Bicycle Austin forum

chavela

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Registered: 2008-06-03

Posts: 55

LAPD officers accused of clashing with bicyclists relieved of duty

LAPD officers accused of clashing with bicyclists relieved of duty during probe
By Kate Linthicum Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

June 2, 2010 | 11:54 a.m.

Four police officers involved in a clash with cyclists in Hollywood during a mass bicycle ride have been removed from the field while investigators review the incident, an LAPD official said Wednesday.

Police launched an internal investigation into the Friday night episode after a video circulated that appeared to show an officer kicking at a passing bicyclist during a protest ride against BP's role in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, said Cmdr. Andrew Smith.

Officers were at the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue to ticket cyclists who failed to stop at red lights, he said.

The video, which was posted on YouTube with the title "Hollywood Cops Attack Bike Riders," inflamed many bicycle activists, who have complained about mistreatment at the hands of the LAPD. Several dozen cyclists complained to officials Tuesday at a monthly meeting of the city's bicycle advisory committee.

Among the attendees was LAPD Chief Charlie Beck, who told cyclists the investigation would be a "high-priority issue," said Aurisha Smolarski of the Los Angeles Bicycle Coalition. Officers took statements from witnesses at the meeting. At a meeting with bicycling activists in February, Beck vowed to make the LAPD more responsive to the rights of cyclists and to have officers crack down on motorists who disrespected cyclists' right to the road.

MichaelBluejay

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From: Austin, TX

Registered: 2008-05-26

Posts: 1,455

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Re: LAPD officers accused of clashing with bicyclists relieved of duty

Huh, that's a coincidence for me, since I recently spent a month in an apartment just one block from that intersection.  (It's half a block from where they held the Academy Awards, by the way.)  Missing Personz had it right when they sang "Nobody walks in L.A."  Not only does everyone drive, but they drive fast, and they run red lights like they could get a prize for doing so.  Once when I and other peds were crossing a street on foot, one driver stopped properly because the sign said "No Right Turn on Red", but the woman behind her just LAID on her horn, angry that the person in front was stopping on red, even though it was required by law and even though there were peds in the crosswalk.  I quickly started thinking of the sidewalk as the safe island in a super-dangerous environment, as though the street was made out of molten lava or something.  But then one of the first nights I was there, just a block or two from this same intersection mentioned in the article, I saw an impatient motorist *drive down the sidewalk* so he wouldn't have to wait at a a red light.  So man, you're not safe even on the sidewalk there.  I thought Austin motorists were bad, but L.A. is terrible.

McChris

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From: Blackland

Registered: 2008-10-31

Posts: 36

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Re: LAPD officers accused of clashing with bicyclists relieved of duty

one driver stopped properly because the sign said "No Right Turn on Red", but the woman behind her just LAID on her horn, angry that the person in front was stopping on red, even though it was required by law and even though there were peds in the crosswalk.

I don't doubt that LA is a pedestrian-hostile environment, but I've seen that happen at 6th and Lamar. My favorite is the left-on-four-way-red that happens routinely at Dean Keeton and University.