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| Vol 3 No. 18, Oct
2 - Oct 8 2002 | |||||||||
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-NEWS-
| NO NEWS
IS GOOD NEWS Police Mind Ps & Qs at Critical Mass by Anna Bond
About 80 police and 1500
bicyclists prepared for last Friday's Critical Mass as if readying for the
big Friday night football game. With both hot-headed rhetoric and promises
not to yield to the other, each side geared up to square off. At the
previous Critical Mass one month earlier, the bicycle ride dissolved into
chaos as officers mingled with the crowd, tackling bicyclists, and firing
rubber bullets and pepper spray.
But for the most part, last week's Critical Mass went off with few
scuffles. For a summer that had witnessed increasing hostility from cops,
it was a peaceful ending, perhaps one that left demonstrators with the
upper hand.
As cyclists gathered at the waterfront for September's Critical Mass
ride, Portland police officers distributed a flyer making it clear that
they would be "taking enforcement action for violations of the Oregon
Criminal, City, and Vehicle Codes." In bold type, the bottom of the
Xeroxed circular cited an Oregon law that makes it illegal to interfere
with "the lawful duties of a peace officer," and stated that doing so
makes one subject to arrest or force (specifically including "chemical
agents").
But such threats and preparations proved largely unnecessary. Although
a candidate for Portland's largest Critical Mass ever, last Friday's ride
was peaceful and, to a large extent, law-abiding. As two news helicopters
circled overhead, three arrests were made (two for interfering with
police, one for biking drunk) and, according to police spokesman Brian
Schmautz, "officers used pepper spray on one person in the last few
minutes."
During August's ride, there were nine arrests, and police allegedly
employed both pepper spray and rubber bullets freely. Expecting the worst,
the police force, largely on bicycles themselves, had little more than an
opportunity to exercise their legs and their ticketing hands. More than 50
citations were issued, with several riders receiving multiple tickets.
Though police cited city ordinances in order to ticket and arrest, the
majority of officers in yellow police bike jerseys neglected the city
ordinances requiring them to wear visible name tags. One
officer, when confronted about his violation, pantomimed looking for his
name tag with mock horror. When asked, he did give his name and badge
number. Other officers ignored bicyclists who asked for this information,
or responded, "It's on the ticket!" before riding away.
Friday's riders were prepared for conflicts with police; several
carried signs challenging law enforcement, and one group had set up a
phone number to help anyone who was arrested reach families, friends, and
legal support.
Friday also saw a pause in another Critical Mass conflict--this one
internal. For several months, a contingency of cyclists who wished to ride
Critical Mass without running red lights or violating other traffic laws,
has been starting an alternate "wuss" ride in the North Park Blocks. Their
secession was the culmination of a longtime feud between law-breaking and
law-abiding riders, who alternately accused each other of inviting
August's level of police response with their behavior, or of trying to
make Critical Mass mainstream, an "acceptable cog in the subculture
machine." These groups rode together Friday, and at least one-third of the
riders chose to obey traffic signals.
Sara Stout, longtime Critical Mass rider and spokesperson, said that
although a lot of people are interested in cyclists' rights, individuals'
different experiences largely dictate whether they "act out" during the
ride. Though she's been participating regularly since 1993, Stout says she
has "never seen vandalism or theft" during a Critical Mass ride.
Stout laments the media's most recent focus has been "bikes vs.
cops." "It's not about that," she says. "It's about bikes having the
safety in numbers they can't have on a regular basis."
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