Bike riders to file complaint against Santa Monica Police
The contentious relationship between the participants of a monthly mass bicycle demonstration and the Santa Monica Police Department has grown more heated, with several frequent riders preparing to take their case to City Council on Tuesday, an action that could lead to a formal complaint being lodged against the SMPD.
Members of Santa Monica Critical Mass are appalled at the increase in police enforcement over their past several rides, which occur on the first Friday of the month. The mission of Critical Mass is to celebrate the virtues of bike riding.
Critical Mass regulars have noted that Santa Monica police officers have been patrolling nearly every ride since the summer, after being relatively nonchalant about the gathering’s activities in previous years.
Last Friday, the police department issued 32 tickets to cyclists for infractions ranging from underage riders failing to wear a helmet to bicycles lacking headlights, which are required according to the vehicle code.
While riders accuse the department of unfairly targeting them when passing motorists are also committing violations, officials with the SMPD contend that they are paying more attention to the ride in order to ensure public safety, after learning that the bicyclists were taking up whole lanes of traffic and violating the rules of the road, such as clogging intersections in order to let the entire ride pass through uninterrupted.
Since June, when a cyclist was arrested after he allegedly failed to ride to the right side of the road and then tried to flee from police, a handful of participants were cited in each of the subsequent rides. This past weekend’s issuance of more than 30 tickets represents a considerable crackdown on the cyclist group.
While Critical Mass representatives have met with the Santa Monica Police Department in the past to try and iron out their issues, little progress has been made.
3E6,“We’ve offered many solutions for their issues, but none of them are appealing to the folks that are the spokesperson for the group,” said Sgt. Larry Horn of the SMPD. “They don’t seem to want to provide any sort of cooperation to get along with the other people that need to use the roads.”
Horn rejected the notion that the SMPD was intentionally targeting the riders as an act of aggression, adding that Santa Monica carries the reputation as being a bicycle friendly city.
“This is a very bicycle friendly city with lots of miles with bike roads and we tried to steer them to an area where they can do a bike ride as a group,” he said.
Many of the riders beg to differ and have decided to take their grievances to the City Council on Tuesday night. Depending on the outcome of the meeting, at least one Critical Mass regular plans to file a formal complaint against several of the officers that issued tickets last Friday, and possibly one against the entire Santa Monica Police Department.
Alex Cantarero, who has been riding with Critical Mass since July, said a bias against bicyclists will be the basis for the pending complaint. The Santa Monica resident said several police officers were citing bicyclists last week for trumped up infractions, all the while ignoring motorists that were blocking the bike lane and committing other violations.
Numerous riders noted that the enforcement last week seemed especially tough, with more officers out on bikes, motorcycles and in cars, following the cyclists throughout their Santa Monica route.
Horn said the PD deployed more officers because of the end of Daylight Saving Time.
The group of riders, which at one time were known to ride in one flow through red lights and stop signs, were extra careful to obey the law in last week’s ride, to no avail Cantarero said, adding that he handed out several hundred cards containing the state’s vehicle code on bicycle riding.
During the ride, a police officer was seen filming some of the Critical Mass participants. Police say the videotaping is meant to document the activity of the riders and some of the infractions committed.
Some riders also accuse police officers of pouncing on cyclists for whatever infraction they could find, even if it’s a less serious violation, such as riding at night without a headlight or taillight.
Ryan Mallery, who lives in West Los Angeles, said he was pulled over near the intersection of California Avenue and Second Street. The officer who pulled him over examined the bike for a light and released him with a warning when he found one, Mallery said.
“It seemed to me like he was pulling me over and trying to find something wrong with me,” Mallery said.
But riding without a light on at night is dangerous, said SMPD Lt. Alex Padilla. While one rider without a light might not seem serious if they’re in a group of hundreds of cyclists, it can become a dangerous situation once the group disperses and the lone rider is left without a protective light.
“We want to make sure they’re safe at all times,” Padilla said.
One of the riders that was pulled over for operating without a light was Paul Bringetto, a Santa Monica resident who has been involved with Critical Mass for two years. He was cited for riding without a headlight and riding in the number one lane right after he pulled onto Ocean Avenue from the Santa Monica Pier, which is where the cyclists convene.
“I commute 100 percent on bicycle and I’ve never been cited for having no headlamp,” he said.
Cyclists say they fear the increased enforcement will scare away riders from continuing with Critical Mass.
“I have no doubt it has an effect on whether people show up or not,” Santa Monica rider Jeff Maguire said.
The increased enforcement has caused the cyclists to start shifting the location of the rides toward Los Angeles city limits, where they believe the police officers are more lenient, said Alex Thompson, one of the long-time riders.
“We leave for LA because SMPD harasses us,” Thompson said. melodyh@smdp.com
Jump hedline: Bike riders to file complaint against SMPD
Suggested pullquote: “They don’t seem to want to provide any sort of cooperation to get along with the other people that need to use the roads.”
Sgt. Larry Horn
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 9, 2007. Read the original PDF.