The Portland Police Bureau Traffic Division has chosen a new captain. Officer Eric Hendricks, who has been in the bureau for 23 years and was most recently in charge of its Training Division, will now lead the Traffic Division. Assistant Chief and former Traffic Division Captain Larry O’Dea shared the news with me yesterday and … Read more
Oregonian columnist Steve Duin. Oregonian columnist Steve Duin has published pointed criticisms directed at the Portland Police Bureau’s handling of the Freedom Child bike light case in his column today. Freedom Child is the 57-year old St. Johns woman who was involved with an altercation with two Police officers back in 2003. Child claims she … Read more
Police say Child ignored their requests to stop after they saw her riding in the street without lights. They say when she ran to a house, they chased her down and took her into custody on her porch using reasonable force.— From The Oregonian The Oregonian reported Monday night that a 57 year-old St. Johns … Read more
Rep. Jim Oberstar, speakingat the opening night dinner.(Photo © J. Maus) Representative Jim Oberstar (D-MN) — the man whose passion for Safe Routes to Schools helped establish it as a national priority in America — is now throwing his energy behind a new idea. And, as Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee that … Read more
Phil Sano and his lawyer John Gutbezahl faced Judge Youlee Yim You for day two of the trial. (Photo © Elly Blue) It’s day two of the Phil Sano Taser Trial and I’ve been in the courtroom since about 8:30am. Yesterday, I took notes using the email program on my phone and Jonathan was able … Read more
Photo from the scene on June 10th, 2008.(Photo: Ian Stude) Back in June, Portlander Phil Sano was tackled and then Tasered repeatedly by two Portland Police Bureau officers while riding his bicycle on SE 7th Avenue. The police maintain he failed to obey their orders and then resisted arrest. Sano says they failed to identify … Read more
“…approaches are sometimes different, and misunderstandings likely because we are all human — regardless of whether we wear a stretchy bicycle jersey or an itchy police uniform.”— From a public statement issued by the City Attorney’s office as part of a settlement reached in the Ainsworth Incident Traffic citations given to two men who were … Read more
Ellee Thalheimer is a new contributing writer to BikePortland. Her most recent story was a product review of women’s bike shorts designed for utility and fashion. Ellee is a yoga instructor and travel writer living in Southeast Portland. Check out her author page here. We covered the beginnings of the Share the Road Safety Class; … Read more
This morning, Portland Police Bureau Public Information Officer Brian Schmautz officially announced his retirement. Schmautz has been at the center of some issues between how the Police Bureau has handled several bike-related incidents. I’ll have more thoughts on this on the front page soon, but in the meantime, here’s the announcement he sent to regional … Read more
“This will adequately address the inequity of this situation and show the community that bicyclists will not be punished for riding legally on the streets of Portland.” — Lawyer Christopher Heaps The lawyer for two men who were ticketed for riding their bikes on NE Ainsworth last month is imploring city leaders and the police … Read more
Sergeant Brian Schmautz, the Public Information Officer for the Portland Police Bureau has left a detailed comment in response to our story on the Ainsworth incident. On Saturday, several members of the PSU Cycling Club were riding on Ainsworth when they were allegedly passed dangerously by a Portland Police Officer. According to witnesses that saw … Read more
PSU Cycling Club president Reuben Vyn and Officer Pryce.(Photos: Peter Welte) Two members of the PSU Cycling Club got a lot more than they bargained for while riding along NE Ainsworth yesterday. According to witnesses, Club president Reuben Vyn was riding along with six other members of the club on NE Ainsworth near NE 23rd … Read more