU HURT SOMEONE STOOPID!!
Please stay off the car driving and get a Bike!
chef
November 8th, 2007 at 10:40 am
Ok, on my way home last I saw two beat cops on Malcolm X and Decataur. They didn’t look busy so I stopped to ask if one could get a court date for riding a bike on the sidewalk and they said yes. They admitted they enforce this law in “high crime” areas for the most part. The reasoning is this: People riding bikes on the sidewalk may they ride up behind someone and snatch a purse then take off.
November 8th, 2007 at 10:55 am
So now cops are suppose to decide what laws to enforce? So their opinions matter? I am glad they give tickets for this. People like to get away with things and will push the limit. If you start giving tickets for the little things, then it will move things in a better direction.
Of course whenever a person of color gets a ticket it is because of their race. They should just feel more sorry for themselves. That helps everyone. You break the law, you pay the price. Get use to it and stop feeling sorry for yourselves
November 8th, 2007 at 11:56 am
ha ha.
i am a white native ny’er and i just spent 2.5 days in jail for riding my bike into a gas station to avoid hitting a police car that was parked in the middle of bedford ticketing bikers. turns out i had a ticket from 1994 and no-one wanted to drive me into manhattan to see the judge.
November 8th, 2007 at 12:00 pm
ha ha.
i am a white native ny’er and i just spent 2.5 days in jail for riding my bike into a gas station to avoid hitting a police car that was parked in the middle of bedford ticketing bikers. turns out i had a ticket from 1994 and no-one wanted to drive me into manhattan to see the judge. so they left me in stir for a couple of days. btw–the majority of folks locked up with me were middle-aged black men in there for buying POT. in 2007. when are these bs laws going to change? vote people!
November 8th, 2007 at 12:24 pm
I just got a courtdate for this two days ago. I ride from my house to the street via a sidewalk, probably on it less than 10 seconds. Courtdate. The cop listed all the bad things that had happened that day too before giving me the ticket: someone got shot, someone got robbed at gun point, busted two crack dealers… Then gave me a ticket. Also, a small hispanic man on a children’s bike rode by and the cop made fun of him for riding a children’s bike, then made fun of him for being short, then asked him if he had “the rock.”
November 8th, 2007 at 2:10 pm
First off, don’t ride your bike on the sidewalk. I got knocked on my ass by some jerk a while back and have close calls periodically (all in Park Slope). Riding on the sidewalk is just not safe, let’s face it.
That being said, selective enforcement(especially when based on Race) is just fucking ridiculous. I’ve never seen anyone ticketed for this offense, but then again 90% of the folks I see doing this are white.
Lastly, #12, foosball. you are a f%$g idiot. Mexico is not the third world, it is part of North America, hence the “second world” just like the USA (Western Europe being the first world of course). Besides, the concept of a third world is so outdated and just plain offensive.
November 9th, 2007 at 7:42 am
Hello everyone,
I just wanted to say that my partner and I weren’t aware that riding on the sidewalk, even as briefly as we did (I swear that it was less than 10 seconds, there was no one else on the sidewalk, and we ONLY did it to avoid the B46 and oncoming traffic–the street was too narrow for traffic to pass with us in the street as well) was against the law. Neither of us have rode bikes in a really long time (I think the last time I was on a bike was 12 years ago). That said, we understand why we were given the summonses.
What we DON’T understand was the police officers’ derogatory assumption that we were guilty of something OTHER than riding our bikes on the sidewalk. What we DON’T understand is the police officers’ decision to pat us down in front of passers-by like we were common hoodlums. My partner, a lawyer, explained to me that the officers have the discretion to do so once any sort of infraction has been perpetrated, but we were fully cooperating, we did everything they asked, we gave them our driver’s licenses, they radioed their HQ and found that we had no records, so why did they still look at us, talk to us, and treat us like we were suspects in a robbery–especially the black officer?
Why?
November 9th, 2007 at 10:10 am
Your “why†is a rhetorical question right?
I will indulge nonetheless. The “why†is because in this world where we hope and dream of obliterating racism - racism still exists. Sometimes it is blatant and sometimes it is served up as the insidious, covert manner, under the auspices of enforcing the law and making our community a better place to live. As I pointed out earlier, it was an infraction and while admittedly ignorant of the law, you have admitted your liability in the situation. I understand your frustration and anger. It is is driven by the manner and the tactics of NYPD; it is the inconsistency of the application of the laws; it is the unnecessary personal comments often made by officers while doing what they are well within the law to do. When these things occur – they happen because there is an ugly racist, classicist undertone that exists in our communities. You are feeling the pain that most people of color that are our age, education, and economic background, have begun to realize and deal with. That none of that shields you from the evils of the world. And please do not think that just because you share a common skin color that you are going to get “sympathetic†treatment or the “benefit of the doubt†from a police officer! You are smarter than that – I just know it!
By the way for those members of the community that are white, when these things happen please recognize it for what it is because this is discrimination. When it happens in this community to blacks it happens to you too. It undermines the community and the well being of people that you have chosen to live in and widens the door for you too to be mistreated and discriminated against.
November 9th, 2007 at 9:16 pm
That last provision allows you to “take the lane” when you need to, even if you delay traffic behind you. If you “take the lane,” do it clearly and obviously. Hugging the edge of a narrow lane encourages motorists to try to squeeze by. If you believe the lane is too narrow, don’t invite the traffic behind you to attempt to prove you wrong. Fortunately, we have lots of wide curb lanes, where motorists can safely overtake cyclists without inconvenience or fear.
November 10th, 2007 at 12:14 pm
Anon 9:16
You seem to understand a thing or two about cycling and “protocol” or traffic laws so to speak. Could you elaborate? Maybe offer a mini course for driver/cyclist ideas & safety tips?
I was not aware of the tactic you just described.
This also makes me think that as apart of getting license drivers should be required to have cyclist sensitivity training of some sort.
I wish the same could be enforced for cyclists, but there is no mechanism for that.
November 10th, 2007 at 6:56 pm
mms://trinilearn.wmod.llnwd.net/a607/o1/demos/InforcingLaws.wmv
November 10th, 2007 at 7:25 pm
NYC Traffic Rules
3) Bicycles and limited use vehicles.
(i) No person shall ride or operate a bicycle upon any sidewalk area
unless permitted by sign. This prohibition shall not apply to the operation
of bicycles with wheels of less than 26 inches in diameter upon the
sidewalk by children of 12 years or less in age.