[Photo Kerrke Yu] The calm and civility that has long been the hallmark of Portland’s Critical Mass ride was shattered last Friday. According to a report and photos on Indymedia there were several arrests that got out of hand. As usual, there are several different accounts of what happened. One says the riders instigated the … Read more
[Meet your new Sheriff (maybe).Click to enlarge] Last week, the Willamette Week ran a photo of Multnomah County Sheriff write-in candidate Paul Van Orden holding a helmet. Since then, several people have emailed and called me saying this guy is the real deal and that I should interview him. I eventually heard from Paul himself. … Read more
[Captain Marty Rowley] According to a statement on the Police Bureau website, Interim Police Chief Rosie Sizer has just named Central Precinct Captain Marty Rowley the new Commander of the Traffic Division. Rowley takes over for a retiring Bill Sinnott and the change is effective April 13. The Commander of the Traffic Division is a … Read more
Six Portland Police officers from the Traffic Division recently underwent a comprehensive, 40-hour pedestrian and bicycle crash investigation course offered by the Institute of Police and Technology Management (IPTM) in Jacksonville Florida. According to IPTM literature, the course addressed the special dynamics involved in pedestrian and bicycle traffic crashes. From reaction times to victim injury … Read more
Right now the Chief of Police and Mayor Tom Potter are working to find a new Commander of the Traffic Division to replace the retiring Bill Sinnott. Bill was an ally to the bike community and we need to make sure his successor is just as open and willing to work with us. This position … Read more
What the heck is going on? Seems like every time I log on there are more stolen bikes to publish. There are 107 listed so far and I’m averaging about one a day for the past 2 months…and that’s only what gets listed here! There are surely many other bikes stolen throughout the city every … Read more
[L to R: Sinnott, Jeff Bernards and Dat Nguyen] After more than 25 years with the Portland Police Bureau, Traffic Division Commander Bill Sinnott will move on to a new career. Sinnott was a tremendous ally of the bike community. He was open and sincere about working with us to find solutions and ease the … Read more
[*Update: Here’s a link to the story and video from the KATU TV news coverage] Just got back from this morning’s Traffic Enforcement Action that was held at the intersection of NE Knott and 7th. These actions are a joint effort between the City of Portland Office of Transportation and the Portland Police Bureau. The … Read more
The Portland Police are planning another traffic enforcement action next Wednesday (the 22nd) at the intersection of NE Knott and 7th from 7:30 to 10:30AM. They call this an “Intersection Safety Enforcement Action” and they’ll be looking for motorists, cyclists, or pedestrians who fail to come to a complete stop. Here’s what happened the last … Read more
[Check to see if your bike is listed] A few days ago, a BikePortland.org reader noticed his stolen bike listed on Craigslist. Eager for revenge on the suspected thief he contacted the seller. Turns out the seller was a nice guy who had unknowingly bought the bike through the Police on eBay. Turns out that … Read more
The Portland Police staged an unannounced stop sign enforcement action this morning in inner southeast Portland. Unlike previous “enforcement actions” that were highly publicized beforehand and with signage in the road, this morning’s operation was more covert and unexpected. Check out the reaction to it on the Shift email list and a bit more, including … Read more
The LDTMA (Lloyd District Transportation Management Association) recently held an open forum to discuss bike issues in the Lloyd District area. They invited several NE Precinct police officers and traffic division commander Bill Sinnott. During the Q&A session, someone asked to see a list of the most common bicycle infractions and the cost for each … Read more
Comment of the Week: Winning over a palm tree skeptic