By Timothy J. Jackman Chief of Police. SMPD
Editor:
(Re: “Cops’ chain reaction is bad for our city,” Sept. 18).
The commentary (by Alex Thompson) was critical of the policies and procedures of the Santa Monica Police Department in regulating traffic laws.
The Santa Monica Police Department is charged with maintaining a safe traffic environment for everyone. The monthly Friday night Critical Mass rides were brought to our attention by several citizens who called for assistance due to traffic disruptions and intersections being blocked by citizens on bicycles. Our officers monitor each Critical Mass ride to ensure the safety of everyone involved. During each Critical Mass ride, bicyclists — who act as amateur traffic officers — stop motorists who have a green signal in order to allow hundreds of bicyclists through an intersection. The bicyclists who ride through red traffic signals violate the law and create an extremely dangerous situation. They also cause significant disruption to the traffic flow on adjacent streets. During previous Critical Mass rides, many people have stopped our officers and understandably demand that they enforce the applicable traffic laws. Our officers have observed near collisions between Critical Mass riders and other legitimate and legal users of the roadway.
The Critical Mass group normally rides through the downtown area around 7 p.m. on Friday evenings, in a densely populated area traveled by thousands of pedestrians and motorists. Each ride consists of anywhere from 200 to 300 cyclists. There has never been an identified pre-planned route and, therefore, participants blindly follow whoever is in the front of the group which occasionally splits into multiple groups.
Mr. Thompson has told us that there are no leaders of the group, making it very difficult for us to coordinate any type of plan to minimize traffic disruption and the possibility of injuries. The lack of leadership results in a very chaotic and disorganized ride.
We have met with representatives from Santa Monica Critical Mass, including former Santa Monica Mayor Michael Feinstein and Alex Thompson himself. These meetings have been held to better understand the purpose of the rides and to make suggestions as to how they might conduct this monthly ride in a safe manner. Santa Monica has a history of hosting popular events such as 10K races. The event coordinators are required to apply for permits due to traffic safety concerns. They present a traffic plan, streets are temporarily closed and traffic control officers are deployed. Once the plan is approved, it is our responsibility, along with the event coordinators, to maintain a safe venue for the participants, as well as the citizens, commuters and pedestrians who are not part of the event. We also recommended to Mr. Thompson that the ride take place on the beach bike path, which could safely accommodate the number of riders who participate.
These suggestions have been rejected by Mr. Thompson.
The city of Santa Monica and the Santa Monica Police Department encourages and supports many activities and events, including bicycling. Further, the Santa Monica Police Department has one of the largest contingents of bicycle officers of any city on the West Coast. We clearly understand and support the idea of alternative transportation.
We offer again publicly, our desire to work with the leadership of Critical Mass to achieve a safe event. However, our primary concern and responsibility will continue to be public safety for everyone in our community.
Timothy J. Jackman
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 19, 2007. Read the original PDF.