LAPD moves forward on education and outreach plans

February 1, 2010 at 1:27 pm | Posted in Bike News, Get Involved | 1 Comment
Tags: Anti-Harassment, Collisons, lapd

On Thursday, January 21st, LACBC met with Sgt. David Krumer, from the Office of Operations at LAPD. He is working with Commander Doan on bicycling issues. This meeting was a continuation of the work done by a collective group of advocates including LACBC, Bikeside, Bike Writers Collective, Sustainable Streets, the Bike Advisory Committee, LA Bike Working Group, IlluminateLA, the Voice Newspapers, and many individuals who have been working to make sure that LAPD create an educational program for officers to eliminate miss information on enforcement and cyclists’ rules to the road. LACBC had met with LAPD in August to request that they initiate an education program for officers and were assured that they would be working on it. We have forwarded them police trainings from other cities such as Chicago and San Fransisco.

At our Thursday meeting on January 21st, LACBC discussed and made comments on LAPD’s PSA which highlights some educational elements for both motorists and cyclists. It is a pretty basic manual on how to safely share the road. We offered suggestions on how to circulate the info once it is made public. LACBC pitched the idea of having visible visible billboards to educate motorists. We were notified that there was limited budget.

After speaking with the Mayor’s office last week on January 28th, it seems that we will be moving forward on discussing an Outreach Plan for creating safer streets. We are hopeful that this will get approved. LACBC has been asked to submit design concepts which the City will then use to make public billboards throughout LA. (Stay tuned for more info and how you can get involved.)

We also brought up the issue of hit and runs, collisions, bike thefts, harassment, officer discretion and lack of LAPD cooperation and respect. Sgt. Krumer clarified the process and importance of reporting these incidents.

Some important facts about reporting:

* When reporting a harassment make sure to establish that the motorist made an intentional attempt to harm.
* When reporting a hit-and-run be sure to identify the driver of the vehicle or find a witness who can place the face.
* When reporting a collision, LAPD will not respond unless there is a complaint of physical injury or pain.
* You are entitled to make a report for anything stolen from a bike, even if it just your chain or seat. LAPD needs this information to track thefts and to better address the issue.

This was the beginning of many more monthly meetings the bicycling community will be having with LAPD.

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