Advertisement

Romano: Tampa police trading integrity for busts of those 'biking while black'

 
Herbert Johnson rides his bike from West Fortune Street Fish Market on W Main Street in Tampa on April 2, 2015. Johnson who commutes to his job from his home on his bike about 2 miles away remembers he was stopped by a Tampa police officer for not having proper lights. [OCTAVIO JONES | Times}
Herbert Johnson rides his bike from West Fortune Street Fish Market on W Main Street in Tampa on April 2, 2015. Johnson who commutes to his job from his home on his bike about 2 miles away remembers he was stopped by a Tampa police officer for not having proper lights. [OCTAVIO JONES | Times}
Published April 21, 2015

For the most part, I believe cops deserve more praise than you and I.

I believe they are more selfless. More heroic. More noble.

I believe any community is better served when its residents are united in their respect, support and faith in their local law enforcement officials.

And that's why I believe the Tampa Police Department has screwed up.

Horribly.

Royally.

As meticulously detailed by Times reporters Alexandra Zayas and Kameel Stanley on Sunday, police in Tampa have zealously, and disproportionately, singled out poor, black residents for relatively insignificant bicycle infractions.

That's bad enough.

What's worse is police Chief Jane Castor and Mayor Bob Buckhorn are so wrapped up in their own self-serving crime statistics that they have chosen to defend the indefensible.

Why is this so wrong?

Because you do not enforce the law by spitting on the Constitution.

Yes, it is easy to hide behind state statutes. To say that riders without headlights or those who tow their friends on the handlebars are guilty of bicycle infractions.

You might also point out that police sometimes uncover minor drug offenses or bicycle thefts in these glorified shakedowns.

But at some point you need to examine what you are sacrificing and what you are getting in return. And you need to ask who is served by such intrusive policing.

By no means am I defending anyone who might get nabbed in this Schwinn dragnet. If you're going to ride around in public with pot in your pocket or cocaine in your sock, then you run the risk of ending up in front of a judge.

The problem is how the police justify harassing carefree kids or hardworking adults whose only crime is not obeying obscure bicycle laws. And not being rich.

Because residents who have a hard time putting food on the table are now being forced to pay fines for infractions that are not enforced in the suburbs or upscale neighborhoods. And if they fail to pay the fine, they run the risk of losing driving privileges.

This means, if they're fortunate enough to afford a car and get a job farther from home, they can go to jail for driving without a license.

Get it?

While supposedly fighting crime, your Tampa police officers are instead creating circumstances that encourage more crime and more economic hardships.

At which point you need to ask:

Is a department's integrity really worth this?

Because the only certainty in this mess is that police are fostering a dangerous atmosphere of mutual distrust. And so the very people residents are supposed to trust and rely on are instead turning themselves into the bad guys.

It's not good for residents, and it's not good for the police.

Keep up with Tampa Bay’s top headlines

Keep up with Tampa Bay’s top headlines

Subscribe to our free DayStarter newsletter

We’ll deliver the latest news and information you need to know every morning.

You’re all signed up!

Want more of our free, weekly newsletters in your inbox? Let’s get started.

Explore all your options

Are there times when the end may actually justify the means? Yeah, I truly believe that. I think there are rare circumstances when the stakes are so high, and the safety of the public and the police is at such dire risk, that the normal rules should not apply.

But extraordinary methods must be the exception and not the rule. Otherwise, cops could find their credibility at risk when they need it most.

I mean, if you believe cops are committing questionable stop-and-frisk bicycle stops, then maybe you doubt a cop who claims to smell pot before busting into a locked car in Ybor City. And if you believe cops are targeting black residents, then maybe you doubt the next time you hear about a claim of justifiable force.

You see, suspicion can work both ways.

Sometimes, cops are required to make decisions that can reasonably be argued one way or another. Sometimes, they are required to make split-second, life-or-death decisions.

And I don't think it's fair, or productive, to constantly second-guess police in such ambiguous situations.

But this situation is different. It is not life or death, and the arguments are not balanced on both sides of the scales.

This is a simple call.

And if Castor does not have the decency to admit this mistake, then Buckhorn needs to step in and do it for her.