=?us-ascii?Q?Re:_[*BCM*]_Boston_PD=85_no_friend_of_a_?= cyclist

[Tom Revay]

I spent some time thinking about this problem, and I'm here to offer a few suggestions.  Take what you need, leave the rest.

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1.  Police will be as obnoxious as they believe they can get away with, plus 10%.

Cops are arrogant.  What's more, they are trained to be arrogant.  Arrogance allows them to go into a situation that's going out-of-control and exert authority in the situation.  They are taught to demand this recognition of authority in any situation, at any time they're on the job, and if you don't submit to their authority when they demand it, they will continue to ratchet-up their arrogance until you do.

What this means is, once you start calling an officer names, especially if those names include "curse words" or "fighting words" -- you've lost.  You won't get anywhere with that cop, because he will continue ratcheting-up his arrogance until you've accepted his authority over you, by force or threat of force, if necessary.  This acceptance of authority is mostly condoned by his superiors, and it's unlikely a judge will be sympathetic to you, either.  Never mind that you've been wronged, never mind that the officer used his authority and arrogance based upon prejudices against you as a cyclist or ignorance of the law as it applies to cycling, once you've started the foul language -- you have lost.

You might not like to read this, but it's true.  But you might like to read my experience with a Boston police officer in a situation in which I tried to intervene in what looked like a domestic violence incident (much akin to the Brett Myers smackdown in Boston last week). It is somewhat similar to what happened to you, and it's here:

http://list.massbike.org/archive/200109/0064.html

Incidentally, MassBike has developed a law officer bicycling training program that all state and local police will receive, in both on-the-job and academy training, starting this year.  We successfully lobbied the Massachusetts Municipal Police Training Committee, who develop police training curricula for both state and local police, to include this training, and they agreed in June, 2005.  Though the results won't be immediate, as more police are trained in what the law actually says about bicycle operation, relations between bicyclists and police should improve over time.

You can read about this program at http://www.massbike.org/police/, and about the training implementation athttp://www.massbike.org/police/TrainingCommitteeRelease.htm .  

Incidentally, this implementation satisfies one of the gripes made against MassBike by a lupine participant in this forum back in January, 2005, when your humble correspondent was subjected to a rant from this were-writer that claimed that MassBike never got nuthin' done.  Well, clearly, we do.  And congratulations for this achievement, and others that we've accomplished in the past 18 months, are forthcoming, no doubt, from this cousin-of-canine who once featured me as the keynote Enemy of the Month on her web page.  (I was delighted!)

We are waiting ....

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2.  You can still complain -- but you should make the right complaint.

While we agree that the officer should have responded differently to your initial complaint about the assaultive driver, it won't change that driver's behavior to focus on your disagreement with the cop.  And, given (1), above, I don't believe complaints against this officer will get very far toward obtaining satisfaction for you.

You can file a complaint against this driver with the Registry of Motor Vehicles, using a form at:
http://www.state.ma.us/rmv/forms/21171.pdf .  I have read others' accounts about these forms that said that motorists were summoned to hearings they were required to attend, which is, in the least, an inconvenience to them.  Unfortunately, you will also have to attend any such hearing, too, so it's equally inconvenient for you.  But at least you'll have a forum in which to tell your story.  And if we all did this each time this guy assaulted a cyclist, then each of us would have to attend but one hearing, but he'd have to attend several.  It might be worth a shot.

You can also swear-out a criminal complaint against the driver with the police.  However, in my experience, the police are extremely reluctant to take such complaints when there is no physical damage done to either your person or vehicle.  As I understand the law (and I am not a lawyer, so get a lawyer if you want to be sure this information is accurate), the police cannot refuse to take a criminal complaint, but as a practical matter, they do try to screen-out what they consider "nuisance" complaints.  An oral exchange and an assault that results in no physical damage tends to be placed in that category, in my experience with the cops.

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3.  Lawyer up!

Finally, as stated, you can get legal advice.  Atty. Andrew Fischer has a page of resources for cyclists at http://www.bikeattorney.com, and his office in Boston can be reached at (617) 423-7904.  You might see what he has to say.

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I'm sorry to hear about this incident.  Many drivers are ignorant, but the vast majority aren't criminally assaultive (as this guy was), and some are even friendly.  We often have to suck-up more than we deserve -- we're more sinned-against than sinned -- but my experience tells me that cycling is still a great way to get around the city.  The best way, in fact!

-- Tom Revay