oronto police caught red-handed breaking the same rules they enforce

As conflicts between Toronto police and cyclists persist on the city’s streets, some police officers on bikes have been caught doing the same traffic violations they frequently ticket other cyclists for.
A video was shared on Twitter on Friday by Dave Shellnutt, a.k.a. “The Biking Lawyer,” which shows a small group of officers on bicycles blatantly disregarding multiple traffic rules while navigating road closure.

Video of four Toronto police officers doing everything wrong

In the brief clip, four officers can be observed leisurely biking south along a sidewalk full pedestrians on the northwest corner. They briefly pause before circumventing the construction site and proceeding onto the street. Next up, they ignore a red light, and merge onto the road and disrupt the path of pedestrians crossing the street.

Shellnutt posted that the video “demonstrates that ticketing cyclists for minor infractions and calling to target working cyclists is misdirection of resources & illustrative of an anti-cyclist bias. These officers shouldn’t be ticketed, it can be dangerous getting on/off the road.”

Tensions high between cyclists and police

There’s been several conflicts between police and cyclists the past few years. Ongoing ticketing blitzes in High Park have left tensions high. In April, national team cyclist received not one, but two tickets within minutes when he was riding in an empty park. This was especially notable given that the city has plans to create a compromise for cyclists and pedestrians. The current speed limit is 20 km/h which is not realistic for most bikes. There are plans to create special times where cyclists can ride faster and not get in the way of other park-users.

You can see the clip of the police doing exactly what they say not to do, below.

This video demonstrates that ticketing cyclists for minor infractions & calling on @TorontoPolice to target working cyclists is misdirection of resources & illustrative of an anti-cyclist bias. These officers shouldn’t be ticketed, it can be dangerous getting on/off the road 1/3 pic.twitter.com/SA3QNQyNJu

— The Biking Lawyer (Dave Shellnutt) (@TheBikingLawyer) June 2, 2023