Cop cars behind the Dilboy

[jspazzer.livejournal.com]

Every time I walk up Summer Street, day or night, I see at least 2 Somerville Cop cars parked in the lot behind the Dilboy VFW.   There are always cops sitting in the cars with the engines running or standing next to the cars chatting and often at night they are taking a leak on the fence in the back corner (I've seen that enough to know it ain't no anomaly).   What's the deal?  Don't Somerville Cops have real crime to fight?

And while we're talking stupid cop tricks, why do the cops drive up the bike path in their cruisers?  Get a cop bike, dammit!    I've almost been taken out a few times when I wasn't expecting a car to drive up behind me. 

Comments

[gildersleeve.livejournal.com]

Can't speak to the Dilboy issue, but the bike path is designed to be patrolled by car. Since federal cutbacks on community policing, there are less bike cops.

[ron_newman]

Patrolling it by foot or bicycle would cost less than patrolling it by car, so I don't really understand that.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_mattt/]

Perhaps its easier to cover more area quickly and the officer becomes more versatile, in that he can still respond to a call anywhere in Somerville.

[masslibrulgirl.livejournal.com]

Your icon is awesome. :)

[http://users.livejournal.com/_mattt/]

Thank you.

I actually made it myself using a stock photo of a cat in a box, based on an icon already out there that I felt gave away the joke.

Of course, the credit really goes to Ernest Schrodinger.

We had a discussion about this (http://community.livejournal.com/_scientists_/1020581.html) on this on _scientists_

[http://users.livejournal.com/_meej_/]

Just for the record, it's not actually a stock photo - http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevinsteele/151451997/in/set-72057594049846769/ is the actual source. (I know the guy who took the original, though not well. It's pretty recognizable, though...)

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

Best icon EVER.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_mattt/]

Thank you very much!

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

You're welcome, and do you mind if I borrow it? :)

[http://users.livejournal.com/_mattt/]

you can certainly steal it :) *zoink*

(credit is always welcome though)

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I shall certainly credit you.

[rufinia.livejournal.com]

Patrolling by foot or by bike covers a lot less ground, and if Somerville had to recently cut back on their force (like by not getting expected federal money for Community policing) they have fewer cops to cover the same amount of area.

[rmd.livejournal.com]

patrolling it by foot or bicycle would greatly lengthen the response time for that officer if s/he had to respond to a distant part of the city, not to mention needing to get someone with a cruiser if someone (suspect?) needs to be transported. So you'd end up needing an officer separate from the pool of officers generally around in the city, as opposed to just a small amount of the time of one of the general pool of officers.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_mattt/]

Emergency vehicles have the right of way over cyclists (and pedestrians). You yield to them, not the other way around. For a clarification, please refer to Massachusetts General Law (http://www.eot.state.ma.us/common/downloads/pedplan/D.PDF).

However, I do agree that the question of why police cars are using the bike path needs to be raised, and if they should be using their emergency lights when doing so.

In many states (I am not sure if Massachusetts is one of them), public transportation (i.e., busses) also have the right of way over cyclists.

[clevernonsense.livejournal.com]

"Emergency" vehicles only have the right of way when responding to an emergenct. This is just cruisers patrolling along the bikepath, basically.

[jspazzer.livejournal.com]

"You yield to them, not the other way around."

I never said I wasn't planning to yield to them, Mr. I-can-quote-the-MGL-chapter-and-verse. This is not a right of way issue, it is a public safety and common sense issue. I was having a blissfully pleasant walk in the closest thing Somerville has to nature, and next thing I know there is a 2 ton metal ready to run me down from behind. I can jump out of the way with the best of them, but there are a lot of kids and dogs running off leash along that stretch, and they are not as nimble.

Won't someone think about the children?!

[hauntmeister.livejournal.com]

Personally, I'm quite happy to see a cruiser go down the bike path.

And I would give the police the benefit of the doubt, and make the assumption they're watching what's going on around them and are able to brake if a kid or a dog runs in front of them.

Yes, it can be startling to have a car approaching from behind you if you're not expecting it, but I find manic zooming bikers to be more of a hazard than a slow-rolling cruiser.

[nuns.livejournal.com]

Dogs should not be running off the leash on the bike path, but i'm totally with you re: pedestrians and particularly children.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

This lifelong pedestrian has this sense you are ever-so-slightly exaggerating your case for the sake of bellyaching. You didn't notice the headlight? Or hear the engine noise? The Crown Vic is a lot of things, but stealthy isn't one of them.

[ron_newman]

Probably no headlight if it's daytime.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

Fair enough. And I suppose their iPod could be blasting, but honestly, you shut out the world at your own risk.

[jspazzer.livejournal.com]

And deaf people walking on the bike path? Same inane reasoning?

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

Are you deaf? If so, then we'll talk. If not, nice try.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_mattt/]

When I read this, I sprayed soda out my nose, I laughed so hard.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

I don't know whether to be flattered or wince. Hopefully said soda wasn't carbonated TOO much!

[rmd.livejournal.com]

There's no police station/substation for the SPD over by Davis, is there? If not, then where would you prefer they hang out in order to be able to be able to quickly respond to incidents in that section of town? (insert donut store jokes here).

All the cops I know (not SPD, but in other towns and state troopers) leave their cars running when they're parked somewhere sitting in the car 1. so they can just shift into gear and go when they have to go somewhere, 2. so they don't have to worry about draining the battery with the 200 amps worth of scanners, radios, computers, lights, etc that they've got running in the car - not to mention letting the heat or a/c run if it's cold/hot out.

Pissing on the fence is pretty no-class, though.

[srakkt.livejournal.com]

I'm willing to excuse fencepissing done with some discretion (which this wasn't, or he wouldn't have observed it) as a response-time issue.

[ron_newman]

I'll be interested in seeing what the incoming police chief does about this. He comes from Clearwater, Florida, which has the Pinellas Trail running all the way through the city.

[ron_newman]

Also, the VFW has restrooms, which I'd think the police could easily use. Unless this was after closing time.

[bombardiette.livejournal.com]

They do. They come down and grab a can of soda from time to time too - and check up to make sure everything's OK.

When I have closed the bar late at night, they're always there and that makes me feel a hell of a lot better, believe me.

[bombardiette.livejournal.com]

They use that lot as their shift change area. As a member of the Dilboy, I appreciate it. I know that my car is safe there and I know that's also where they stage from.

WTF is the problem with that??? We let them use it.

[ron_newman]

Good for you. They don't have a substation in West Somerville, so that's fine with me. The public pissing, not so fine (though I've never witnessed this myself).

[bombardiette.livejournal.com]

I know they don't. I've neer witnessed the public pissing either. I've witnessed them running in to use our restrooms a thousand times though. I'm inclined to take the public pissing bit with a grain of salt.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_mattt/]

I'm going to take a bold stance here and come out against public urination, if that is what happened.

But I know of two people who live very closeby who couldn't be any more thankful that the police hang out there.

[bombardiette.livejournal.com]

As I noted in a comment above, I have never witnessed this - but I have witnessed the police coming down into the post to use our restrooms on plenty of occasions over the years.

[xuth.livejournal.com]

The problem is that the speed of the cruisers at idle is going to be too fast for the path and that's really the slowest they go down it. In a car, 20mph feels extremely slow but it's the fastest thing on that section of path.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_mattt/]

Do you think it would be a good suggestion if they have their flashing lights on (but no siren, of course)?

I might be all for that if people who use the path more frequently than I do feel that it helps.

Another thing I've seen patrol cars do is for the officer to tap their finger on the PA system microphone when they are approaching a crowd from behind. It's audible, but it isn't overwhelming or annoying.

bike path

[yankeessux5.livejournal.com]

99% of the time the cruiser on the bike path is the auxiliary unit, which is a car of volunteer officers. So before you go complaining all bout it think about what they are doing, volunteering their time for our safety as residents. They are not doing it to annoy the users of the path, nor are they killing time. There are parts of the bike path, especially at night where it is frightening to walk, especially by yourself. Instead of complaining we should be thanking them everytime we see these officers out there volunteering their free time for us.