Police Misconduct
Streetsblog Basics
Is an NYPD Bike Crackdown Underway?
Even before the NYPD identified a hooded cyclist as the this morning's likely Times Square bomber, two reports of bike commuters being ticketed and harassed by the police have already hit the Streetsblog inbox. Perhaps it's just that the weather's getting nicer and more people happen to be out on bikes but at least one cyclist says an officer told him that the police are gearing up yet another organized "crack down" on cyclists.
March 6, 2008
Badda Bing! NYPD “Taking Care of” New Parking Placards
A commenter on Uncivilservants.org noticed that Mayor Bloomberg's attempt to reign in parking permit abuse is already being met with some good old-fashioned NYPD blowback:
January 30, 2008
Kitty Justice: The Thai Solution for Police Parking Placard Abuse
Top brass at the NYPD usually (but not always) cast a blind eye toward police officers who show disregard for the city's parking regulations. It's a sharp contrast to the NYPD's "broken windows" school of policing, which promotes aggressive enforcement against minor scofflaws (like my friend Katie who recently spent a night in the box for a supposedly unpaid off-leash dog walking summons).
January 3, 2008
For Victim’s Family, a $10 Fee and an Agonizing Wait
In the weeks since their daughter lost her life on a Lower Manhattan street, Hope Miller's parents have learned to be patient.
November 29, 2007
NYPD Emerges as New Focus for NYC’s Livable Streets Movement
Arrest Her! T.A. membership coordinator Abby King tears up the streets on a "sport utility bicycle."
November 27, 2007
Riding While Black or Just Riding?
From Robert Jones's blog This Is the Diaspora comes a disturbing tale (well worth reading in full) of how a beautiful bike ride on a sparkling fall day turned into a humiliating encounter with the police -- all because Jones detoured onto the sidewalk of Malcolm X Boulevard in Brooklyn for a few seconds to avoid traffic:
November 8, 2007
Officer Convicted in Beating Was Handing Off Parking Placard
From the New York Times, via an eagle-eyed Streetsblog tipster:
August 21, 2007
Ungrateful Liberal Scum, “We Do Not Summons Our Own.”
A certain sense of entitlement emerges in the UncivilServants comments section. Posted verbatim, no spelling check:
March 28, 2007
Ding Dong Bruce Smolka’s Gone
Newsday is reporting that NYPD Assistant Chief Bruce Smolka has filed for retirement. Smolka is reknowned for his needlessly aggressive tactics in breaking up peaceful political demonstrations, his disregard of basic civil rights and his all-too-frequent abusiveness towards women. In one infamous video he was caught kicking a female demonstrator in the head at a May 2003 sit-in.
January 24, 2007