Skip to main content

Hunting Cyclists for Fun & Profit

It's something we read regularly in the Danish press. The police had out traffic fines in order to make their statistics look good and to reach certain goals set for each police district. The article, above, is from November, 2011, but there are articles about it every year. The photo in the article is police handing out fines to bicycle users in Copenhagen. Cyclists are often the easiest target. You park your police car or police bicycle (illegally) on a busy street and starting writing fines.

It is often near the end of the year that police - if it looks like they're lagging behind in reaching the goal - will hit the streets to hand out of flurry of fines.

The article highlights the irony that in many police districts they become so focused on traffic fines that they use less time on crime.

Jørgen Jensen, a policeman from the western suburbs, is quoted in the article as saying, "Based on the bare figures, we go after certain areas in order to reach the targets."

Tom Steffensen, a policeman from Northern Sjælland, says, "If we want to prevent break-ins in suburban neighbourhoods but, at the same time, have to hand out traffic fines, then neither job will get done properly. Officers often say to citizens 'I'm sorry, but I have to write you a ticket so we can reach our targets.'"

At the beginning of each year, the 12 police chiefs sign a 'contract' with the national police chief about which goals must be reached in various areas over the course of the year. The police chiefs get a bonus at the end of the year for their district if the goals are reached.

This is a timely post because the police have announced - yes, they always announce it - that next week they'll be going after cyclists in Copenhagen, as the Danish paper Politiken wrote yesterday.

So. I found this app from Trapster.com. It's an app for motorists where they can warn each other about speed traps or other bothersome hindrances.

I've downloaded it to my smartphone and I was thinking it would be a great way for the bicycle users of Copenhagen to warn each about these police traps for cyclists next week - and every time. This applies to any cyclists anywhere - it would be brilliant in the Netherlands, as well.

I've emailed Trapster to ask them to include bicycle pictograms for their 'trapmap' - but haven't heard back yet. "Damn cyclists", they're probably thinking. But hey. The app works well and we could use it as is. If you are cycling in your city and see police pulling over cyclists, you go onto the app and report the location. It 'pushes' out to other users who have their app activated on their journey and warns them.

We'll also be using this hashtag for Danish cyclist traps: #cykelrazzia. Oh dear... should I start a Facebook group, too?




Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

Overcomplicating Winter Cycling - Why It's Bad

One of the main focuses of this blog has always been on how Copenhagen and other cities have succeeded in increasing cycling levels by approaching the subject using mainstream marketing techniques. Tried and tested marketing that has existed since homo sapiens first started selling or trading stuff to each other. Modern bicycle advocacy, by and large, is flawed. It is firmly inspired by environmentalism which, in turn, is the greatest marketing flop in the history of humankind. Four decades of sub-cultural finger-wagging, guilt trips and preaching have given few results among the general population. When sub-cultural groups start trying to indoctrinate and convert the public, it rarely ever succeeds. For the better part of a century, people all over the planet rode bicycles because they were quick, easy, convenient and enjoyable. In hilly cities. In hot cities. In snowy cities. After the bicycle largely disappeared from the urban landscape because urban planning s...
Read more

A Walking Helmet is a Good Helmet

At long last logic prevails. A new campaign has hit the streets of Denmark, thanks to the visionaries at The Danish Road Safety Council [Sikker Trafik] and Trygfonden [an insurance company]. Intense promotion of walking helmets for pedestrians has begun. This logic has been sorely missed. These two organisations have happily promoted bike helmets but pedestrians suffer just as many head injuries, if not more. This Danish campaign poster reads: "A walking helmet is a good helmet" "Traffic safety isn't just for cyclists. The pedestrians of Denmark actually have a higher risk of head injury. The Danish Road Safety Council recommends walking helmets for pedestrians and other good folk in high risk groups." The slogan is catchy in Danish since it kind of rhymes. All in all it's a brilliant project. Let's save some lives. The new walking helmets will be available in the Danish Cyclists Union's [Dansk cyklist forbund] shop. Although, as the...
Read more

Driving Kills - Health Warnings

I think it's safe to say that we have a pressing need for marketing cycling positively if we're to encourage people to ride bicycles and begin the transformation of our cities into more liveable places. Instead of scare campaigns about cycling [a life-extending, healthy, sustainable transport form], wouldn't it be more appropriate to begin campaigns about the dangers of automobiles? Many people in car-centric countries no longer regard cars as dangerous. Maybe they realise it, but the car is such an ingrained part of the culture that the perception of danger rarely rises to the surface of peoples consciousness. Sure, there are scare campaigns for cars out there, but what if we just cut to the chase? Much like smoking. Only a couple of decades ago, cigarettes were an integral part of life, whether you smoked or not. That has changed radically. We think that we could borrow freely from the health warnings now found on cigarette packs around the world. In order to be tho...
Read more