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CONSIDERATION OF MOTION (HAHN - ROSENDAHL - REYES - LABONGE - GARCETTI - GREUEL) relative to the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) reporting on recent bicycle incidents and conflicts between bicyclists and motorists.
Recommendation for Council action:
DIRECT the LAPD to report on recent bicycle incidents and conflicts between bicyclists and motorists, as well as efforts to increase police officer training related to bicycling activities and applicable regulations and laws.
Community Impact Statement: None submitted.
(Public Safety Committee waived consideration of the above matter)
We should def be surprised by the LAPD response. You can hear the anger and bias in his voice and framing of the incident. He's practically trembling with anger.
I do love that Janice Hahn grilled the cop pretty hard.
I'd like to fact check every single thing the cop said including the 3 witnesses who allegedly saw the incident from their window.... they just happened to be looking out their window when the cyclist ran into the hummer? Or did the witnesses see the aftermath?
I'd also like to get the "15 911 calls" that came in regarding the mass ride that happened. I'd like to hear the 911 tapes. cause if it's true we need to regulate on the rides much harder. that's ridiculous.
And a big fat kudos to the one person who managed to find out about this item and show up to city hall. Good for you! I would have joined you it was so angering and frustrating to hear that cop!!
This video player is bullshit. Joseph, please help us post this on youtube... its fucking impossible to analyze this shit on the lacity website.
This is such bullshit. And yes, it's time to get this out to a place where everything can be analyzed, most importantly the people in a position to punish these fucking assholes. Thank Gd this is all on videotape, at least a couple of people should save copies of this & the last City Council meeting downloaded to their personal computers to make sure nothing 'changes' when we're not looking. And yes, I want to see these witness statements, as well as the actual witnesses, and hear these 911 calls. This. Is. Such. Bullshit.
just watched 4:20 to 4:43 or so.... they all talk about bicycle subjects for quite a while. i guess there is a meeting and all of the people who went to Van Nuys are invited?
the discussion of cars vs. cycles and even pedestrians is always welcome...
but the other question is (in terms of large rides like MR and such) what can be done about the red lights and the negative vibe that people get from the "swarm"?
obviously, if people are stealing and scaring people in general, something needs to be done to fix that impression...
i think "FUN" is cool, but causing people to call 911 is well...
Is there a way to get a transcript of the whole meeting? First of all the cops said there were 15 911 calls, but he didn't say the 911 calls were regarding the bicycle ride specifically. I want to hear these 911 calls and find out if they were even about the mass ride.
I want a transcript to go line by line and analyze everything this cop said to see if its true or not.
IF there were 911 call about the ride.... then shame on the ride for being unruly enough to scare people.
Regarding the hummer incident is there a public record of the witness statements to fact check againt what this cop said?
also, some of us should make it a point to email Michelle Mowery and let her know what you think should be included in her recommendations for officer training.
Awesome please post... If you throw it up on vimeo.com I think they allow videos longer than 10mins. There is a lot of good discussion from 4:20 to near the end.....
That's bullshit, ive had people call the cops on me on my way to work. Especially on the Westside, people are whiney bitches.
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On a more positive note, I just sent thank you emails to rosendahl (with some constructive criticism) and hahn. I encourage you all to do the same. You can find their email addresses on their websites.
Also, I encourage you to forward your criticisms to officer albanese. dont be rude, the volume of cyclists flooding his inbox will hopefully make the point for us. albanese@lapd.lacity.org
and while you're loving your enemies, dont forget to love your friends!!!!! let them know that you support them and appreciate their efforts, and briefly offer them
Guys, I fucked up. I usually read every one of these damm agendas and didn't for yesterday. With Stephen out of town I should have made double sure I checked. With that crap about the bike hearing in the afternoon and it getting canceled I dropped the ball.
I did a Streetsblog story here, feel free to drop by and comment.
I want a transcript of Albanese comments and I want tapes of the alleged 911 calls referring to the mass ride that he brought up as un-related dirt to preface his stance on the hummer incident.
Fuck, I'll fix that. I'll also figure out how to get the tapes, it's probably as simple as a Freedom of Information request, or whatever it is we call it in L.A.
awesome!! he was referring to some mass ride that happened in which he alleges that 15 people called 911.... I guess it's on us to figure out the date of this alleged ride?
can the victims of the hummer incident get access to all of the witness statements including the ones from the building?
also, in unrelated news, I got my police inspector report back. they completely mis-characterized my complaint according to the summary.... fucking useless. it's not even coherent!!
First thing is first. We need to get a full copy of the report so we have the report number and then we can hack out some public records requests. Having the number will help cut through the buerocratic red tape.
As for the mystery ride he mentions, we should just email officer what's his name and ask because we're curious, self-policing and all.
That person probably shouldn't be me at this point in time, (hint, hint)
You can be damn sure that LA Critical Mass generates some 911 calls, that happens at the last Friday of each month. Also the 328 ride occurred on March 28. Check that date as well, lots of bicycles traveling through some nicer neighborhoods.
Crank Mob on March 21, probably also generated some 911 calls. Since it traversed through the La Brea/3rd street area and into Hollywood.
First thing's first. Zach at LAist has the report number from that Friday so we'll put in a public records request tomorrow. Keep me in the loop on how things go with the cop and we'll do our best on the 911 calls.
I half expect S. Box to just pop in here with all this information at his fingertips anyway; but this is good practice for the next time he takes a trip without getting our permission first.
And for the record, one woman never had her ticket canceled because she already paid it, and now needs a special hearing to have it canceled. I have a June 3 court date for my ticket, and another rider was searched illegally and got tickets for possession.
The Hummer report is ridiculous. I literally started yelling and slamming stuff when I heard what this man said.
well we can save the speculation and wait for a reply from the officer.... if he does reply... I wish wish wish there was a way to just curb the idiots who feel like they need to yell at cars and ride all over the road.... it just aint a good look!
well, are you guys all ready to call in sick and storm the bastille again? if the police think they're going to cover this up, i'm not going to take it lying down. next time it's going to be a watch commander running over some 14 year old, and they'll say, "it's that psychotic bike gang behavior, just like the hummer incident all over again."
The reality is, that LAPD is treating us like we're a racial minority and that's it's the 1940's. That bullshit about bringing up Crank Mob is so besides the point it doesn't even make sense. People at Crank Mob broke the law so it's ok that Tena got rear-ended, how does that make sense unless they're just fucking with those guys because AT and Box exposed they were giving out bullshit tickets.
you know what I just listened to the cop's testimony again and he is referring to CRANK Mob and the incident where Alex Thompson was cited for jaywalking... so, we have a time and place of the incident. Now how do we get the 911 call transcripts?
It's probably true about the 911 calls but I'm sure it was by the store owner of the place that got jacked from.
RB, I'll try to get a public information request for those calls, but I believe they are harder to get a hold of than regular documents. I'll keep you all in the loop as we progress,
I'd bet you any money the cop was referring to the Crank Mob ride that started at Pan Pacific Park. It had everything the cop is referring to, including fighting, (really it was knocking the security guard over) at the supermarket. What he failed to state was that some of the ridazz caught this shoplifter and brought him back to the store. I hope someone mentions that.
Even the car vs bike accident that happened while leaving the park was pretty iffy. This was a driver that thought he could just muscle his way through traffic. I'm sure this accident generated a few 911 calls. Speaking of 911 calls, if you listen to the cop, all the complaints coming in were about being stuck on the road. There's only so much room for the bikes and cars on the road. So traffic jams are inevitable. If cars are stopped on the road, you're are bound to get some bikes going on the other side of the road. I recall this being the case when everyone was leaving the park that night.
BTW, for the record, I never even rolled with everyone that night. We bailed after the first mile and after the supermarket fiasco.
The city council was practically begging for us to get in touch with them and have a special meeting....... I emailed them all. I'm ready to have an honest conversation regarding all of the issues at hand....
Hey Allan, excellent point about how the thieves were caught and turned in. The cop didn't mention that now did he?
You know I wish we had a way to evaluate these politicians and score them according to how bicycle friendly they are and vote accordingly.... if we all got our heads together we could vote as a block....
Hey Allan, excellent point about how the thieves were caught and turned in. The cop didn't mention that now did he?
he mentioned it by way of saying that there were thefts but no one was arrested. if anyone was involved in catching the thief or saw it go down, come with us to the city council to set the record straight!
i wish i lived in LaBonge's district so i could vote his ass out. the alternative being to convince him that were on to him and that he actually needs to make real suggestions instead of grandstanding and posturing.
If I'm not mistaken, I think Richie was one of the doods that nabbed that thief. He was the reason why the cops came in such force. The call went out that the security guard was knocked down. The guy tried to stop this dickweed. You should have seen the speed the units were racing to the scene.
yeah Richie was totally a hero that night, but a lot of people were in on that too. it's great that one person tackled him, but it really shows who we are that everyone else pitched in to restrain him. that albanese had a lot of nerve to say that there were no arrests, but what do you expect when it makes us look good?
we need to set the record straight about who we are. we need to keep the pressure on. we need to organize.
fucking Zuma Dog...... talking about traffic problems.... LOL
well, the city council wanted to hear from us again so lets just set a day up to Storm the Bastille and go down there en masse and make some more comments to rebutt that officers comments.
I personally really liked the van nuys trip but downtown city hall would be great too. what day can everyone get their morning off and we roll?
I'll skip work, no problem. Just lemme know when the meeting is.
FWIW, I also emailed Hahn. I thanked her for looking into the matter and for keeping an open mind, and made a few points about the Hummer incident. I then pionted out - and people have been saying this in this thread, but it's very important - that "The types of encounters that the officers may have had with cyclists in the past should not affect their duty to protect and serve those and other cyclists on a daily basis."
I do not want the LAPD to use alleged misbehavior on the part of some riders in the past to obfuscate their own shitty behavior.
lets pick a day to go down to public comment and SAY all these great points.... how about 1 or two days before, we pick a night to have a comment workshop? we could meet at the bike oven (or wherever if the bike oven isn't cool) get our comments together and just dial them in.
I want to emphasize that if you choose to email Deputy Chief Albanese, be polite. We should be careful here. People often remark on these boards that the police can shut us down blah blah blah. Usually I take it not seriously. In this case, it I feel it should be.
Deputy Chief Albanese is the commanding officer of South Bureau of LAPD. He commands 1500 officers, 16% of LAPDs force. He reports directly to Bratton. He is not likely to ever be a friend Ridazz. Check out his bio on LAPD, excerpt:
As an Area commanding officer, he was credited with establishing innovative crime reduction systems including, the “War Room Concept” where crime is analyzed and “Daily Missions” are assigned to command personnel through a “Daily Briefing” meeting.
I would also suggest that we all consider focusing on the Hummer incident and not CRANK MOB. Keep in mind I have a personal stake in taking LAPD to task on the CMOB stuff. But it doesn't play well, and the Hummer thing plays very well. People sympathize with the police on the CMOB thing, they do not with the Hummer. We need to pick our battles.
+1 for the meeting. It would be great to get an outline of what points people will be making. That way we're not repeating our selves too much and not omitting stuff.
Think about - the fact is that we have a PUBLIC forum here. Anyone can read it - that includes the City Council and the LAPD, if they have the time and interest.
Which to me just means just be aware of the implications of what you're saying.
my biggest gripe is that, if the cops are going to enforce the law on these rides.... then do it SAFELY and ACCURATELY. don't just be riding cowboy running people down. and know the law too... I've been on group rides where the cops pulled us over and when someone produced a document of the cvc the cops learned that we weren't riding illegal and had to let us go.
Happyland - I would say respond to Albanese's statements. For some us, that is directly in response to his account of the hummer incident, for others it will mean addressing his general attitude expressed regarding cyclists on the road...I hope that's a little helpful, I haven't had a chance to write to anyone yet, I'll be doing that tomorrow.
I emphasized that we could work together to find an acceptable solution, indicated that all of the cyclists aren't trying to cause problems, and requested to be a part of the proposed public meeting.
I definitely don't think any criticism of the cop guy is a good idea. Mention the positive things...working together, willingness to discuss, and not everybody is a punk on the rides...
what's wrong with criticism? we should criticize the cops when they fail.
but that doesn't mean name calling or being dicks about it
also, i would just like to say that i'm ecstatic that everyone pushed the hummer incident into the spotlight. if lapd knew we were capable of this, they would have handled the situation better. i think they are realizing that the ridazz are not just a group of punks, but people who love cycling.
It seems crank mob has been and will continue to be the source of friction between the LAPD and us. Can it be controled? Not likley. Should you think about removing it from the site and attempt to disband it, even for the time being? Perhaps. No one wants to be in charge because your head will roll, thus there will be no control of rides unless rider will regulate themselves, which I doubt will happen.
I think if the police make an concerted effort they can make group rides no fun and expensive for a time but not for long.
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Ridazz Roulette!
I just emailed Hahn to thank her...she rocks. She puts that cop's ass in the fire.