Bikies, Judy Compton has set up a meeting of Eastside residents to discuss crime and safety on the eastside. I'd like to encourage you to attend these meetings and present your concerns, especially those concerns that most effect the quality of bicycling in the area. I plan on attending and making the case that the Police should do more to protect the quality of bicycling in the area.
The listening session is set for: Wednesday, September 12, 2007 7:00 p.m. LaFollette High School Auditorium 702 Pflaum Road Details: http://www.cityofmadison.com/news/view.cfm?news_id=557 I believe that bicyclists can be a great help with community policing just by the nature of our mode of transportation: Bicyclists are generally more aware of their surroundings that motor vehicle operators - and are therefore better at detecting potential criminal activity in the neighborhoods they travel through. Bicyclists can easily stop and correct minor threats to safety like removing debris in the street that may be impeding motor vehicle traffic. Two examples: One snowy winter day I saw a bumper laying in one of the lanes of Jenifer St. Cars were swerving into the other lane to avoid the debris, and I knew it was only a matter of time before this caused a crash - so I dropped my bike in the terrace and pulled the bumper out of the road. One day I encountered a very disturbed individual on my morning commute. He was very violent and an obvious threat to safety in the neighborhood. With a number of schools nearby, I decided I needed to call the police and report this guy. Using the techniques I learned during the bike-path patrols a few years ago, I asked a nearby motorist to call the police and we tailed this guy at a safe distance, updating the dispatcher of our location, and ultimately led the police right to the suspect. I am sure I am not the only bicyclist that is out there helping the Police, and I am also sure that if presented with a request for help and a regular program to train bicyclists on aiding the police, many of us could provide the MPD some valuable assistance. Given this, I am a little puzzled as to why the MPD has not put more effort into providing a friendly face to bicyclists in Madison. For many people, one little setback is enough to terminate a budding career in bicycle commuting - a setback like having your bike stolen and being directed to file a useless self-report form, or getting the cold shoulder when you try to file an accident report, or being told that the MPD cannot address safety concerns on the Isthmus bike path. I am hoping that given the potential for 30 additional officers, the MPD can restore/provide some bike-friendly services that have been cut/needed: Reconstitute the officers on bicycles program - and have them regularly patrol bike paths. During the bike path muggings about 7 years ago, the police department threw up its hands and said there was nothing they could do about it. Luckily, these incidents occurred in a very active neighborhood association, and the neighborhood association successfully organized their own bike path patrols for two months. However, safe bicycling facilities should not be at the mercy of the neighborhood; this should be guaranteed city wide, and a regular police bike path patrol would be a great way to prevent future incidents. * A reduction in the $ threshold for filing a self-report form. I had a bike stolen a few years back, and despite the fact that I and another witness saw who stole my bike, and that my bike was last seen across the street from the North Police Station, I had to file a self-report form - which to date has not resulted in any police investigation. At a minimum, the MPD dispatcher should ask the price of a stolen bike before they refer a caller to the self-report line - many bicycles are worth more than the current $1000 self report limit. * I for one would love to see the PM TEST unit reconstituted, as the MPD predictions during their re-org of neighborhood officers picking up the traffic enforcement slack have failed to materialize. This has led to an obvious increase in red-light running, and other offenses that threaten the safety of folks using motor-vehicle alternatives. If the officers are not dedicated to the TEST unit, they tend to be pulled away for "more pressing" issues. Keep in mind that the common council passed a resolution in 1999 mandating the TEST unit. * Increased support for the traffic complaint form (the one where they would actually send a letter to the owner of the offending vehicle). This was heavily utilized (working well) before it was cut because it required a deputized officer to do the license plate lookup in the state vehicle registration database. * The police property room staff needs to be beefed up to allow the bicycle recovery unit to be sent out on calls in a timely fashion. As it stands today, if someone dumps a bike in my yard at 7:00 am, the earliest I can get the bike recovery unit out to my house is 6:00am the following business day - which is usually so late that the bike gets stolen by someone before the police show up. Sure, that solves the homeowner's problem, but if that was a stolen bike, that bike now has a significantly reduced chance of returning to its owner. Also, the Bike Recovery unit needs to regularly patrol known bicycle dumping grounds (like starkweather creek south of East Wash - where I saw at least 4 dumped bikes in early August. I will bet they are still there.) _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected] http://www.danenet.org/mailman/listinfo/bikies
