The cop is now in trouble

[Michael Psycle]

I had an experience this weekend with a LEO getting into trouble with his superiors which I would like to relate to you.

I ride to Death Valley each October with a group of other riders. This is the nineteenth year of the ride. The ride begins in San Francisco with other bikers join us along the way. This is a disorganized ride, no registration, no tee shirts, no pins, just three days of riding fun. Everyone is responsible for making their own motel reservations. There is a general route on the Internet letting riders know where we are likely to spend the night and eat.

The first night is spent in Bishop, CA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bishop,_California). Bishop is a small town on the eastern side of the Sierra. Its economy is primarily based on tourism and agriculture. Bishop is about half way between Los Angeles and Reno. In Bishop another group of riders join us from southern California. The goal is a noon time ad hoc gathering at Zabriskie Point in Death Valley the following day.

In order to make the noon gathering Zabriskie Point in Death Valley, it is necessary to leave Bishop at 8 AM. The nominal meeting place for those who want to ride with a group is the Motel 6 in Bishop (some of the riders want to ride by themselves). At exactly 8 AM, just as I was about to lead the group out from the Motel 6 a cop car pulls up and stops. The cop gets out of the car and starts barking at us in rude and impolite manner. He tells us we had better get out of town and not to exceed the speed limit of 25 mph. He seemed to have a huge chip on his shoulder. No one had done any stunt riding in Bishop or anything disrespectful to the town. There was no reason for the way he was talking to us. We were then “escorted” out of town followed by two police cars. I kept the speed of our group to 20 mph.

So when I got home from the ride I sent an email to the town clerk and Chamber of Commerce of Bishop describing what had happened. This message was forwarded to the Chief of Police who sent me an email asking to talk with me. I called him and he said he was able to identify the officer. What I didn’t know was that each officer wears a body cam that records what the cop is seeing and everything that is said.

So the first thing the Chief does is to apologize to me for the “rude, impolite and unprofessional” manner of his officer. He then reads a transcript of what the cop said and said to me there was no excuse for his officer’s unprofessional manner. He then asks me if I wanted to file an official complaint and I said no. The chief then said the officer would be dealt with internally because he brought “discredit” to the police department.

When George Orwell wrote the book 1984, he correctly foresaw that Big Brother would spy on us using video cameras. What Orwell never foresaw was that those same (and other) cameras would be used by citizens to “spy” on Big Brother. So, sometimes the good guys win.

[Gunny4Sawx]

Fortunately no one was hurt this time. Seems like these days similar incidents end up with the citizen being injured from excessive policing. I guess he was smart enough to do the math and figure he was outnumbered even with a "distress" call sent out over the airwaves and too many witnesses were present.

[huskerbob]

Michael,

ever figure out what 'tripped his trigger'?

[Moovnon]

Michael,
Thanks so much for sharing this with all of us. Most LEO's are good people, but once in a while there's an exception, and it sounds like you found one. I'll remember this the next time I pass through Bishop.

[fourhour]

Ah, Bishop California! Just a hop, skip and a jump down the road a piece.https://ssl.panoramio.com/photo/69129100

[Clholl12fxdb]

Too bad, I know the riders probably let it go a few miles down the road but it still fouled the morning air.

Hope future events dont have the same issue.
Safe Rides...


^Fatboy on a Street Bob :...o&\o

[jeffsglide]

Thanks for sharing that Micheal. maybe his son watches SOA and he want's to be in an MC. So he took it out on you guys lol or worse his daughter.

[67duce]

A co worker of mine was pulled over for speeding a few weeks ago. The cop said he clocked him at 81 , my friend told him that wasn't possible he had his cruise set at 70.

There was a little conversation that went on after that. Then the cop mentions he clocked him coming under the over pass. My friend tells him he never went under the over pass he just got on at that ramp.

The cop tells him to wait while he reviews the video. A couple minutes later he comes back and apologizes to my friend saying it wasn't him but another car just like his and he pulled him over by mistake.

So honest cop and video saved my friend from a ticket.

[Michael Psycle]

Originally Posted by huskerbob

Michael,

ever figure out what 'tripped his trigger'?

No idea at all. We had no interaction with this or any cop on this or prior visits to Bishop. This came out of the blue. Any guess would be pure speculation.

[Michael Psycle]

Originally Posted by Moovnon

Michael,
Thanks so much for sharing this with all of us. Most LEO's are good people, but once in a while there's an exception, and it sounds like you found one. I'll remember this the next time I pass through Bishop.

I have LEOs in my family. I knew this LEO was bringing discredit to police officers in general which only breeds disrespect and mistrust of other LEOS. That is one reason why I wanted to report him.

[Michael Psycle]

Originally Posted by fourhour

Ah, Bishop California! Just a hop, skip and a jump down the road a piece.https://ssl.panoramio.com/photo/69129100

And I really like P town!

[Michael Psycle]

Originally Posted by Clholl12fxdb

Too bad, I know the riders probably let it go a few miles down the road but it still fouled the morning air.

Hope future events dont have the same issue.
Safe Rides...


^Fatboy on a Street Bob :...o&\o

Coming into Bishop from the north on 395, the four lane road drops from 7,000 feet elevation to 4,400 in Bishop in about 10 miles. The road is almost straight. This is where they patrol and regularly catch cars and bikes doing well over 100. We all know that and go slow on that stretch. We tell the new riders on the ride to watch their speed on this section. The sport bikers generally continue on 120 to Route 6 to Bishop as that misses the speed trap. It adds about 20 miles to their ride but they go at such high speeds on those backroads, particularly 120, that they generally don't lose much time getting to Bishop. They like to kid us who are on cruisers about this. They do it all day, pick a longer route and then get there before us.

[Nazzdak]

If you enjoyed 1984, you're going to fall in love with Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

Just sayin

[dickey]

Cop prolly caught his wife dorking a biker.

[Thundermug]

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