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Thursday, October 13, 2011

Transportation / ??!! Pedal Profiling in Tacoma?

Posted by David Schmader on Thu, Oct 13, 2011 at 11:05 AM

Sent to Last Days by Hot Tipper GN:

A cop pulled me over for riding a bicycle.

So I'm coming home from a local bar in Tacoma on Oct. 12, 1 a.m., and a cop pulls me over. Not because I was doing anything illegal, but in his words, "There has been a lot of metal theft in the area and you're on bicycle, so...."

Who says you need to be a racial minority to get profiled? Just ride a bicycle.

Thank you for sharing, GN.

Also, I'm a little confused.

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Comments (16) RSS

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David, don't get me started here, I am on my way to deal with my own "got pulled over illegally but in a car" troubles right now, but in my town recently a guy was KILLED for being on a bicycle.

Google "Porterville Jeffrey Steen" and see if you can find the DA's report that exonerates the cop for shooting him dead.

Read the report, and you will see the officer's sworn testimony was "I pulled him over not because he was riding in any illegal fashion but because he was carrying a large knapsack ****and we have had burglaries in the area****"

I am so not making this up.

Posted by PortervilleNerd on October 13, 2011 at 11:09 AM

You know what else has lots of metal in it? A car.

Posted by Zebes

on October 13, 2011 at 11:17 AM

There has been a bunch of metal and copper theft in Tacoma lately. Witnesses have said they've seen people on bicycles in the early morning hours in the areas the theft has been happening.
It's not a violation of your rights to get pulled over and questioned. Were you detained? Were you unlawfully searched?
Get over it.

Posted by tacomagirl on October 13, 2011 at 11:35 AM

He MEANT "people who can't afford a car are often the kinds of people who steal things lying on the ground". Though if they've seen The Wire, they should know that they should be looking for people with shopping carts, because while someone on a bike might SEE and have USE for the small amounts of metal a quick scam like this could provide, it would be pretty easy to see if they were doing it, and doing so in a profitable capacity would probably topple the bike.

Posted by stuckie on October 13, 2011 at 11:36 AM

Tweakers steal metal.
Tweakers steal metal late at night.
Tweakers who steal metal late at night are often on bikes.

Sorry that you look like a late night metal stealing tweaker on a bike. At least the Tacoma PD is doing something about theft.

Posted by SPG on October 13, 2011 at 11:40 AM

@4, Shopping carts make too much noise in the middle of the night and are kind of obvious. A bunch of coiled up Romex fits neatly in a backpack, while copper pipe can be folded into a duffel bag and can be carried in several trips to be stashed for sale later at the scrap dealer.
The metal being stolen isn't "just lying on the ground" but is being pulled out of the walls from houses and buildings under construction or left vacant. This is a huge cost to replace, not just for the value of the material but for the labor to reinstall and fix the damage.

Posted by SPG on October 13, 2011 at 11:45 AM

The clever thief...hoping to pull a fast one on Sargent O'Hara are ya now?

He could have smelted down the copper and poured it inside his bike frame.

Well, it's off to the paddy wagon with you my boy!

Posted by Supreme Ruler Of The Universe

on October 13, 2011 at 11:47 AM

I can't imagine there being any probable cause for a stop here: after all, how much swag metal can you carry while riding a bicycle? Even if you're wearing a backpack?

Was the cyclist towing one of those kiddie wagons, at 1am? That would've been suspicious - otherwise this just sounds like a bored cop hassling someone.

Posted by SuperSteve on October 13, 2011 at 12:00 PM

Hard to believe that more than thirty percent of you DID NOT vote "dumb cop"...;-D

Posted by pupuguru on October 13, 2011 at 12:21 PM

No one ever accused the police of being smart. The smart cops aren't the ones on patrom making first contact with suspects. Not for long, anyway.

Posted by Tingleyfeeln on October 13, 2011 at 12:44 PM

Patrol, not patrom

Posted by Tingleyfeeln on October 13, 2011 at 2:39 PM

@1: Vincent Steen, not Jeffrey Steen.
Oh yes, I am an Internet forensic wizard.

Posted by venomlash on October 13, 2011 at 5:44 PM

@1: Also, he was pulled over for riding a bicycle. He was shot for fighting with the police officers.
Seriously, people, if you get pulled over, just go with it. If the officer was abusing his power, you can sue him later.

Posted by venomlash on October 13, 2011 at 6:07 PM

I'm not local, so therefore not in the know. But this to me is very much a Sesame Street moment--one of these things is not like the other. A lot of metal theft in the area + man on a bicycle just doesn't compute. How could he possibly be covertly transporting stolen metal on a Schwinn?

Posted by catballou on October 13, 2011 at 6:39 PM