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[sir_kevith]

If your community proposes mandatory bike registration, lights, helmets, or high-vis then question if there could be any ulterior motives. These things sound good to voters and drivers who hate bikes and can be passed in areas with no bicycle advocates. These laws shouldn't be abused as a free pass to discriminate.

 

[studyguy]

I fucked up.
I read the comments.

Also do you all carry around your receipts for everything purchased EVER? I mean what if someone stops you on the street and questions the validity of the clothes on your back. The car you drive. Maybe your legal status or birth certificate while you're at it.

You can never be too sure!

 

[8 X 11 Printer Paper]

It feels like our cops are soon going to be a real parody of Ninja Slayer's Cops if they aren't already.

 

[Ronin Ray]

Come on guys we all know black people can only ride bikes that are stolen. Its genetics

 

[Brakke]

I fucked up.
I read the comments.

"But really, how bad could they be", I thought, dumbly.

Liberal journalism is deceitful and politically motivated. Blacks are not trusted for good reason and more times than not they are out at night to commit crime. Maybe not the hand picked exampled for the race bait story but in general. Liberals can pretend their just out to ride bikes in the dark but most of us know otherwise.

yikes

 

[Ronin Ray]

It feels like our cops are soon going to be a real parody of Ninja Slayer's Cops if they aren't already.

Please what is this? It was so hard not to laugh out loud at work

 

[8 X 11 Printer Paper]

Please what is this? It was so hard not to laugh out loud at work

Ninja Slayer From Animation, it's the spiritual successor to Trigger's Inferno Cop which is done in the same style.

 

[JeffZero]

I live in Tampa and I bike everywhere. I'm not black, but I feel like I've probably shared the bike lane with plenty of black folks who have been discriminated against. I've spoken with a fair few (as an anthropology major I'm always chatting up the locals) who have told me stories which confirm a lot of what's been written lately. It's pretty damn messed up.

 

[Mr. Giggles]

The one case where the officer asks for a receipt is disturbing, like who carries receipts for the stuff they own around with them.

Damn.

 

[JeffZero]

I do want to emphasize that I've been on a few ride-alongs with the Tampa Police Department and I've generally had good experiences with the officers I've worked with. This is a city with a rich history of Bad Things, but I'm happy to report that it's only certain people in the force here who are making the lives of the many a living hell. One of the officers I spent some time with was very open about his desire to see things turn around, so I pressed him for insight into how stuff like this can happen. He said things would change considerably if we outed a quarter of the force and a solid third of the local politicians, then he laughed cynically and sighed.

 

[shadowsdarknes]

I'm moving to Clearwater soon and plan to get a bike. Should I be worried even though I'm white?

 

[JeffZero]

I'm moving to Clearwater soon and plan to get a bike. Should I be worried even though I'm white?

I grew up in St. Petersburg and I know Clearwater somewhat well by association. It really depends. Clearwater is all over the place with its neighborhoods. Belleair is really, really nice and I doubt it'd be an issue. But some of the roads further to the south which border Largo and the like can be problematic. I had a bike stolen on Druid Road when I was like 14, heh.

 

[Mammoth Jones]

Just another shakedown. What better people to go after than people that more likely than not dont have the knowledge of the system or the financial capability to utilize the system to defend themselves.

 

[EdibleKnife]

Just another shakedown. What better people to go after than people that more likely than not dont have the knowledge of the system or the financial capability to utilize the system to defend themselves.

Yep. Hoping people realize that Ferguson wasn't just a one off. Police are doing shakedowns large and small all over the US

 

[MuddyDonut]

Hey I live there...fuck

 

[MuddyDonut]

I do want to emphasize that I've been on a few ride-alongs with the Tampa Police Department and I've generally had good experiences with the officers I've worked with. This is a city with a rich history of Bad Things, but I'm happy to report that it's only certain people in the force here who are making the lives of the many a living hell. One of the officers I spent some time with was very open about his desire to see things turn around, so I pressed him for insight into how stuff like this can happen. He said things would change considerably if we outed a quarter of the force and a solid third of the local politicians, then he laughed cynically and sighed.

 

[Link]

The one case where the officer asks for a receipt is disturbing, like who carries receipts for the stuff they own around with them.

Damn.

Obviously, people not guilty of anything. What have you got to hide, Mr. Giggles?

I do want to emphasize that I've been on a few ride-alongs with the Tampa Police Department and I've generally had good experiences with the officers I've worked with. This is a city with a rich history of Bad Things, but I'm happy to report that it's only certain people in the force here who are making the lives of the many a living hell. One of the officers I spent some time with was very open about his desire to see things turn around, so I pressed him for insight into how stuff like this can happen. He said things would change considerably if we outed a quarter of the force and a solid third of the local politicians, then he laughed cynically and sighed.

This is supposed to make us feel better?

 

[GuitarAtomik]

I've been to Tampa, it is an unfriendly pedestrian city. It's one of those towns built around the car. Crossing the street is a death sentence

It doesn't surprise me that Tampa would be anti bike and anti black guy on a bike

I love the beach but I'm never going back to a city that hates pedestrians, fuck i'm on vacation can I give the car a vacation too please?

Most of Florida is this way. You're kind of fucked for the most part if you don't have a car.

 

[novenD]

Cycling while black may be the only thing more dangerous than driving while black.
I mean, people have tried to kill me for riding my bike, and I'm white as a sheet; I hardly imagine the kind of abuse they get, police or otherwise.

But hey, the system is totally fine, guys! Really! No injustice here, no sir, not in post racial America.

Spoiler

/S

 

[Script Kiddies LLC]

I'm sure the good cops were the ones ticketing the other 2 out of 10 people.

 

[foxuzamaki]

Deebo works for the Tampa PD?

Goddamn

 

[Reizo Ryuu]

Living in the bike capital of the world, shit like this just seems extremely surreal to me.
Like how can all of the stuff in the OP even be real? Bike impounded because you don't have a receipt on you?? Jesus fucking christ.

 

[Linkyn]

I was going to play devil's advocate at first, but some of those stories are just too damn pathetic.

 

[gutter_trash]

I was going to play devil's advocate at first, but some of those stories are just too damn pathetic.

nobody should be allowed to use these words, fuck devils advocate

 

[JeffZero]

This is supposed to make us feel better?

Well, maybe not. I hate how things are here but I won't forget that there are some good people in those police cars is all.

It uh... helps me avoid lashing out against them at random. Keeps me from going to jail out of total rage, you see.

Most of Florida is this way. You're kind of fucked for the most part if you don't have a car.

I've lived 14 of my 27 years in Tampa Bay without a car. I've crossed US 19, Tyrone Boulevard, Dale Mabry, Hillsborough Avenue, you name it. Somehow I'm still alive. But it's probably only a matter of time.

 

[TAJ]

When I lived and worked in the South Bay area of LA I had a few coworkers tell me they were constantly profiled for using bikes to get around.
A few cops told them that "Only meth-heads use bikes for transportation."

 

[GrizzleBoy]

America.

Screw you.

 

[Black-Wind]

Disgusting ...

It's a damn shame that people still don't seem to understand just why chocolate folks don't like cops. When people fear getting in trouble for doing completely legal shit you know the system is fucked. It's that simple ...

 

[LosDaddie]

Tampa stays holding that L

This is so hilariously racist it's disgusting.

 

[Enzom21]

Liberal journalism is deceitful and politically motivated. Blacks are not trusted for good reason and more times than not they are out at night to commit crime. Maybe not the hand picked exampled for the race bait story but in general. Liberals can pretend their just out to ride bikes in the dark but most of us know otherwise.

I think I read this same argument on GAF as a #notallcops counter argument... linked to FBI stats and everything.

 

[Deified Data]

Bike tickets are the definition of petty, unless someone's actually disrupting traffic. A cop's really only going to issue a citation for rolling through a stop sign or neglecting to signal on a bike if he's bored and wants to ruin someone's day.

 

[888]

I have lived in and around Tampa for a long time. Can't say I have ever seen someone on a bike stopped. I will have to keep my eyes open while driving around. I honestly don't notice many bike riders but Tampa is sectioned off into areas that aren't bike friendly. Now I have been pulled over by TPD at one point and they surrounded me with like 8 cruisers, they must have thought I was going to take off or something. I was 18 at the time so who knows.

 

[googleplex]

I was going to play devil's advocate at first, but some of those stories are just too damn pathetic.

A little advice. Don't ever play devil's advocate in threads about racial discrimination. Particularly when you're not a member of a historically discriminated against minority group.

It just makes you look like an asshole.

 

[Frog-fu]

Utterly ridiculous.

lol @ that boating comment though.

 

[Syriel]

Translation: Separate but equal policing allows us to swell our coffers without disturbing the day to day lives of the establishment.

I can only imagine the riots if they tried this sort of strategy over here in Cambridge/Harvard Square/Somerville.

Or that the racism is incidental to classism despite the only instances of bikers being targeted in the wealthy neighborhoods being black people as well.

Thatsgoodthatsdamngood.gif

I wish SFPD would actually enforce some of the bike laws here in SF. I think they're afraid of the bike lobby. That Tampa stuff would never fly out here. Then again, most bike riders in SF are white and wealthy.

Bike tickets are the definition of petty, unless someone's actually disrupting traffic. A cop's really only going to issue a citation for rolling through a stop sign or neglecting to signal on a bike if he's bored and wants to ruin someone's day.

They're not petty when you have bicyclists riding down the sidewalk at high speed. It's prohibited for a reason.

 

[MWS Natural]

As a Tampa resident this is past upssetting. Crazy that some people still defend many of these corrupt, institutionally racist Police departments.

 

[PflargBlarg]

I wish SFPD would actually enforce some of the bike laws here in SF. I think they're afraid of the bike lobby. That Tampa stuff would never fly out here. Then again, most bike riders in SF are white and wealthy.



They're not petty when you have bicyclists riding down the sidewalk at high speed. It's prohibited for a reason.

Here in Vancouver I had a woman riding at insane speed down the sidewalk and she had the gall to get mad at me for not moving out her way when she almost hit me. I was so baffled by the situation that I missed my opportunity to kick her rear tire out.

On the upside, I bike to work every day and it's pretty rare that I see someone on the sidewalk so maybe it's more of a problem in SF.

 

[entremet]

Just another shakedown. What better people to go after than people that more likely than not dont have the knowledge of the system or the financial capability to utilize the system to defend themselves.

Yep. They know they can do this without much legal consequences.

 

[xXCrazyCostaXX]

As a Tampa resident this is past upssetting. Crazy that some people still defend many of these corrupt, institutionally racist Police departments.

I live here too and the good cop bad cop seems to be split about 50/50 with most the bad coming from TPD. HCSO seems to treat people like...people...which is nice

 

[Pepiope]

I just started riding bikes. I learned when I was younger but I always preferred walking. Now I see it as a nice change of pace to get around, not always having to take a car... I had no idea bike tickets were a big thing. Holy hell. Granted, I'd be able to prove I bought the thing, but confiscating a bike because of that? Guilty until proven innocent. Wow.

 

[wildfire]

A little advice. Don't ever play devil's advocate in threads about racial discrimination. Particularly when you're not a member of a historically discriminated against minority group.

It just makes you look like an asshole.

Sometimes it can be helpful because there can be other factors also at play that people are overlooking. Case in point that thread today about the new mayor in Missouri.

 

[JeffZero]

I live here too and the good cop bad cop seems to be split about 50/50 with most the bad coming from TPD. HCSO seems to treat people like...people...which is nice

I don't disagree with this assessment. Definitely some awful seeds in HCSO, too, of course.

 

[Gordon Shumway]

Happens in Naples as well..Florida be friendlyyyyyyyyy!

 

[YoungHav]

Eric Holder should have went HAM on these PDs the day he was sworn in.

 

[Spiderjericho]

I've lived in Tampa the last few years.

I see mad folks (code) riding their bikes around University/USF. That's terrible but can see the possibility of it.

Just another black eye for Police Departments in the U.S.

 

[Pickman]

Really surprised how few of those tickets in south St. Pete were issues to black people, according to that interactive link at the map. There's been a fair deal of tension with SPPD and the black community here in town over the last few years.

Perhaps unsurprising is the fact that the most tickets in Pinellas county were written in Pinellas Park, or as I like to call it, "Little Methlehem".

 

[Malleavel]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3NWMjJXuLU

 

[……forgetit]

Our American police force everyone!

Give these fucking cunts a hand!

All they'll get from me is a finger, two if I feel like giving the effort.

 

[hokahey]

Weird. In 1994 my family moved to Tampa. Our first night there, my 20 year old (white) brother was ticketed for riding his bike without a light. My whole family was like dafuq?

 

[HTupolev]

Weird. In 1994 my family moved to Tampa. Our first night there, my 20 year old (white) brother was ticketed for riding his bike without a light. My whole family was like dafuq?

If you're actually riding at night without lights, that's appropriate. Bikes are dangerous vehicles and require lights when it's dark, just like automobiles.