Jul

The Wheels of Justice

Call me naive, but I have a pretty high opinion of the NYPD. I certainly feel safer in New York than London. But watching this video I have my doubts. According to Gawker (via Gothamist and the NYT’s City Room) the cyclist was arrested while the cop has been put on “modified assignment” pending an investigation. Though what on earth the poor guy on the bike could have been doing to warrant this kind of treatment beats me.

Bully Cop Shoves Man Off Bike (Gawker)
Police Investigate Officer in Critical Mass Video (City Room)
Video of Cop Assaulting Cyclist at Critical Mass Ride (Gothamist)

Categories : Englishman in New York

7 Comments

William
July 29th, 2008 at 9:30 am

The cyclist was probably arrested because the civilian-shot video wasn’t immediately available as evidence, and the court went with the word of the bad cop by default. I wouldn’t lose faith in the NYPD over the actions of one poor representative.

pdberger
July 29th, 2008 at 9:39 am

More info in today’s New York Post. It looks like the cop made a number of bogus claims. Imagine if it had not been captured on film:

In court papers, Pogan claimed that he wanted to issue Long a summons for failing to keep right, and then ordered Long to stop

The cop accused Long of purposely swerving his bicycle to block traffic and then using it as a weapon to run down the officer, knocking him off his feet and causing a “laceration” on his forearm.

“You are pawns in the game. I’m going to have your job,” Long told Pogan, as he flailed and kicked his arms and legs, according to the complaint.

Pogan has been on the force for just three weeks since graduating from the Police Academy on July 2 and is assigned to Midtown South. A third-generation cop, Pogan lives at home with his father – Patrick Pogan Sr., a highly respected detective and biochemical and mass-destruction expert who is retired from the Joint Terrorism Task Force.

Link.

Beau
July 29th, 2008 at 9:44 am

As far as I can gather, he was not a bad cop at that time…. not officially, infact he’d only been in the job 3 weeks.

Also, there is no gentle way to stop a cyclist with momentum behind him if you are afoot… you have to go in hard and fast or you’ll end up getting wrapped up in the wheels.

When I started watching the clip I was hoping for some gunplay or at the very least some truncheon action.

Paul
July 29th, 2008 at 4:31 pm

A reclaim the streets cyclist or a copper in a fight – is that a win-win situation?

Beau
July 30th, 2008 at 5:44 am

Reclaim the streets for what anyway? What do these cats propose to do with the streets once they’ve reclaimed them?

Alison
July 31st, 2008 at 3:52 pm

Sometimes I think NYC cops use all sorts of horrible strategies to keep the peace. They used to call this “Gulliani Town”. The also get spat at and shot at. Tough work, both for the regular citizens they abuse and the cops themselves.

nikto
August 15th, 2008 at 9:51 pm

The bike rider was a right-wing Conservative—The cop was just doing his duty and taking down a right-winger.

Good work!