The one where I spew about the state of the state, or whatever...

This is gonna be a rambling one, but due to the craziness of real life I haven't been posting much besides the regular bike events and have a lot of pent up bike shit that I need to vent.

First off, Eileen Schaubert is a freaking superhero! Eileen, you rule! Beyond working with the ACA, LOBV, BAC, and at Mellow Johnny's Bike shop, she managed to wrangle the time of Police Chief Art Acevedo and get him to sit down with a bunch of stinky bikers for a couple hours to answer all sorts of tough questions from all across the broad spectrum of people that make up the Austin cycling community. To be honest it was an ACA event so most of them were well-kempt, helmet-wearing bikers, but they brought the tough questions nonetheless. I'm late to the table writing about this, so go see what Jennifer at the OneLesCar blog and Marcus at AustinOnTwoWheels have already said to get a rather well-rounded look at what went down Monday night. Now for the non-well-rounded slant...

First things first, Art seemed like a really nice guy for a cop. He was self-depreciating (referring to himself as "Count Dracula" over his penchant for drawing blood first, asking questions later), humorous, and actually seemed like he was willing to learn from the cycling community. He said that his two bicycles were stolen in Sacramento a few years back, but that a new bike was on his Fathers' Day list and that his wife was going to begin bicycle commuting when she started her new city job on April 1st. I'm hoping that once she experiences Austin traffic from behind the handlebars he'll have a better view into the trials and tribulations of a cyclist. He also sounded very willing to attend a Cycling 101 class offered by the LCI, and to better acquaint himself and his officers with the local laws regarding bicycling. Nice.

Now on to the bad news... (click below to read more)

Though Chief Acevedo seemed willing to learn, he has a long way to go before his (and by his example the rest of APD) thinking is in line with proper "share the road" etiquette. As it stands, his grasp on the law as it pertains to bicycles is slim at best. As has been pointed out by Jen and Marcus, he did not know that it was legal to ride on the majority of the sidewalks around town, nor that a bicycle had full legal right to take and hold a lane, even if there was car traffic behind them. When this was made clear to him, he suggested that we move aside nonetheless, as if we were a second class of citizen when it comes to Austin's roadways. WHAT?!? Coming from someone who seemed to want to build bridges, this was quite disconcerting. I'd also think that before showing up at a meeting with the bicycle community the Chief of Police would have educated himself on the local bicycle laws, but in this lack of simple preparation I was rather unpleasantly suprised. He did voice his support for Senator Ellis' 3 Foot Passing Law (SBB 488/HB 827), but that doesn't seem to mean much in light of his desire for cyclists to yield the lane to motorized traffic regardless of the law.

His main response as to what could be done to better protect ourselves on the roadway as cyclists was to "use common sense" and "bike defensively". Wow, thanks for the great suggestions. IF we're harassed by a motorist and get a license plate or description, call 311. If we're in immediate danger, call 911. Though there isn't a system in place to track repeat offenders against cyclists, he did say he'd work on implementing one, much like he did in his previous command. He also suggested that we all carry a copy of the local bicycle laws for when we encounter an officer who doesn't know them and pulls us over improperly, as is often the case. I guess this is an option in lieu of actually training your officers, but I'd honestly rather the custodians of the law tasked with enforcing it actually KNEW the law beforehand. His actual quote on the subject when it was raised in regard to a specific incidence with an Officer Stewart (#4858) was that “If we have that many knuckleheads around, I’d bring a copy of the code in my pocket.” Talk about confidence in your employees.

He did raise the point that the number of citations written at collision scenes was wholly inadequate, whether it was a car/bicycle collision, or whether it involved another car or even a pedestrian. He also said that when a collision occurred, that it was of utmost importance to snag a witness, and that if we did so the officers on scene "SHOULD" write a ticket. He didn't say "will", only "should". There are a lot of things I think the cops "should" do, but we've seen how that goes. According to his numbers there are over TEN THOUSAND hit-and-run collisions in Austin, and very few of them actually get followed up on and prosecuted, due to lack of evidence or identifying the offender. Art wants to institute a mandatory 30-day impound for hit-and-runs, people caught driving without a license or without insurance, which he believes will greatly cut down on the number of hit-and-run incidences.

His other answer for dealing with motorist-on-cyclist harassment, collisions and altercations was a rather scary one: Cameras, cameras, EVERYWHERE! Lights, intersections, high-traffic areas, you name it. When justifying this stance he even said something along the lines of "If you aren't doing anything wrong then you shouldn't be worried". I'm sorry Art, even when I'm riding the straight and narrow I really don't want Big Brother looking over my shoulder all the time. He says all this is an effort to "work smarter", but when you stack his desire for a camera on every intersection on top of his black cars, black military-style uniforms, and mandatory blood draws, it starts to look like the cornerstone of a police state. His excuse is that in the information age privacy has already been given up, so what are we worrying about? Scary indeed. This may be SOP in California, but in Texas we have a strong culture of MYOB, and I’ll mind mine if you’ll mind yours.

When asked about the 6th St. barricades and bikes riding through them, he said that while the police SHOULD NOT be forcibly removing cyclists from their bikes (as has been done to me and several of my friends), the area was pedestrian only and that the police would not be allowing cycling traffic through. That’s the official bottom line. Use the alleys, kids.

There were questions about the supposed “crackdown” that began last fall, to which he replied with the number of citations issued to cyclists over the past 3 years in Austin: 143 in 2006, 103 in 2007, and 166 in 2008. Not a large increase when you consider how many more cyclists there are this year over last. That’s good to know that even though it seems that they’re pulling more people over, that they’re mainly issuing warnings and trying to curb bad behavior vs. issuing a shit-ton of tickets.

Rob D’Amico raised questions about the boss cop’s views on Critical Mass, and the possibility of a police escort. He said that their budget didn’t allow for an escort (THANK YOU GOD), and that he didn’t like the blocking traffic aspects of the ride. He also mentioned that his main concern wasn’t even so much the blocking of traffic as it was that a pissed off 18-wheeler would go nuts and run a bunch of us down, or that we’d incite a major road rage incident. He did make it very clear that he “would be very unhappy if they went on 35 and shut it down. That messes with interstate commerce” so I guess if Critical Mass doesn’t want to raise the ire of the police chief, they’ll stay off of 35. Note that he didn’t say anything about Mopac, y’all… ;)

One interesting tidbit that got slipped in which didn’t have anything to do with bicycling but that did give me hope for Art as a police chief was that he said he supported a needle exchange program . That’s the kind of forward-thinking that it’s going to take to make Austin a better place traffic-wise, so I appreciate that he’s willing to make that stretch in the other realms of law enforcement.

Another exciting thing I heard at the VERY END of the meeting was when he was questioned by Russell Pickavance of YBP about a specific incident where a cop tried to get Russell to yield his lane because the officer didn’t properly understand the law as it applied to bikes. At this point Art said that he’d have a training bulletin written up to address local bicycle laws and the enforcement of them, and run it by the people at the ACA before distributing it department-wide. FREAKING AWESOME! I think that’ll help cut down on the incorrect application of the law by police officers as it applies to us. Good job Art, and thanks for asking for this Russell.

In summary, I think Art is well-intentioned and genuinely holds the publics' interests at heart, but his methods and way of thinking require some major re-alignment. Even though I don't agree with a lot of what he said, I was very glad he was willing to show up and speak with us, answer our questions, and discuss the issues that are at the forefront of most commuter cyclists' minds. It was mentioned that the ACA was going to make this an annual event, which I think is a great idea and a good way of touching base with the cops on a regular basis over cycling concerns. Thanks Chief!