I had just finished restoring a vintage 10 speed racer and took it out on foster in s.e portland. As I approached 68th(round table pizza) I heard angry swearing and after a few seconds turned my head to see 'what the...' that was all about? My gaze was met by that of a man glaring right at me from his car just off to my rear. Before I had the chance to question in myself why he would be swearing and looking at me?..he swerved his car right into me. He hit me so hard with the right side of his car that it sent me flying over the sidewalk and into the Round Table pizza parking lot. Even though I had a helmet on it did not protect the side of my face from the asphalt scrub I got from hitting the ground. Damaged my just restored bike too.
Then, as if this guy had not just done something criminal ENOUGH, he stopped right in traffic and walked over and punched me in the face. I saw that coming and pepper sprayed him...but not before the WHAM. He got back in his Chevy Caprice (oregon license: MARILU), and drove away.
A tri met bus driver who saw the whole thing gave me his number and so did a car with four adults who were stuck behind the guy when he stopped to assault me(further). So I had the injury and the evidence as good as anybody would need to get some action on this insane driver. Right?????
WRONG!!!!!
It took about 40 minutes for a portland cop to show up. When he did show up he got out of his car sighing and bored and immediately sat on the hood of his car with his notebook asking "What happened?". It was evident to anyone looking that he did not want to be there. I told him; gave him my witness information. He went back to his car and called one of my witnesses. He looked almost disappointed when he came back and said "The witness corroberates your story". But THEN; even with all that had happened and such corroberation...he impatiently informed me that "This car is registered across town and I am not going out there....I doubt anybody else will either."
Suddenly, the disbelief that a driver would ever do what that driver had done to me was 'almost' replace by the anger and disbelief of what I was hearing from this could not give a damn cop! This was also during the time of those billboards that showed a car; next to a motorcycle; next to a bicycle; next to a pedestrian. A caption saying something like: 'The road belongs to everybody'.
NO!.....APPARENTLY NOT!
I took my mangled bike and bleeding bruised face back home and immediately called the ppd to complain. Guess how many 'we care' tickets that won me??? ZERO. So, I set an appointment to see the deputy district atty. about this cavalier treatment of a clear case of hit and run / assault. On the day of my appt. I walked in to her(dda)office and sat down. She would not even look at me. Then she said(still not looking at me): " Did you see the guy who hit you?" I said of course: ' Yes...when he hit me with his car and again when he walked over to slug me'. Silence for a few long moments. I felt my blood pressure going up and asked 'Did you contact any of my witnesses??' To which she replied: "No...and I'm not going to. This office does not pursue situations like this".
In my upwardly spiralling disbelief; aggravation and frustration that was only growing worse with the TOTAL BRICK WALL BUILT OF NON CARING I was meeting at every turn...I got up to leave. I said on my way out to her: 'And you wonder why people take matters into their own hands??!!' Which I came very close to doing. What a shame that would have been...due to ANY degree of unecessary frustration brought on by cops that just plain out don't care. As I headed out of that office she yelled at me to "SIT DOWN!!!" Several times...as if she was my mother?....or thought she could push me around. she instantly proved she did not care or have any intention of helping by her own attitude and statements...thus...NO reason to stay!
I have learned that it is not the list of laws that cops uphold but the much SMALLER list of what they care to uphold. And how are freedom and justice or balance supposed to survive THAT?? And I have called talk shows and told as many bicyclists about as I could over the few years since this has happened. One talk show had a cop(TRAINED to say that anyway) on talking about "How much we care" and I dropped what I was doing to get on and tell MY story. Wouldn't you know it... a call or two after my true report...another cop called the station to express mock care and that if I left my number with the station they would help me get better action on it. I did that and NO...they did not do a thing to follow it up. Too late PPD!
You know as well as me, that if you hit a cop on a bike (even by accident)that place will be lit up like a christmas tree from the cops that will show up to make damn sure something happens. Their interest in a right end is NOT there...when it is YOU. I LEARNED THAT FIRST HAND. Perhaps I was stupid to have believed they would be better...even then. I will never make that mistake again. They have THEMSELVES to blame for that. Not the fact that I see that.
My own kid is 9 yrs old now. I'm not teaching him that cops 'are our friends'. Dec 11th of this year he saw that for himself when officer Shirihama; with NO cause to do so(as I was complying with his demand to get my license and insurance)instead of taking such information IN MY HAND, instead chose to suddenly grab me and force me arm locked across my driver seat. His voice was shaking with rage and I KNEW that any resistance would lead to worse(AS WE ALL KNOW!!!!!!!)and MINE was the only calm demeanor at that time. this all happened about three feet from my very frightened son in the passenger seat!! THAT made me VERY angry. Reluctantly the cop finally backed off and I filed a report on that incident AS SOON AS I GOT HOME. It was a day before my birthday and I thought I would be spending it in jail...or worse! What made me so mad was that I KNEW WITH ALL HONESTY that(if just for my son's sake)I had done nothing to be physically pushed around by that 'cop'. He was going over the dge with his OWN attitude...NOT mine. THAT is scary!...and I suspect not a rare thing! Of course I got the standard BS letter back from the supposed independent review board that dismissed everypart of my complaint at the same time they tried to frost it with supposed interest. The statements contained in their response prove they did not even regard the facts i had presented. So...coherence must be as part time in government as justice seems to be.
So...HOW CAN ANYBODY BE SURPRISED at how cops CONTINUALLY are let off for killing us??? All they have to say is that they were in fear for their lives. THAT FEELING AND FEAR DOES NOT WORK SO WELL....EVEN WHEN REAL....IF YOU DON'T HAVE THE BADGE!!!!! AND THAT HAS JUST BEEN PROVEN AGAIN. ARE you ready for what is (and has long been coming to be)the police state???? Is civilisation EVER built on anything but increased control??? Stay tuned as your proof of this grows. What amazes me ever more is the average persons belief that 'civilisation' is based on fairness; balance; justice and freedom. NO...it isn't. It is not an anomaly that so many others of/ among us see and react to the proof of the opposite; growing against a truly balanced and free desire for civilisation. Better think twice about what you label freedom and rebellion. Just because you support a kind of 'peace' (to avoid seeing what might raise your consciousness to rebellion?)DOES NOT MEAN or prove that you are just....or interested in justice. I am in fear of my life...and my kid's. Now and in the future. I see that while Bush inspires the misguided patriotism via the mechanism of pointing to imaginary demons to kill in OTHER countries...that the slightest bit of consciousness and right rebellion in my own(or even less than)is enough to me feel as if it is less my country TO defend. I'm sick of my own country's 'UGH' response of violence to what heart and sense can better handle.
I suppopse in my governments eyes...I am no more than a new aged Paeon. On my bike...in my car....as I work hard and try just to live my life and pass an honest one onto my son. And so what do they expect to hear from ME..or him on the day they ask or force us to arms; for America? What would I be fighting for? Freedom?.. cheaper electronics??...looser borders???...lower wages??? or???? Do I get a choice to go by what they tell me or what I SEE.?
Apparently you/we are a target for injustice...even when you try not to be. SO THERE IS NO REASON TO BE COMPLACENT. I'm not.
I have a tee shirt(among a few)I printed that says "caution: bad cops look just like good cops". It gets laughs and some derision...but what bothers me is that it is actually a solemn truth and warning. I wear it as an apparently necessary 'public service'. To make others more aware and suspect(you BETTER BE!)OF OUR SO CALLED 'public servants' in blue. When a cop dies they have a mourners parade(of cops!). When was the last time you saw any cops or public officials attend the funeral of any one of our brothers or sisters killed by cops?! That would be decent and compassionate...but apparently also cross that 'blue line'. Make no mistake about the level of your freedom. When it comes down to it. They say cops risk their lives every day??!! REALLY? Statistics prove that citizens are more at risk from cop actions.
The police are NOT your friends. Yet they even go to grade schools to make the kids think so. My school looked at ME like they thought I was nuts(or some kind of criminal)when I said MY KID IS NOT ALLOWED TO BE EXPOSED TO THAT FALSE INDOCTRINATION. Dare to keep kids off drugs???? How about 'DARE to keep cops off attitudes'. It makes me sad. But as in any healthy grief cycle, sad turns to mad and then turns to action. I speak up. I did not choose to know what I know...but I will neither ignore it, now that I do(a few times over). I have NO illusions about what cops think. I'm not a victim of 'copaganda' and I only wish I had something better to teach my son. He is not even allowed to have ANY toys regarding, or play cops. I want him to know NOW that it is NOT a power trip to aim for. Too bad too many parents of cops did not realise that as well. Cops have caused me more problems than criminals ever have. Tell me that is American????! Or has anything to do with freedom???! I'm an American in 'america' but I KNOW that I am not free. Even though many want me to relax ever more in the relativism of 'freedom'. Freedom may live for awhile in acquiescing to sentiment and relative comparisons about what freedom 'is' but it never grows out of that.
I say cry the tears...recognise the fear...and then fight the fight.
Anyway...I needed to say it again.
thanks for reading this.
|
e-mail:
The Northwest Constitutional Rights Center
1020 SW Taylor St., Ste. 449
Portland, Oregon 97205
503-295-6400
(does Belmont Law Center still exist? do they not have a website?)