A strange incident

[lordofthemark]

sounds like an episode of a police drama.

There are probably a million things a citizen could do that might accidentally blow LE’s cover. No way you could have known the guy was undercover. I think its up to the guys planning the undercover up to plan for contingencies – such planning might indicate that parking in the bike lane is not a good way to stay under cover. But the cop himself was, naturally upset, and his reaction was quite human.

[dkel]

@G_bikeDC 83903 wrote:

a large, angry man stormed out of the car and started berating me mercilessly for a minute before informing me that, yes, he was a police officer doing some sort of undercover task.

The way not to blow your cover is to stay calm and act like a civilian, not scream about your cover in public. Engaging the guy at all, by tapping on the hood or otherwise, shouldn’t be some game-breaker for his work, whatever it is. Ultimately, you’re not responsible for his cover, he is.

[DismalScientist]

You shouldn’t have tapped the trunk so hard.:rolleyes:

[Geoff]

His reaction was, from his own point of view, very counterproductive. Wonder what was really going on with him?

[dasgeh]

To me, it sounds like he was abusing his position, and deserved to be reported to MPD. If he was, in fact, undercover, he could have easily played dumb (like so many other drivers who park in bike lanes) and just told you to go around.

[Rootchopper]

Did he show you his badge? If not, you don’t really know if he was a LEO. Regardless, he sounds like a asshat.

[NicDiesel]

Just be glad you didn’t end up spending the night at 1901 D Street SE.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@G_bikeDC 83903 wrote:

informing me that, yes, he was a police officer doing some sort of undercover task.

#youredoingitwrong

[mstone]

If you were in a position to challenge him, you should have asked to see his badge and filed a complaint. A gopro would probably be a prerequisite. He assumed (correctly) that you’d back down so it was an easy way to get rid of you. Only if we hold people in authority accountable for their behavior will they have any incentive to moderate their behavior.

If you weren’t in a position to take the risk of challenging him, you did the right thing.

[ShawnoftheDread]

No way he was “undercover” if he responded that way. You should have gotten his badge number, or at least a description of him and his license plate number and filed a complaint with every person you could think of in DC.

[lordofthemark]

@dasgeh 83916 wrote:

To me, it sounds like he was abusing his position, and deserved to be reported to MPD. If he was, in fact, undercover, he could have easily played dumb (like so many other drivers who park in bike lanes) and just told you to go around.

We could give lessons on how a civilian bike lane parking scofflaw typically reacts – now THAT would be undercover op planning.

[dasgeh]

@lordofthemark 83927 wrote:

We could give lessons on how a civilian bike lane parking scofflaw typically reacts – now THAT would be undercover op planning.

Sounds like he was close, just shouldn’t have turned on his lights and said he was a cop.

[Geoff]

As for “what you should have done”, given that you were faced with an aggressively irrational and physically large authority figure, there wasn’t much to do besides what you did: maintain your own composure and disengage at your first opportunity. Maybe asking to see his badge would have worked but, since he was already out of line, maybe not. Depends on how big a risk taker you are. Sending a photo of his license plate, with an account of the incident, to his department might have been best.

[Brendan von Buckingham]

As the cyclist, you should have changed lanes one to the left and moved with the flow of traffic. Take the center of the lane. The bike lane is nice and all, but it’s not the only lane.

Also, similar to the Rock Creek incident described a couple of threads ago, getting off your bike to engage someone is a momentous decision. By dismounting you give up a major advantage. You have to be absolutely right and be prepared for a no-holds-barred irrational “debate.” Instead, keep the cyclist’s advantage by saying your piece on the fly and getting out of there.

[Terpfan]

Once he said he was undercover, I think the snarky side of me may have offered that his urban camouflage of being yet another ahole blocking a marked bike lane was brilliant up until the moment he decided to turn his police lights on. Perhaps followed up by, I bet a bike in the bike lane would be even better.

There are a few good apples in the MPD that I truly think are great offices and a lot of don’t care/bad apples in it.

[Author]

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