MPD Chief Cathy Lanier on Bicycle Sensitivity Training for Officers

From Kojo Nnamdi yesterday. It starts at 30:00.

A woman called in who had been ticketed after a crash with a parking enforcement officer. She claimed that all of the witnesses agreed that the driver was at fault, but the officer cited her instead and threatened to write her a ticket for not wearing a helmet. Then she asked, with Kojo's help, what the MPD was doing "for sensitivity training towards bicycles for officers?"

Cathy Lanier: Bicycles, and the pedicabs and segways are becoming a bigger and bigger issue in the city. We do do bicycle enforcement. There are regulations for bicycle, just like there are traffic regulations, the bicycle regulations are enforced by the officers. So sometimes we enforce against the bicyclists and sometimes we enforce against the motoring public because there are violations on both sides. But, y'know, this is a rapidly expanding pedestrian-style neighbor... community. All of Washington, DC. The number of bicyclists and segwayists and foot traffic around the city is just really skyrocketing, so we all have to all kind of work together here and build some tolerance for each other and I would say in terms of the officer's rudeness, if you are ever not satisfied with an interaction with a police officer I would encourage please to reach out to us and let us know and you can do that through our website also or through a District commander.

Sort of a non-answer, but later around 35:00 she talks about how low traffic fatalities have been and the challenge of protecting pedestrians and bicyclists...and then distracted bicyclists.

Comments

[dynaryder]

That's crap. First,there's no helmet law. The Chief needed to address this officer's basically threatening to bring false charges. Second,a friend of mine was almost doored in G'town by an MPD cruiser;the officer looked after my friend and shook his head. He obviously thought my friend was in the wrong depsite the fact that DC law is clear it's the door opener's responsiblility to ensure they don't hit anyone/thing.

The MPD needs to stop treating us like some kind of second class citizens.

[SJE]

This is CYA rubbish from the Chief. There is no helmet law, and there are witnesses against the driver. The Chief should investigate and discipline the officer if this is found to be true.

[Chris]

I think you guys are a little paranoid. Strictly speaking, it's not accurate to simply say there are witnesses against the driver - rather, there is a caller who claims as such. If I were Lanier, I'd be making a CYA comment as well and then quietly looking into the matter.

[SJE]

Chris: I agree that it is an allegation. However, if the caller is correct, then the matter is not officer rudeness, but not following the law. She should be interested in ensuring proper discipline. I would have liked her to say thanks, please contact my office and we will discuss this. It shows that she takes seriously an allegation.

[Chris]

"if you are ever not satisfied with an interaction with a police officer I would encourage please to reach out to us and let us know and you can do that through our website also or through a District commander."

[SJE]

I think you have greater faith than I in the internal review process. I can't speak to DC, but plenty of other jurisdictions this is just a waste of time unless you have video and media is already over it.

When someone complains to a politician, she usually doesnt tell you to go through the normal channels, but to contact her office directly. Its not just good politics, but is a good way to be sure that the top brass does not get trapped in a bubble, and can see if the system is actually working like it is supposed to.

[Chris]

I think you have greater faith in the ability of politicians to get things done. It's good politics to say just call my office not because anything usually gets done (though there are exceptions), but rather, because the general public perceives that the politician is a "can-do" sort of person. Mayor Fenty has perfected this approach - but, like most of his administration, its mostly for show.

[Chris]

In any case, I don't think its reasonable to conclude that the Police Chief isn't interested in proper discipline. I agree that there are a lot of problems that police don't really understand the law with regards to bicycles, but this transcript doesn't prove that.

[Washcycle]

I may be biased, because other interactions with Cathy Lanier have left me really impressed, but I think this answer is fine. She seems to get that cyclists and pedestrians are not invaders or even guests on the road. And she gives the caller and others an affirmative action to take. If she criticize her force without getting their side of the story, she's going to lose their loyalty. Any good boss would do the same.

[Contrarian]

Most public figures have stock answers to frequent questions. It sounds like Chief Lanier rolled off two stock answers. The first question she was expecting was "how come cyclists never get ticketed." Her answer:"We do do bicycle enforcement. There are regulations for bicycle, just like there are traffic regulations, the bicycle regulations are enforced by the officers. So sometimes we enforce against the bicyclists and sometimes we enforce against the motoring public because there are violations on both sides."

The second question she was expecting was a general complaint about a rude officer: "I would say in terms of the officer's rudeness, if you are ever not satisfied with an interaction with a police officer I would encourage please to reach out to us and let us know and you can do that through our website also or through a District commander."

And I'm sorry, that second answer is a brush-off. If she really cared about making sure this was resolved to the caller's satisfaction, she wouldn't say go to the website. She'd say "stay on the line and I'll get your name during a break" or "here's the name and number of someone in my office to call, tell him you spoke to me."

If she really cared about addressing the issue, she would have gotten some information that she could use to follow up on with. That's what leaders who care about an issue do.

[SJE]

I'm with Contrarian: he said it much better than me.