i'vebeen reading a lot of interesting threads and stories about people getting stupid (or justified) crap from cops for whatever riding habits or faux pas they have. i was thinking about it this morning as i rode to work along side a police cruiser and ran the red light at least three times while he waited for it to change and then caught up with me at the next one. has anyone in philly ever had any problems with cops (in a justified or semi-justified situation)? i feel like, regardless of all the times people complain about it, philly cops really do have better things to do and don't care about piddly stuff like cyclists running lights.

"philadelphia: no shot fired, no crime"

agreed! no problems here, and I do stupid **** in front of cops all the time.

I was riding home from a party kind of tipsy, started trackstanding at an intersection, and just fell over. A cop stopped and rolled down his window, asked if I was ok, and let me know that I had dropped my u-lock out of my back pocket. Such a great city.

Philly cops have a (justified) reputation for being corrupt. Perhaps though they are nice corrupt guys who are cool to cyclists.

ticketing for misdemeanors and other small **** = money money money. its a business. someones getting ****ed everywhere.

hehe.. i love this.

I did stupid **** in front of cops several times the day I was there. They just ignored us, it was wonderful.

sheeit...i guess this doesn't apply when you're on a skateboard at love

i had one tell me to get on the sidewalk the other week.

but generally i agree they don't care so long as your not endangering yourself or others... and then they probably still don't care.

philly cops generally suck when you are involved in an accident witha car. It is somehow always the cyclists fault.

Never got yelled at. I think with all the murders and police shootings in this city, they aren't too worried about a bike going through a red light.

I very stupidly almost t boned a cop the other day at a stop sign.. and have, like others, ridden alongside cops and run lights and never had a problem...

one great thing about Philly cops is that they NEVER show up to court unless its a felony. NEVER pay a ticket.

Philly cops have to wear those stupid hats.

Er, at least according to COPS.

I've never had a problem either; they're either cool, or really lazy.

Yea, Philly's law enforcement system (like every other part of the local gov't) is wack. For better and for worse.

its really more like they went to the ricky watters school of doin' ****: "no shot fired, For who? For what?"

Philly cops are generally also (in case you hadn't noticed) racist pigs. If they're nice to you, it may be for the wrong reason.

Yeah. There are, of course, always some cops who are decent, honest people who are doing their best to better the world, etc. Most, however, no matter where you go, are people who like having a sense of authority & playing with guns.

I can tell you that if you give them a problem they
will use duct tape instead of handcuffs cuz its fun for them
to pull it off back at the station.

cops have always been cool with me in philly. I routinely run red lights (at times ride between two stopped cop cars and blow through a red light).

When I got "the door prize" and was being yelled at by the guy who opened his door into me, a bike cop came and yelled in the guys face for me.... then gave him a ticket for not looking and opening his door into me and let me ride off.

so far, nothing but good experiences with the police in Philly.

wow... we need more cops willing to do that kind of stuff around Mpls!

in front of HUP, a cop pulled over a cab and berated him for cutting me off to drop off a passenger. it was great. another time, one asked me to get off the sidewalk. fair enough.

i was sitting on my bike waiting in love waiting to meet someone for a craigslist swap, so then i started trying to do small circles (i probably looked like an idiot to the cop). he came over and said it was a 300 dollar fine, but!, he just warned me. he was pretty cool and most likely bored. but i never realized that "no skating, biking, etc" also means no road bikes. it makes sense that they can't discriminate, but it still never occured to me

most have been cool. I have been told to get off the sidewalk before, but that is about it. My only "run in" with a cop was last winter on my commute home from work, I was at 10th and market. The light going east west was yellow and my southbound light was red. There was no one coming for a while in either direction except for a cop that was closer to 9th than 10th, so I went. The cop went faster and almost hit me. When I threw my hands up in the air to show I was annoyed, He got on the loud speaker and told me to stop. I kept riding and he drove away. I was not about to get invovled in arguing about how wrong each of us was when he had a badge and a gun.