[*BCM*] MPLS biker tased, detained, framed, taken to trial--all based on clea

[Daniel Tepper]

On 6/19/07, T B <pfadfa at hotmail.com> wrote:
> While I think that the usual cyclist ed courses (repair, safe riding, etc.)
> are important, I'm realizing a glaring omission: how to have positive
> interactions with people.
>
> This comes to mind because, reading through the account, I notice that
> Stephan describes his response as "calm but firm".  I feel that response is
> appropriate in some circumstances and not others.  I've noticed that olice
> officers tend to be used to being in control of the situation and, when
> encountering firmness, react negatively.

This is a great point. It´s sad but you really do have to be very
careful when you choose to stand up for your rights against the
police. When a officer gives an order, they want to be obeyed right
away. They don´t like being talked back to, even if it is only a
polite and reasonable question to clarify why they are giving the
order. And they certainly don´t like being resisted, even passively.
Police can pretty much do whatever they want and get away with it.
Look what happened to Stephan. Good for him, standing up for himself
against some crazed-asshole cop, but what did it get him other than
tackled, tazed and a court date?

(story time) When I lived in Tucson I was biking down a main street
about to go through a small underpass. An officer on motorcycle came
up beside me told me to get off my bike and walk it through the
underpass on the sidewalk.  I stopped and asked why. The officer told
me that the road on the underpass was for cars only. This was
ridiculous, I had biked through the underpass countless times, many
times biking right along side police cars. Also I had just gone to a
defensive driving course (for running a red light on my bike) and KNEW
that in Tucson a bike was considered a vehicle and subject to the same
laws and liberties as a car. I told the officer, very politely, that I
believed he was incorrect. He promptly told me to shut up and walk my
bike or else he would arrest me, so I got off my bike and walked it.

If I had tried to resist any further orders I´m sure I would have been
arrested or detained. It sucks to be pushed around by some asshole
cop. I should have gotten his badge number and reported him, but I was
eager to just get out of the situation.

Has something like this happened to anyone else? Does anyone have a
stood-up-for-my-rights storiy with a happy ending?