Don't send a cop to do a menial job

They will inevitably arrest someone. That is what they do. If I am a cop and I am assigned a task, someone must have broken the law. If you are merely present while I do this task, you are an accomplice, and you shall be arrested too.

In NY they have a shortage of bike racks. It is legal to chain your bike to pretty much anything the city own, like lamp posts, I gather, but not trees, apparently. You are not allowed to block the flow of (pedestrian) traffic nor are you allowed to abandon your bike. Some cops are sent to do a little bike clean-up.

The NYPD was a little bike happy last Wednesday, May 30th. According to witnesses, they showed up without warning and used circular saws to cut the locks off of about 50 bicycles on 6th street between 1st and 2nd Avenue. The NYPD allowed people to take the loose bikes without showing any proof of ownership. They seized 15 bikes (including bikes locked to D.O.T. bike racks) and arrested two bystanders. According to Time’s Up!, Robert Carnevale was arrested while videotaping the bike raid after he asked one of the officers for his badge number. Carole Vale, a nurse observing the scene, was also arrested when she asked why Mr. Carnevale was being detained. Mr. Carnevale was held for 22 hours and Ms. Vale was held for 13 hours.

See... I told you... how ridiculous!

Read