Captain Todd Wyatt.(Photo © J. Maus) Todd Wyatt is the new captain of the Portland Police Bureau’s Traffic Division. Wyatt, 41, takes over the position from Eric Hendricks who held the position for just 13 months before being reassigned to a job in the Chief’s office. Wyatt comes to Traffic from his previous post as … Read more
Horse mounted cops survived budget process, bike mounted cops didn’t.(Photo © J. Maus) With the passage of the budget yesterday, a rare opportunity for the Portland Police Bureau to add bike patrol officers has passed us by. A proposal by the Police Bureau that surfaced back in January would have cut the PPB’s Mounted (horse) … Read more
Cops on bikes.(Photo © J. Maus) When it comes to police enforcement of bicycle traffic laws or bicycle collisions, discretion is very important. If you’ve watched the recent bicycle traffic enforcement video produced by the Portland Police Bureau, you’ll notice the concept figures prominently. PPB Bicycle Liaison Officer Robert Pickett opens the video with this: … Read more
The Portland Police Bureau has just released a new internal training video meant to educate officers about bike-related traffic laws. This is an internal training video for the Portland Police Bureau. It is narrated by Officer Robert Pickett, who serves as a liaison for bicycling issues, Bicycle Transportation Alliance advocate Michelle Poyourow, and a team … Read more
Streetsblog alerted us to this just-released training video for traffic enforcement officers in Chicago’s police department. It’s worth watching — in about ten minutes, it even-handedly explains the laws that govern both driving and bicycling in Chicago, with the frame of increasing bicycling safety as much as possible, and promoting a culture of respect on … Read more
Broadway and Flint.(Photo © J. Maus) A woman was handcuffed and placed under arrest this morning after she was stopped for running the stop sign at NE Flint and Broadway when she asked the police officer if she was required to show identification. She was subsequently issued a citation and released. Jessica Jarratt, 37, the … Read more
Robert Pickett.(Photo © J. Maus) So you’ve seen a nervous-looking young guy riding a too-small high-end racing bike down the street with shoes that definitely don’t match the clips. Or maybe you found a bike stashed behind your garage. Or your friend saw your long-lost steed locked to a pole downtown. What’s the right thing … Read more
Doing a double take at the closure of the entrance to a major bike route. (Photo by Scott Mizée / npGreenway in the BikePortland Photographers pool on Flickr) Yesterday morning we reported on the temporary closure of the Steel Bridge lower deck, a major walk and bike commute route, from early morning to around 2pm. … Read more
(Photo © J. Maus) The Portland Police Bureau sent three motorcycle cops to SE Clinton Street this morning to observe and enforce stop sign compliance at 34th and 21st Avenues. According to Traffic Division Lieutenant Bryan Parman, the “enforcement mission” (a.k.a. sting) came after his office received a complaint via email last week from a … Read more
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
Jason Charles Bush(Photo: Portland Police) We recently reported on a high-end bike theft from a Pearl District condo. This theft occurred during a period in which there seem to have been an unusual number of break-ins to bike storage areas in the Pearl. Police now have a suspect in the thefts. According to KGW, 28 … 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