Hit by a cop

[tomp]

On her morning commute, my wife was hit by an APD car. She seems okay
and damage to the bike appears minimal. We're not sure what to do.

When the accident happened, she had the right of way and was crossing
an intersection on Elmore near Tudor. The officer was turning left off
of Elmore, through stopped traffic. My wife is a responsible commuter,
was wearing a bright coat with reflective tape, has a bright head light,
and a bright rear blinky.

The officer stopped and made sure she was okay, then left. Shortly
afterwards I caught up to her and as we were talking and inspecting
her bike, an officer in an unmarked car arrived. I stood near my wife
as she was answering questions and saw that there was confusion between
them. The officer seemed to be putting words in her mouth attempting to
change her answers. Shortly afterwards several other officers arrived and
started asking questions. I remained there silent listening for a moment.
After asking my wife a couple of questions and without me saying anything,
the officer started asking me questions. When I told him I wasn't there
when it happened, I was ordered to leave. When I started to ask the
officer a question, he pushed me and again ordered me to leave. I left.

I'm not sure what to do. It seems clear to me that the officers that
arrived did so because they were unhappy with the original report and
want her to change her story. They are aggressivly trying to get her to
do so. She's shaken, late for work, and scared. I assume that they will
be able to get her to say whatever they want. The only witness she might
have had was ordered to leave the scene.

What should we do?

[Alhansen]

Bike's okay, wife's okay; count your lucky stars. If it had been a nice old grandma, what would you do? My guess is probably nothing. The cop didn't mean to run her down, did he? It wasn't police brutality, right? Call it good. He's going to be in a heck of a lot of trouble anyway. If she was hurt or the bike was broken it would be a different story. It will cost a lot more of your tax dollars to train his replacement if he gets fired than to have him carry this valuable lesson into the rest of his career.

[Big Karma]

The fact that your wife and her bike are OK isn't the issue here. If you genuinely feel that police officers were attempting to intimidate you -- and you said one pushed you, which sounds a little over the top -- then you should contact a shift supervisor and file a complaint.

First, you should be sure that you feel they acted inappropriately. I would never encourage baseless accusations against good cops. But carrying a gun and a badge doesn't give anyone the right to abuse authority and become a bully. If they overstepped, it should be reported.

[munous]

This whole thing STINKS. What if his wife is a sweet old lady? Besides, we're not talking about a sweet old lady (who doesn't sound like she should be driving anyway). We're talking about a public servant who's sworn to protect and serve... It doesn't sound like they are interested in correcting their mistake. These are the same people making the call on who is to blame for a bike/car accident.

No doubt their report, if there is one, will contain the phrase "the bike darted out into traffic" like we see in every bike accident. After the article in today's ADN, its obvious anchorage has a bicycle rights problem.

Get a lawyer. Get an apology. Get the APD to take bikes seriously.

People of Anchorage, Its illegal and immoral to run over cyclists. Get the message out.

[Valhalla]

You need to make sure there is a report filed. Did APD make this formal or is this incident under the table??

The report will obviously serve many goals including any health or future related bike issues and most importantly accountability. Without an official report it did not happen. Any other bystanders?

[funhog]

no more talking to the cops just refuse to talk to them. All she needs to say is, I am not talking to you any more. If they pressure her she should respond with "I am not talking to you anymore". even if she needs to say it over and over again to them.

It really depends on how far you want to take this. You have to decide how much of your personal energy you want to put into this. If you want this to die and get the monkey off your back, then let it go. If you want to correct what you feel is a wrong, there are several options.

Besides filing the complaint as big karma notes, You can contact the mayors office and offer your story. You can contact your Assembly member. You can get the paper involved if you write a compass piece or contact a reporter and tell them your story. i suppose you can file a report with the state troopers as well.

I suggest if you interact with the police again on this, have an attorney do it for you. that third party can stand up and be a strong advocate for your position.

[FISH]

just Call Internal Affairs straight up. Their job is to investigate stuff like this.

[tomp]

Thanks for the support and responses, I appreciate it.

A report was filed. We haven't seen it yet, I'm not sure how long, if at all, we need to wait before requesting a copy.

My wife is a little sore and the bike is a little damaged. She's been advised to get checked out by a doctor and I think that's where she is now. She's not answering her cell phone.

If this was a little old lady, we would assess the damage and file a claim against her insurance if we thought the damage done justified it. We're not litigious by nature. After a few years of commuting year round, I've experienced a few scrapes and minor bike damage due to inattentive drivers. Even dressed like a super hero and lit-up like a Christmas tree I'm apparently hard to see to a driver drinking a latte with one hand and using a cell phone with the other. I have never filed a claim or called a lawyer. I've considered it part of the cost of bike commuting. To be honest, that was my first impression this time too.

As I understand the situation, the cop was displaying common driver inattentiveness. He acted unsafely, but I don't think he acted dishonorably. I would not expect or request that he be fired. A finger waggled at him about watching where he's driving, and their insurance covering anything more than trivial expenses, would seem appropriate.

I do feel the group that showed up afterwards acted dishonorably. I believe they were there to coerce her into changing her story. While doing that, one officer physically pushed me. I'm a big boy and I've been pushed before. I'm not calling it police brutality. I think the officer stepped over the line while trying to protect one of his peers.

It feels like there were two incidents this morning. One involving a driver not looking where he was going, and a second one involving a APD damage control crew

I don't expect either of us will talk to the police before seeing the report. If my wife feels the report accurately reflects what happened, I doubt we'll want to seek out a lawyer.

I'm still trying to decide if it's worth filing the report with the shift supervisor about the push. It was offensive, but probably not high on the list of stuff cops do when they step over the line.

Thanks again for the support and responses, it helps hearing other perspectives. It can be hard to take a dispassionate view of the situation when your wife has been hit by a car.

[damnitman]

Azar & Schlehofer PC 800 E Dimond Blvd Ste 3-440, Anchorage, AK, 99515 907-344-3434

[The Grouch]

Yes, you should file a complaint. The cop had absolutely no reason to push you. Even if you were not there when it happened, it is your wife he has no reason to ask you to leave, even less to push you. This is another example of police not knowing how to handle a situation. If people do not report this, the officers in charge will continue to believe that this isn't happening.