The Iron Lung, Number 15, July 1996
by David A. Kulczyk
Nothing puts a bee in my helmet more than a police officer that doesnot do his job in a courteous and professional manner. When Tracy Taylorcollided with a car that illegally turned in front of her, the police officerat the scene failed to check the driver for proof of insurance, which shedid not have. Of course the driver was a suit, a city employee. She mustbe all right. Why check to see if she even has a driver’s license? Unfortunately,that's how some of our more simple minded police officers think.
I had had enough. Those of you that know me, know that I can be an outright,stubborn prick, especially when injustice is involved. Must have been allthose Superman and Batman comic books I read as a kid. When I got assaultedlast summer, I reported the officer in charge to Internal Investigationsand although it took six months and four letters, I finally got the suitwho hit me charged with assault. He is currently grinding through the slow-movinggears of our justice system.
After Tracy’s experience, (thank goodness that she’s recovered) I thought,fuck this, I'm calling Councilperson Jane Noland . Noland is in chargeof Public Safety and has her eyes set on the mayor’s office. I discussedthe matter with Councilperson Noland's assistant, who asked me to writea report about Police Harassment of Seattle’s Bicycle Messengers. may haveasked you, comrade, if you had ever been needlessly harassed by a Seattlepolice officer. The results were, yes, just about every messenger who hasbeen on the job for a year or more has been needlessly harassed by theSPD. I took the ten worse incidents wrote down the facts and deliveredthe report to Councilperson Noland’s office.
A couple of weeks later, I received a letter from the police chief’soffice informing me that they had copy of the report forwarded to thermfrom Councilperson Noland’s office and that a representative of the SPDwill be in touch with me soon. Shortly afterwards I got a telephone callfrom Lt. Belshay, commander of the SPD’s Motorcycle Unit. We made an appointmentto meet at the Public Safety Building on June 5th.
Our meeting lasted an hour. Lt. Belshay listened to me without defendingthe actions of his officers. He told me that he knows bad cops out thereand nobody wants to get rid of them more than he does. The Lieutenant informedme that the only way they can find out who the bad cops are, is by thenumber of complaints that they receive about them. If a police officerhas a pattern of complaints, they can drum him out. We must, he emphasized,report improper police conduct.. He told me to inform the city’s messengersthe following:
1. If you feel that a police officer has acted in an unprofessionalmanner, get his name, badge number, and if you can, his serial number.It is against the law for a Seattle police officer to deny you that information.If he absolutely refuses, get his patrol car or motorcycle number. Allpolice cars have the number on their roof.
2. Call the Precinct Commander (Downtown is in the west precinct, ph.- 684-8917) and inform them of what happened.
3. If you are not satisfied with the outcome, write a letter or callInternal Investigations (Dexter Horton Bld. - ph# 684-8797) and reportthe incident to them. Make sure that you get the name of the officer thatyou've spoken to. When I called back a week after I reported an officerto internal investigations, there was no record of my report. It went intothe round file, better known as the trash can.
4. The Police has instituted its annual summer crackdown of automobile,bicycles, and jaywalkers. So be careful out there, the grand prize forthe officer who gives out the most tickets is a 1/4 ownership of a doughnutshop in White Center.
If any of you noble messengers get mistreated by the Seattle Police,please contact me. If you need help in writing a Formal Police Complaint,I'll do it for you. It has been my experience that reporting the abusiveofficer to his immediate supervisor is like shitting in the shower. Itdoesn't do anyone any good.
Report the officer to Internal Investigations.
I believe that Lt. Belshay is sincere about improving relationshipswith the Bicycle Messengers of Seattle and I also believe that he trulydislikes bad police officers. Hey, it's a start and only time will tellif the SPD will live up to its word.
Seattle Police Department
Norman H. Stamper, Chief of Police
Norman B. Rice, Mayor
June 6, 1996
David A. Kulczyk
P.O. Box 144
Seattle, WA, 98111-0144
Dear Mr. Kulczyk,
I have received a copy of your letter to Councilmember Jane Noland outliningnegative contacts you and other bike messengers have had with some membersof the police department. I understand that you have met with LieutenantRichard Belshay regarding these issues, and that this meeting allowed fora better understanding and appreciation for how bike messengers and policemight work together.
Lieutenant Belshay tells me that he explained the procedure for filinga formal complaint through our Internal Investigations Section, but thathe also suggested starting the process with the offending officer's immediatesupervisor. Often the minor complaints can be quickly resolved at thislevel to the satisfaction of all parties involved. I would add that improprietiescommitted by our officers will not be tolerated, and will dealt with appropriately.
Your letter and your meeting with Lieutenant Belshay are of value tous in analyzing what additional roll call training might useful to ourofficers. The article you wrote for the Downtown Source titled, "Don'tshoot me I'm only the messenger", has been photocopied and distributedto the Traffic Unit and West Precinct roll call boards. The article willbe read and discussed at roll calls,
I appreciate your taking the time to meet with Lieutenant Belshay. Heprovided you with his telephone number, as well as numbers to the WestPrecinct and Internal Investigations. Please feel free to contact LieutenantBelshay or supervisors at any of the numbers if there is anything the policedepartment can do to assist you.
Sincerely,
Norman Stamper
Chief of Police
(signed by)
Assistant Chief John Pirak
Operations Bureau Commander
clickhere for a list of messenger zines
If you have comments or suggestions, email me at messvilleto@yahoo.com