Police Misconduct

When most cities try to make biking a bigger part of their transportation systems, they use a standard checklist: comfortable biking networks, how-to-ride classes, traffic-law enforcement. The full list is sometimes called the “Five E’s.” A first-of-its-kind survey conducted by Rutgers academics Charles Brown and James Sinclair shows that when you look at biking from the perspective of a Black or Latino American, the Five E’s are missing a lot.

With renewed public attention on the excessive criminalization of poor people and people of color, some transit agencies and law enforcement officials are reevaluating their fare evasion policies.

"Where do things stand now?" I asked Adonia Lugo as we organized potential discussion themes ahead of this Sunday's Untokening event.

Austin police were captured on video beating a group of "jaywalkers" into submission late last Wednesday in an incident that reeks of racial profiling.

A resident of Upper Manhattan who said she was almost hit, and was then harassed, by NYPD officers as she rode her bike has given up on her complaint to the Civilian Complaint Review Board, which made no progress on the case for close to a year after the incident.

In a decision that may hinder future prosecutions of killer drivers, New York's highest court rejected the murder conviction of a car thief who fatally struck a Brooklyn pedestrian during a high-speed NYPD chase -- ruling that the defendant showed concern for others' safety by swerving around vehicles and people as he attempted to elude police.

Court documents indicate police were driving in pursuit of a man when he struck and killed a Greenpoint pedestrian five years ago, contrary to NYPD denials and confirming statements from witnesses who told Streetsblog the crash occurred during a high-speed chase.

While cyclists in Midtown, the West Village and other areas have reported incidents of NYPD entrapment and wrongful ticketing this summer, a resident of Upper Manhattan says she was almost struck by officers in a marked cruiser, who then yelled obscenities at her.