Massive fun and no cops needed

I just read a nightmare story the other day where a police officer knocked a child trailer over during a CM, so I can understand parents’ reluctance to bring their children on these kinds of things.

Here’s a photo I took of our local (and friendly) bike patrol last night.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bike/37519687/

Many many bikes at this Friday night festival.

I moved my family to Portland just over a month ago, partially because of the bike scene. We would love to ride a Critical Mass, but are wary of the rather large police presence.

This seems like a peaceful thing. Did something happen in the past? What gives?

Brad:

Welcome to Portland! Thanks for your comment. Critical Mass is a peaceful thing and you would have a great time if you came to the next one. However I understand your concern with the police presence.

I’m not an authority on Portland’s CM history, but I have put out an email to some folks in the bike community who know more. From what I have heard things went very well without cops for many years until the reign of Mayor Vera Katz. She abruptly decided to “crack down” on the ride for some reason (of which I’m not clear) and the remnants of her decision are still with us today.

For several months now, riders and the police and been holding meetings to discuss the issues and I hope the result of those meetings is the end of the police presence.

Thanks for reading and commenting…your voice is appreciated and valued.

[…] I’ve been having all sorts of internal struggles with my feelings about cops lately. Part of me is holding onto my long-held distrust of them and my feelings that they just “don’t get” cyclists and therefore treat us with negative bias. I’ve had my confrontations with them on Critical Mass and have generally not cared much for them in the past. […]

[…] As usual, there are several different accounts of what happened. One says the riders instigated the arrests with their disrespect of the police and the law, while another side says the treatment from the cops was totally out of line. Unfortunately I wasn’t on the ride so I can’t relay my perspective. However, I can say that I have lived on both sides of this equation. On past rides I have had heated disagreements with the cops and have advocated for them to leave the ride alone. At the same time, as many of you know, I have built relationships with several members of the Traffic Division and I have worked with others in the bike community to turn these relationships into a better understanding of cyclists and Critical Mass in general. […]