Seven Months Later, NYPD Finally Cans Cyclist-Hating Cop

The New York Police Department and the city's cyclists have never really gotten along very well. The systemic hatred of the NYPD Blue towards the two-wheelers was displayed quite graphically this past July when one rookie cop, Patrick Pogan, decided to get in the way of one cyclist and billy-club the in-motion victim to the ground. The outrage over the incident was enough to get the brass to listen, but still, it took several months to get rid of the officer.

From The Gothamist:

The NYPD officer caught on tape bodyslamming a cyclist to the curb during a group Critical Mass ride through Times Square last July has been fired. Though charges of assault, harassment and filing a bogus police report are still pending against rookie cop Patrick Pogan, a spokesman for the NYPD confirmed that he was dismissed ten days ago and that the termination was directly related to the Critical Mass incident. But Stuart London, a lawyer for Pogan, tells the Times the NYPD didn't fire his client—he quit in order to "concentrate his efforts on fighting the criminal charges that are against him, so that when he is ultimately acquitted he can reapply to the Police Department." Referring to the NYPD's claim that Pogan was canned, London says, "They make errors all the time." Indeed! A spokesperson for advocacy group Times Up had this to say: "The NYPD is taking a heavy hand on dealing with this police officer, but we hope that Mayor Bloomberg will direct the higher-ups at the NYPD to discontinue their pattern of dangerous tactics and selective enforcement against cyclists."

Pogan's lawyer sounds like he's full of it, but then again he is a lawyer, so he's paid to spin the truth into pretzel-shaped loads of garbage. Though London is right about the NYPD making errors, and that would be the enduring written or unwritten policy of picking fights with Critical Mass cyclists and subsequently arresting and/or injuring them. Pogan should definitely be made an example of, but the higher-ups that condoned the behavior, or encouraged it, need to be fired as well.

City Council Calls For Investigation Into NYPD Abuse Of Cyclists

As you would expect the sun to rise in the east and set in the west, I feel similarly about the NYPD's ability to hold their officers accountable for beating down cyclists that take part in the Critical Mass Bikerides. As we now know (or have known for a few years depending on what you read on the Internet) NYPD cops have lied in their statements regarding their behavior around innocent bicyclists. Outrage over the video that surfaced and contrasted with Officer Rogan's statement has been heard over at City Hall and now we are beginning to see some action from at least a few of our City representatives.

From Time's Up:

NEW YORK, NY (August 4, 2008) - City Council members join the chorus of outrage over the NYPD's continual harassment of Critical Mass cyclists. Earlier today, twelve city council members submitted a jointly signed letter to the Manhattan DA, Robert M Morgenthau, requesting that he drop the charges against Christopher Long and investigate the NYPD policies toward cyclists, specifically during Critical Mass rides. Christopher Long was thrown off his bicycle by police officer Patrick Pogan during the July 25th Critical Mass Ride.

The Internal Affairs Bureau is currently investigating Sergeant Timothy Horohoe for false official statements intentionally made to the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) during an investigation of the arrests of cyclist and videographer Christian Guttierez, and photographer Jordan Groh while documenting police harassment of cyclists in Time's Square during the March 2007 Critical Mass ride.

The CCRB report also substantiated the charge that Sgt. Timothy Horohoe used physical force when Sgt. Horohoe pushed Richard Vazquez off his bike when Mr. Vazquez rode through Times Square on the March 2007 Critical Mass. The charges of physical force used by Sgt Horohoe are being investigated by the Department Advocate Office. The statute of limitations on penalizing Horohoe for the acts of March 30, 2007 is September 30, 2008.

"Critical Mass participants have been assaulted by a Lietuenant, a Sergeant and recently by a Rookie officer. And each assault has been documented on video. When officers lie with impunity to cover up their bad conduct, the CCRB says that filing of false information in official documents is not within their jurisdiction. Simply put, there is no official manner for civilians to hold bad apples accountable for wrongful police conduct and therefore, all civilians and all good police officers suffer", says Wylie Stecklow, lawyer for the complainants.

If the CCRB isn't going to do anything about police officers that lie to them, then there is a serious problem with the CCRB. DA Morganthau must act in this instance and fully investigate the NYPD. This isn't just a case of one bad cop, there is a possibility that this is a systemic problem and if there is such, it has to be dealt with appropriately. Whoever allowed for a culture that permits random acts of violence against cyclists needs to be at the very least fired. Of course for the cyclists to have justice and New York to have a police force that they can trust, the people in power who condone this behavior will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Cops Assaulting Innocent Cyclists Isn't New

Finally, after months years of the press not covering the brutality of the NYPD in regards to the Critical Mass Bikerides, they decided to put it on their television screens and newspapers for more than five seconds. The video from last week showed the cop in question to be lying about his interaction with one bike rider and thankfully had him fired. Though sadly, for many New Yorkers this is the first time anyone's heard about what goes on. That is why right now, we must speak up on the pattern of abuse, not just the one incident.

From The Gothamist:

Environmental group Times Up! is taking advantage of all the publicity generated by the video of a cop shoving a cyclist off his bike by reminding everyone that this is hardly the first such incident, nor the only one caught on video. The group points out that in 2007 one Richard Vazquez was taken down by a cop in Times Square during a Critical Mass ride, and in 2006 Adrienne Wheeler, a Critical Mass legal observer, was pulled off her bike by then-NYPD-Assistant-Chief Bruce Smolka, who's since retired. (The city settled with Wheeler for $37,000.) In a statement, Times Up! asserts that, “Unfortunately the July 25, 2008 incident is part of a pattern of targeting Critical Mass bike riders.” What's also unfortunate is that the production values on these old videos fail to live up to the new gold standard for police brutality porn.

What needs to happen in order to prevent another senseless beating is something that defies the status quo. Instead of simply dismissing the one bad cop, there should be a formal inquiry into the NYPD and their systemic problems with people who want to ride their bikes together. All these citizens are doing is to promote bicycle riding as a means of transportation, not to irk the police. Perhaps some sort of training is required to inform those ignoramuses that yes, riding a bike is perfectly legal and not an excuse to exercise some sort of internal rage.

Critical Mass Bicyclists Want Their Day In Court

Well it is about time that the NYPD get some justice of their own. Bicyclists that have participated in the Critical Mass rides have been mentally tortured by cops on scooters and many individual crimes against the riders that have serious implications if they can win over judge and jury. The damages they are seeking are hefty as well, $5 million each for fifteen cyclists. The only times that the judiciary has been involved was when the city tried to go after the riders, only to fail every single time. Now it is time to turn those proverbial tables around.

From OnNYTurf:

After years of on the street and legal harassment by the City of New York, Critical Mass cyclists are fighting back. Several cyclists who participated in the September, October, and November 2004 Critical Mass bike rides are back suing the city. 15 plaintiffs are seeking compensatory and punitive damages in excess of $5 Million Dollars EACH for violations of several constitutional rights including denial of free speech, false arrest, and denial of due process. The briefing filed with the court today contains bizzarro play by plays of slow speed chases between cyclists and impish cops on scooters. But make no mistake, the charges against the NYPD are serious and if proven damning:

Defendants created false information against plaintiffs.

Defendants forwarded false information to prosecutors in the Office of the District Attorney of New York County.

Defendants misled the prosecutors and/or the Court by providing false information and/or testimony in initiating and throughout the criminal proceedings.

Defendants failed to turn over exculpatory evidence and other materials to the prosecutor despite proper demands and/or requests for the same.

Defendants lacked probable cause to continue criminal proceedings against plaintiffs.

Defendants acted with malice in continuing criminal proceedings against plaintiffs.

Defendants’ selective enforcement of the parade permitting scheme, the New York State disorderly conduct statute, VTL § 1234, and/or their powers to retain plaintiffs’ bicycles against plaintiffs violated plaintiffs’ constitutional rights under the Fourth, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution.

And here is the PDF of their lawsuit.

The bikers deserve their day in court. The harassment endured from the NYPD has gone on long enough. Now it is the cops' turn to sweat it out.

The Friendliest Bike City Around?

I recently heard that New York City got third prize for being the best biking city in the country. How that came to be is besides me. NYC is a dangerous place to ride (or thrilling for some) where potholes, car doors and taxis can jump out at you at any moment. There are few bike lines and although the city is making an effort to increase the amount of lanes, there is another troubling problem. It is called the NYPD.

Not many people in the media talk about it, but the police here like to attack the Critical Mass bikeride that hopes to actually promote bicycle riding. Now I'm not talking about the savage brutality that occurred around the RNC meeting in 2004. Who cares what happened three years anyway, even if people were beaten and illegally detained? Well if you are as heartless as me, then maybe you'll consider what happened just a couple weeks ago:

About 70 riders regrouped and enjoyed a lovely ride for several miles before a rather nasty attack by the NYPD on scooters and other vehicles on 7th Avenue in the 23rd street area. Of the people detained, some were ticketed, some let go. Reportedly at least one person was arrested because she wasn't carrying identification.

Some riders regrouped and continued to ride, but were likely attacked again as cops were seen following them. A considerable amount of time later several cyclists walking down the sidewalk with their bikes were stopped by NYPD and ticketed for not having proper lights etc - a clear example of NYPD abuse.

Apparently, the past 3 months of cop-free NYC Critical Mass rides was too much for the NYPD and they were compelled to ratchet up their nasty illegal harassment of Critical Mass participants.

The cops just can't get enough of these cyclists, and the city could care less. If you call that being bike-friendly, I'd be afraid to see what the police would do if we weren't.

NYC Prosecutor Shows The Holes In Case Against Rev. Billy

The case against Reverend Billy has to be one of the dumbest on the dockets of NYC courtrooms. The story starts with the Reverend reciting the First Amendment at a rally for the.....First Amendent, also known as the Critical Mass Bikeride. This apparently angered the NYPD on the scene so they charged him with two phony counts of harassment against the arresting officers. The video of the incident clearly shows he wasn't.

Not only did the NYPD arrest him, the city is trying to convict him of the charges. Prosecutor Mary Weisgerber couldn't even get a good case together for the hearing, so she requested a delay until October 15th. Here's what went down in court on Tuesday.

From The New York Times:

In court yesterday, the prosecutor told Judge Tanya Kennedy that Mr. Talen’s offense had been to shout the familiar lines beginning with “Congress shall make no law” while standing just three feet from the officers, and to ignore their requests to stop. The prosecutor, Mary Weisgerber, said his behavior was “obnoxious” by any standard.

“That’s not true,” Mr. Talen piped up.

Outside of court, Mr. Talen — who says that his lungs are like bullhorns because he has had operatic training — maintained that he was about 15 feet from the officers and that his account was supported by a videotape of the episode that has been preserved on YouTube.

Thankfully when court comes back into session there will be nothing that the city's Attorney will have to offer. The judge has already agreed with Public Advocate Norman Siegel that the case will be dismissed pending the next trial date.

Arrested For Citing The First Amendment In NYC

Apparently talking about the Bill of Rights is now a crime in New York City. "Harassing a Public Official" is something you can be arrested for. Reverend Billy was charged with that and led away in handcuffs for using a bullhorn (not battery powered, as you can see in the photos) as he cited our so-called rights as stated in the Constitution. Shame on the NYPD and specifically Lieutenant Daniel Albano.

From ONNYTurf:

At Critical Mass on Friday the Reverend Billy was arrested for "Harassment of a Public Official". The Reverend was preaching about the First Amendment on the east side of the park near the north end, where the NYPD also parks a lineup of scooters before each Critical Mass.

Reverend Billy and his partner Savitri D were reciting the First Amendment to the United States Constitution to the gathered police force when Lieutenant Daniel Albano, head of the NYPD's Legal Division, ordered the Reverend's arrest and detention at the 13th Precinct station. It is believed Albano is the public official Reverend Billy has been charged with harassing. The arrest is representative of the Bloomberg/Kelly approach to law enforcement, where specious and hollow charges serve a political agenda at maximum inconvenience to the individual charged.

The Critical Mass ride did not start out from Union Square. Some people were ticketed as they entered the park on bikes... very weird. And riders dispersed from Union Square around 8:30 and regrouped elsewhere and then had a un-harassed ride starting around 9pm. The NYPD did not follow cyclists to the regroup site for some reason - perhaps the NYPD is less interested when the ride starts later. It is hard to say how the NYPD mind works.

How sad is it when the fragile egos of NYPD officers can help to damage our constitutional rights. Will we see Lieutenant Albano disciplined for this outrageous behavior? I'm not holding my breath.