Cop Investigated Over YouTube Video

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dmagro said:
I don't know enough about the incident to make a judgment.

The cop clearly ignored all kinds of bicyclists but for some reason or other very specifically targeted that individual, which would lead me to believe there's some reason behind it.
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Yea it really does seem strange but from the video the cop looks like he was in the wrong. I'd be interested to see some evidence on why he did it though.

Ockie said:
Should this be here in the tech forums?

Anyways, I'll just say what someone else said about this:

"We get these jerks riding in SF too. Their tendency to ride over pedestrians while protesting automobiles doesn't give them a lot of sympathy with me. From blowing through red lights, riding on the sidewalks and running down peds in cross-walks Critical Mass riders need to grow up a little and dummy up that they're not so precious."
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Don't know of the critical mass group but yea you have a lot of nut jobs on petal bikes. Perfect example is that chick in my state(Va) that stripped in walmart not to long ago because they wouldn't let her bring her bike into the store.

Ockie said:
That would qualify every youtube video that involves a cop.
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Nah a lot of police videos on youtube show the cops as the good guys. Most of them are just clips from the various police shows which are just used over and over again.

alienz said:
Wow, I can't believe anyone of you are defending that cop.

He was stripped of his badge and his gun. He clearly did something wrong there. Cops who shoot people in questionable situations don't get stripped like that.
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You do realize that in any bigger investigation of a police officer they are put on suspension(sometimes paid sometimes not) while it is going on. All they are saying is he is on a suspension pending the investigation. It means nothing.

Mind you the video is damming but you never know. Look at the Rodney King videos and have they were edited in the past making it look like the cops attacked someone doing nothing wrong(I'm not defending the cops actions there either but the media really was out to get them and went out to screw them over). I would like to know why he went just for that one guy. Just seems weird but you never know the cop could have just snapped.
 
Joe Average said:
Actually, in most states it's illegal to ride bicycles anywhere BUT the road. I see people riding bikes on the sidewalk at high speed here in Las Vegas so often, and I swear I tell you, I want to body check 'em so bad sometimes it's tough to hold back. At 6'6" 380 lbs... I could knock 'em clear off the bike, over a semi, and into the upper deck of a casino. :)

Bikes on pavement, people on concrete... as it should be. And for the complete retards that choose to ride bikes on the wrong side of the road into traffic, so be it. If they want to see "it" coming, more power to 'em.
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internettoughguywn2.jpg



Thanks for your threat of violence toward me for being a cyclist. Maybe I didn't make myself clear; I am strictly off-road, as in trails and not busy sidewalks. Obviously the same problems (vastly different speeds for one) that make cycling in the road unsafe apply to cycling on a busy sidewalk.
 
Filter said:
a different cop could of told him to stop down the street and he could of got a call over the radio. the cop looked like he knew which one it was.
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Just to repeat. The cop that did the takedown stated that the guy was weaving in and out of traffic causing issues. There was no other cop "down the street". He made the decision to take this guy down himself with no warning. Cops fault end of story.

And for those saying the biker moved into the cop. Guess you guys have never rode a bike faster then 5mph.
 
theystolemyname said:
Thanks for your threat of violence toward me for being a cyclist. Maybe I didn't make myself clear; I am strictly off-road, as in trails and not busy sidewalks. Obviously the same problems (vastly different speeds for one) that make cycling in the road unsafe apply to cycling on a busy sidewalk.
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I think he was referring to the rude inconsiderate cyclists that are "riding bikes on the sidewalk at high speed here in Las Vegas so often", not the super cool off-roaders like yourself.
 
cops stateside have been getting out of hand recently.... in a recent trip to london, i noticed that a) cops there are cool b) they dont carry guns
 
At least the cop didn't tased the guy.

I think the use of such force is justifiable in a few situations, and I have a feeling this isn't one of them. A fatal head injury could have occurred and then what? It doesn't look like the biker was assaulting the guy since the cop picked up his pacing towards the biker just to push him. Maybe the biker assaulted a cop earlier, who knows? If it isn't the case, then the NYPD has some weird interpretation of assault.
 
There's already a thread started in the soapbox.

You can't just go off of what the video shows as that's only capturing a small section of what happened. For all we know that cyclist did something earlier. When you watch that video, the cop pays no attention to any other cyclist but zeroes right in on this particular guy. Once he does knock him down a crowd of people block the camera then a few seconds later the video ends.

The video does not show conclusive evidence either way. For all we know what the cop had in his report is true. He did use excessive for only a traffic violation. That was way over the top, but people gotta stop saying the video says it all when it clearly doesn't.
 
wow, just wow.

you people who are defending that cop need to go watch "THEY LIVE"

get the idea.
 
Techx said:
yea thats a douchebag cop for you.. hope he gets whats comin to him
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The worst part is half the police are like that. Most are just not stupid enough to do it while they are being filmed.

All arrests should be recorded.
 
I hate faggy cyclists.. but i hate cops... so i dont know who to barack for....

cyclists fine.. those logo-wearing trying to look like im sponsored for riding around the streets when really im just a fag people piss me off... i like putting sticks in the spokes of their wheels...

good on yah new york cop ;) bust up that fag..
 
theystolemyname said:
Thanks for your threat of violence toward me for being a cyclist. Maybe I didn't make myself clear; I am strictly off-road, as in trails and not busy sidewalks. Obviously the same problems (vastly different speeds for one) that make cycling in the road unsafe apply to cycling on a busy sidewalk.
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does your riding gear have logos plastered all over it???? are you actually sponsored or just a fag??
 
sorry i didnt realise you were off-road strictly... thats fine.. im cool with that.. sorry
 
gaspah said:
does your riding gear have logos plastered all over it???? are you actually sponsored or just a fag??
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We (cyclists) wear that riding gear to support our favorite cycling team or just because we like the cool colors or because we feel like we should wear bright colors to help motorists see us better. We do this so that we can make it home safely to our mothers, fathers, children, spouses. Please consider that before you show more hatred towards a group of people just trying to enjoy a ride home without becoming a grease spot on the road because we delayed you for 30 seconds.

Theystolemyname.......I am an on and off road cyclist and my desire to ride the road is as great as your desire to ride trails. We both face challenges to enjoy our given hobbies. Any of your favorite trails disappear lately to a shopping center or designated as off-limits to MTB? You are right that bikes don't belong on the sidewalk. The answer is that when a road is built, then accommodations need to be made for bikes (bike lane or bike path) and cars and bikes sharing the road. (cars not driving close to me to teach me a "lesson" and bikes not blowing through red lights and pissing off drivers)

I agree that cyclists need to obey the rules of the road, but a little more tolerance by all will get everyone home safely.
 
gaspah said:
does your riding gear have logos plastered all over it???? are you actually sponsored or just a fag??
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You're my hero... :rolleyes:

Take a look at the shirt you're wearing, does it have a logo or brand name on it? Most likely. The bright colors and logos help break up light from showing through to what's underneath..aka...my hair and skin. If you'd love to see my hairy rear I can arrange something more personal.

I do not understand why people have such disdain for ALL cyclists, even those that have broken no traffic laws. When I used to ride we would have to do it early on Saturday mornings when no one was awake because people were always throwing crap at us or literally trying to hit us. We rode off the main streets and obeyed all traffic laws so that there was no reason whatsoever for anyone to do or say anything. As much as I loved how good the exercise was I finally quit because it was too dangerous.

I had no visions of racing in the Tour De France or anything of the sort, I was just trying to exercise and enjoy the outdoors a bit. Motorists are freakin scary nowadays.

Back on topic. The officer made no attempt to inform the cyclist that he wanted him to stop. Some of you are making too much of what we can't see. It really doesn't matter a whole lot because what we should be paying attention to is in the police report.

No warning, nothing, just a body check to the ground. If he was endangering lives or something much more dangerous other than break minor traffic laws then the actions could be justified to some extent. Judging by what he was charged with, misdemeanor traffic violations, it seems the officer was not justified in the least.
As someone above said, this would be similar to an officer ramming his car into you to get you to pull over, without any lights/sirens or warning of any kind.

The biggest issue I have with this is that the officer could have easily killed the cyclist with that hit. 15-25 mph on a bike is more than enough speed to do an incredible amount of damage.
 
gaspah said:
I hate faggy cyclists.. but i hate cops... so i dont know who to barack for....

cyclists fine.. those logo-wearing trying to look like im sponsored for riding around the streets when really im just a fag people piss me off... i like putting sticks in the spokes of their wheels...

good on yah new york cop ;) bust up that fag..
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I can't wait until high school starts again.
 
wickedld9 said:
I do not understand why people have such disdain for ALL cyclists, even those that have broken no traffic laws.
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Amen to that. If a pickup truck cuts you off in traffic, does that make you hate ALL pickup trucks from this point on? I average 3500-4000 road miles a season, obey traffic laws, ride on lightly traveled roads during off hours, and demonstrate as much courtesy as practical to the vehicles around me. Yet I'm normally lumped in with these Critical Mass jackasses who really accomplish nothing other than increasing the public's stigma toward cyclists in general. The overwhelming majority of cyclists are not them and don't want to be.
 
twatt said:
There's already a thread started in the soapbox.

You can't just go off of what the video shows as that's only capturing a small section of what happened. For all we know that cyclist did something earlier. When you watch that video, the cop pays no attention to any other cyclist but zeroes right in on this particular guy. Once he does knock him down a crowd of people block the camera then a few seconds later the video ends.

The video does not show conclusive evidence either way. For all we know what the cop had in his report is true. He did use excessive for only a traffic violation. That was way over the top, but people gotta stop saying the video says it all when it clearly doesn't.
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You make a good point. I noticed that the cop looked for him, left the other bikers with ample opportunity.

One thing I hate about the anit-police camera guys is that they typically only film from a very biased perspective.

Like you said, for all we know, he might have done something obscene or broke the law before hand. The cyclist did seem to kinda go far out to avoid him.
 
Ockie said:
You make a good point. I noticed that the cop looked for him, left the other bikers with ample opportunity.

One thing I hate about the anit-police camera guys is that they typically only film from a very biased perspective.

Like you said, for all we know, he might have done something obscene or broke the law before hand. The cyclist did seem to kinda go far out to avoid him.
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I'm not sure I understand what your looking for from this video. This video was not captured by someone from CM, this is a tourist shot video in NYC. I would say this is not likely an anti-police video.

If you spent any time around bikes or cyclists in general, you would know that if there is something in your path then you make a pretty wide arc around it. Nothing like catching a pedal on something and flipping face first into the concrete. Also if you notice he is getting ready to go over that drain, you want to have a fairly solid line going so that when your tire comes up your momentum doesn't pull it too far out of line with the rest of the bike or you will crash.
 
wickedld9 said:
If you spent any time around bikes or cyclists in general, you would know that if there is something in your path then you make a pretty wide arc around it. Nothing like catching a pedal on something and flipping face first into the concrete. Also if you notice he is getting ready to go over that drain, you want to have a fairly solid line going so that when your tire comes up your momentum doesn't pull it too far out of line with the rest of the bike or you will crash.
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My point exactly. None of the other cycilists "arc"ed around them, some very little. This guy went way out.

The drain cover reinforces my theory too.

I'm just not going to call out on this cop until I hear the rest of the story. There are tons of videos of people accusing cops of wrongdoing but it's just a bunch of punks looking for trouble.


While this video may not be an anti-police video, it sure does give a very short insight of what happened. Does anyone have a longer version that I'm not aware of?
 
The cyclist did seem to kinda go far out to avoid him.
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I would go out of my away to avoid hitting a cop with my bike too....

The cop didn't point and tell him to stop. He used what could easily be found to be deadly force. So the guy on the bike better have warranted it. If he didn't do anything to warrant the use of deadly force then the cop should be thrown in jail. But that's the point of the investigation. They havn't damned the cop yet. With the video out there, the cop that was sitting next to him will tell the truth or risk his job too.
 
vengence said:
I would go out of my away to avoid hitting a cop with my bike too....

The cop didn't point and tell him to stop. He used what could easily be found to be deadly force. So the guy on the bike better have warranted it. If he didn't do anything to warrant the use of deadly force then the cop should be thrown in jail. But that's the point of the investigation. They havn't damned the cop yet. With the video out there, the cop that was sitting next to him will tell the truth or risk his job too.
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I agree with you there, if the cop did it out of no reasoning.... that cop is going to lose a whole lot more than a gun and badge.
 
In his sworn statement (report) the officer says that the cyclist tried to use the bike as a weapon to run him down. If you look at the video 23 seconds in the poor sap comes into frame. Look at his position on the street and where the officer is. At 24 seconds in you can see him clearly starting his arc to go outside the position of the officer, and had the officer stopped as anyone else not intending to cause bodily harm would, he would have gone around the officer. He then tries to pull up straight to avoid the sizeable bump in the road and the officer takes him down. At the speed he was going that bump could easily flip a bike, or would likely cause a flat tire or wheel damage.
 
Ugh.....where's the edit button??

This looks like a few things going on. First of all, the CM thing is stupid. They should have designated routes before hand and do this in off hours. Second, the biker had no intention of hurting anyone, he was trying to go around the officer and at the same time preserve his own safety. Third, most non-cyclists are cocky a-holes. They do everything that they can to make you uncomfortable when you're going by, including stopping directly in your path. Combine this attitude with a young officer and you have a bad combination, as we've seen.
 
To me it looked like all the bikers tried to avoid the cop with about the same amount of arc. I didn't see this guy trying to get away from him more. All i seen was the cop kept moving closer and closer to the crowd. This guy had more time to arc then some of the others so he was a little further than some, but didn't come off to me to be moving that much more away from the cop than anyone else.

However I did notice that there didn't seem to be anyone behind him. That could be why he was singled out. Had the cop took out the first few dozen people, he would have be hit by a lot of other people. This guy was in the back, with nobody else around him or anyone right behind him. This made him the perfect target.

I don't think that these people should have been in the street like that, but I feel this cop was in the wrong. I don't think that this biker did anything more than any of the other bikers, but that he was singled out just due to his location in the pack and not due to any action above what the rest were doing in their protest.
 
And I would have got away with it if it wasn't for those pesky tourists, protest recorders taping it, and their little dog too!!!

I'm sure if they weren't caught on camera, the bicyclist would been charged with endangering a law enforcement officer, and then reckless driving.

I don't have much appreciation for the law enforcement (mainly Highway patrol) as I did before last week, since they gave me a ticket (along with the other 500 people that didn't see the alleged 3 perfectly clear signs that stated no right hand turn on red between 4 and 7pm), they aren't as nice as the police back home in the UK, at least they would actually show you what you didn't see, instead of having to take their word for it ("cos I am the law", judge Dredd mentality) like here.

Oh and I went back and checked the signs, two of them you wouldn't notice because A. They are bloody tiny, and not painted to attract your attention (if it was painted day-glow red, or bright orange then I wouldn't be able to miss it) and B. they are not actually at the intersection, only the third one below the right hand turn sign is visible from the line, but you would have to sit there and look for it in order to see it and read it, and since it was clear of traffic I made my turn like any other right hand turn at an intersection, the DMV handbook should at least show what these signs should look like and then I would know what I'm looking for, I shouldn't have to guess...I could understand their problem if I went through the traffic flow lights at the end of the off ramp but fortunately I'm not that stupid.
 
Outamyhead said:
And I would have got away with it if it wasn't for those pesky tourists, protest recorders taping it, and their little dog too!!!

I'm sure if they weren't caught on camera, the bicyclist would been charged with endangering a law enforcement officer, and then reckless driving.

I don't have much appreciation for the law enforcement (mainly Highway patrol) as I did before last week, since they gave me a ticket (along with the other 500 people that didn't see the alleged 3 perfectly clear signs that stated no right hand turn on red between 4 and 7pm), they aren't as nice as the police back home in the UK, at least they would actually show you what you didn't see, instead of having to take their word for it ("cos I am the law", judge Dredd mentality) like here.

Oh and I went back and checked the signs, two of them you wouldn't notice because A. They are bloody tiny, and not painted to attract your attention (if it was painted day-glow red, or bright orange then I wouldn't be able to miss it) and B. they are not actually at the intersection, only the third one below the right hand turn sign is visible from the line, but you would have to sit there and look for it in order to see it and read it, and since it was clear of traffic I made my turn like any other right hand turn at an intersection, the DMV handbook should at least show what these signs should look like and then I would know what I'm looking for, I shouldn't have to guess...I could understand their problem if I went through the traffic flow lights at the end of the off ramp but fortunately I'm not that stupid.
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So you missed 3 signs and you're complaining you got a ticket?

What exactly are you doing when you're driving?
 
No I'm complaining that the signs are both tiny and not made in a way to attract your attention to them, let's say like a stop sign, you can't miss those and it's in a huge print and bright red, I cannot however read a sign that's about 2/3 length of the stop sign, just has the regular black and white print, and about a 60 feet across the other side of the intersection where I'm not going, so really there are only two signs of any use and they are not readable once your at the turn unless your behind another car as it is set back 1 foot from the line and not angled for the driver at the line to read.

And I had the wife with me, so there's a distraction already.

Oh well it's the first ticket I have had since I started driving in the UK back in 1996, and I have been here for 3 years almost without any problems, hopefully that's the last one I get too.
 
EvilTwinSkippy said:
Amen to that. If a pickup truck cuts you off in traffic, does that make you hate ALL pickup trucks from this point on? I average 3500-4000 road miles a season, obey traffic laws, ride on lightly traveled roads during off hours, and demonstrate as much courtesy as practical to the vehicles around me. Yet I'm normally lumped in with these Critical Mass jackasses who really accomplish nothing other than increasing the public's stigma toward cyclists in general. The overwhelming majority of cyclists are not them and don't want to be.
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As I'm sure you are aware the public in general will take a small portion of people and generalize them as the whole. As many drivers don't see a lot of people biking the ones they do stick out. You go driving accross town you will see a few dozen trucks. Chances are you will see maybe 1 biker.

The issue is that while you might be a biker that respects the traffic laws a lot don't. I watch the guys on bikes downtown run lights, fly down sidewalks, etc. Do a lot of bikers respect others? Sure they do. A lot seem to think they own the road though. Those are also the ones that seem to think the laws don't apply to them.
 
The Fucking Oinker is guilty of assualt, pure and simple. Gee, he didn't like the fact the bike people were defying his will that they go away, bummer. Sucks to be a moron oinker who noone listens to. The bike rider is guilty of nothing beyond maybe some civil traffic infractions.

Reminds me of Kevin Bacon in Animal house... "All is well... remain calm... ALL IS WELL!!!" With a little "Nedermeyer" tossed in for good measure.

Hey fat fuck oinker, come try and knock me over, ya pussy.

At least he didn't shoot some unarmed goofball 41 times for pulling out his wallet.

Don't get me wrong, Bikes don't belong on the streets, we have CARS for that. If he'd of been run over by a cabbie I'd have little sympathy.

Hey, send Robert Novac down to deal with these people, he's got a cow-catcher on the front of his corvette. :eek::rolleyes::p
 
Outamyhead said:
No I'm complaining that the signs are both tiny and not made in a way to attract your attention to them, let's say like a stop sign, you can't miss those and it's in a huge print and bright red, I cannot however read a sign that's about 2/3 length of the stop sign, just has the regular black and white print, and about a 60 feet across the other side of the intersection where I'm not going, so really there are only two signs of any use and they are not readable once your at the turn unless your behind another car as it is set back 1 foot from the line and not angled for the driver at the line to read.

And I had the wife with me, so there's a distraction already.

Oh well it's the first ticket I have had since I started driving in the UK back in 1996, and I have been here for 3 years almost without any problems, hopefully that's the last one I get too.
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I'm not sure how the laws work in UK, but there are regulations for street signs here in the US. Take a picture of the street signs, their placement, and then check out the material. Check that against the regulations to make sure the size and material are up to spec.
 
SelousSizzle said:
It's in the tech section because it is technology being used to police the police.

I'm glad someone was around to video tape this as the story the officer gave was completely different from what the video shows. It is obvious to me that this officer was abusing his power.
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Every time I see something like this it makes me feel more and more that we are moving twords a Nazi style police state. My grandfather took a bayonet in the stomach in WW2 to help keep us living in a free land, and I feel way to many americans are just far too eager to give up freedoms for security. The police are supposed to "protect and serve" but far to many let there power go to there heads. The shit eating cops here in Spokane recently tazered a guy who was threatening to jump off our Monroe street bridge. They failed to then detain the obviously insane individual and he managed to get up and jump off the bridge. This individual had a history of making threats like this, but when he lived in Seattle the cops would talk him down with a cup of coffee.

This kind of thing really makes me very upset. Every time I see a video like this, or read an article about some cop or politician abusing there authority I get all worked up and I got hit the punching bag and lift weights in my garage. I figure otherwise I'm just gonna be pissed off all the time. I'm really upset about the way things seem to be heading in our country, cops bodychecking people off bikes, shoving skateboarders down, talking on cellphones while they are driving etc, but I'm not sure what to do about it. Any of you guys have any constructive suggestions?
 
wows that is crazy. fuckin'-a damn cops. thats attempted murder right there. yeah it is just a short video and u dont' get all of the story, but jesus anyone here that defends that cop, i bet u a cold day in hell you wouldn't if the cop had pushed u off your bike ;) :p
 
wickedld9 said:
In his sworn statement (report) the officer says that the cyclist tried to use the bike as a weapon to run him down...
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Source?
Okay, so assuming this is true, seems like the officer is guilty of gross misconduct, along with a couple other charges. They better have his badge and gun.

[
killingfield1975 said:
exactly what i said.
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An officer of the law flagrantly oversteps his authority, and all you have to say is 'nice hit.'

It amazes me that so many are cracking jokes about this, while so little of us are getting upset about the state of our country, where something like this is a joking matter.

I weep for the future.
 
Playing Devil's advocate here:

[BEING]

Had they not been protesting illegally, this wouldn't have happened (cop wouldn't body-check you at your dinner table). ALL the protesters were breaking the law in several ways (no permit to protests, failure to obey traffic laws, running a red light) so technically ANYTHING that happened to them after that point....

[/END Devil's Advocacy]


heh...:D
 
swatbat said:
A lot seem to think they own the road though. Those are also the ones that seem to think the laws don't apply to them.
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Agree completely, some of the guys in one of the groups I regularly ride with like to pick and choose when to comply with traffic laws and unfortunately their actions, while not representative of the group, reflect on everyone in it. However, my point is that a few bad cyclists are just that and shouldn't be the standard for the prevalent attitude toward cyclists in general.

Did this guy break any laws? Possibly. Was the action of the officer in any way justified in relation to the law or laws that may have been violated? Unless the cyclist ran over a baby or committed some sort of felonious assault there's no justification for body slamming him like that. If he committed such acts he sure wasn't in much of a hurry to get away so somehow I doubt it.

(BTW good case in point to NEVER ride without a helmet!)
 
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