Vancouver Province, January 19, 1991, page B2
by Mike Roberts
To paraphrase Jack Nicholson's naively optimistic line in Mars Attacks!, why can't we all just get along.
But Vancouver's bicycle couriers aren't living in a B-movie-although most argue that they might as well be, such is the zaniness overrunning their lives.
The bike couriers are the young men and women who zip around town on two wheels hauling packages between businesses.
The bike police are the uniformed men and women who chase them. So say the couriers, who have had enough playing mouse to the cops' cat.
It's all fun and games, sure, until someone gets a ticket. The minimum fine, now $100, is a days wages for most couriers. And say seasoned couriers Kathy Golbeck and Martin Neale, the courier corps has been getting an inordinate amount of tickets lately. They say they're picked on by the police because they're highly visible and they're an easy mark for a quick cash grab.
They say the bylaws affecting their job are as harsh as they are bizarre. Riding two abreast: Fine. Riding without hands on handlebars: Fine. Bike courier fails to carry photo i.d. with name, address and date of birth: Fine and arrest without warrant.
"I don't like to be treated like a criminal when I'm at work," says Golbeck who, with Neale, is putting the Vancouver Bicycle Couriers Association on red alert.
"I don't think there is any undue stress" Const. Bert Rainey, co-ordinator of the VPD's Bicycle Patrol, says of the cop-courier situation
"We're an enforcement agency and you always meet with frustration on the part of the motorist or cyclist. They're fairly free-spirited," he says of Vancouver's 200 licensed bike couriers. "there are a few who certainly dislike police. (But) they're part of the downtown core just as we are."
Rainey admits to a courier crackdown that began in November. He says 10 per cent of their ranks were wanted on outstanding warrants. It was his job to haul 'em in and make 'em pay.
But things have gone too far, says Neale. "They're ticketing us profusely. It's very selective enforcement."
Rainey says cops are simply keeping streets safe and enforcing warrants.
Sure but why are they taking curbside pictures of couriers and arresting them without warrants.
"That power of arrest is only for purposes of establishing identification," says Rainey. "There are no criminal charges involved." Golbeck says one officer has been taking pictures of couriers who fail to produce appropriate I.D.
Rainey denies it. He says accusations by couriers that their right to privacy is being overridden is unfounded.
Golbeck and Neale are looking forward to a continuing dialogue with the police and city hall. In the interim, they are urging fellow couriers to take their fines to court.
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