Lots of parks have curfews, and the breakin artists like to use bikes for getaway vehicles - bike routes have higher property crime rates than adjacent streets. So the municipality needs to figure out what it values more - keeping parks closed at night or promoting cycling. For sure if it's the former they need clear signage to that effect. If it's the latter, make sure cyclists have lights.
The best solution seems to me to allow cycling, but as the story says, have cops on bikes patrol the path. Pretty obvious if a guy is lugging a TV under one arm on his bike that he's not just going from a to b.
Thanos
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Posts: 33561
Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2015 4:08 pm
In Calgary they ended up curfewing the parks from 11 PM to 5 AM as well. Some of them even have locked gates blocking the roadways so cars can't drive through during those hours at all. This was done due to the amount of kids partying in the park and vandalizing things as well as to stop all the illicit homosexual activities that tend to happen in public parks. It's a bummer that a 63 year old cyclist who was just out for a ride got nailed by the law, while others are most likely hiding in the bushes doing whatever and getting away with it, but it has to be applied equally in all cases of off-hours trespassing.
Hyack
Site Admin
Posts: 19986
Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2015 4:10 pm
andyt andyt:
have cops on bikes patrol the path.
Kind of hard to implement, what are they going to do , have one cop per pathway or park? Where do they get the extra people, who is going to pay for the extra personal?
andyt
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Posts: 33492
Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2015 4:15 pm
They're already patrolling, just in cars. Bikes would be far more effective in a situation like this, and doesn't have the cops driving down bike paths. Why would you think they would have to patrol all paths all the time, they're not doing that now. That's like saying they should have a cop car at every street corner to watch for traffic infractions. Maybe this municipality hasn't clued in on bike patrols yet, but certainly Vancouver has. They don't have them just to look cute, but because they are more effective in certain situations.
Thanos
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Posts: 33561
Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2015 4:25 pm
All the big shopping malls in Calgary have a mini-police station in them now and a police cycle team riding around patrolling the parkades. It's been pretty effective in cutting crime at the malls down to the bone. Not necessarily shoplifting in the stores themselves but it really put a dent in the car prowlings, vandalism, and assaults that some of the parkades had become infamous for.
andyt
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Posts: 33492
Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2015 4:31 pm
Downtown they can chase bad guys on foot or bike much more effectively than a car. It puts the cop closer to a foot patrol, interacting with people, but much faster if need be. They always seem to be on the front lines when a riot is happening, use the bike as a barrier. Well, not Stanley Cup riots, but in that case you don't see any cops except a few on horseback trying to deal with a vicious crowd.
BeaverFever
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Posts: 15244
Posted: Sun Sep 06, 2015 9:00 am
andyt andyt:
Pretty obvious if a guy is lugging a TV under one arm on his bike that he's not just going from a to b.
He could be training for a Youth Gang Funday race:
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