Miami cops' bosses tell officers to let anarchists rule the roads and threaten motorists; "If you try to stop someone and they run, let them go."
Great news for criminals; bad news for crime victims.
On January 19, in celebration of the Dr. Martin Luther King Junior national holiday, hundreds of blacks terrorized motorists on the streets of Miami and surrounding communities while the police, under orders from On High, impotently watched.
In a well-publicized Bikes Up, Guns Down social media promoted event black bikers from south Florida and elsewhere rode trail bikes and three and four-wheeled ATVs on major roadways, including one of the local interstates.
Bikers risk lives, threaten others on major highway. (Screen capture)
And the people sworn to protect ALL citizens did nothing.
Never mind that the bikers were riding against traffic, never mind that they blew through intersections against the lights, never mind that they were "popping wheelies" and risking control of their vehicles.
It was a new high in lows for Miami.
I understand why cops are told not to pursue a fugitive; a chase could end up injuring or killing an innocent bystander.
But I cannot comprehend why the cops failed to corral these miscreants before more than two people (both bikers) were slightly injured.
Are the chiefs of police in south Florida stupid? Do they lack imagination? Are they cowards? Or, are they "all of the above?"
The bikers claimed they were celebrating ML King day - would the civil rights activist condone such behavior? - and demonstrating against gun violence, or at least black-on-black shootings, a situation all too common in Miami; it's like Atlanta or Washington D.C. South.
OK, police chases have been ruled out. Given the congestion on Miami's streets and the maneuverability of the bikes vs. police cars, there was no way the cops could have chased down the bikers.
Miami HAS motorcycle cops, but the way a California gang treated a California Highway Patrol motorcycle cop, Miami's finest probably were, understandably, not willing to risk their lives.
BUT the cops could have and should have put a stop to the anarchists' takeover of the street with no risk to innocent bystanders and little risk to those charged with protecting law abiding citizens.
Every kid who ever watched an old Western movie - the kind where the cowboy kisses the horse instead of the girl - knows how to "box" in the bad guys; chase them into a box canyon.
Admittedly, there are no "box canyons" in south Florida; at least none with a major road leading into it.
Still, the cops - with their SWAT armored vehicles, helicopters, and fleet of marked and unmarked vehicles - could have created a box canyon had anyone near the top of the command chain considered the possibility.
If the wheels on the ground were insufficient, call in the local fire brigades with their long ladder trucks.
Line intersecting roads with police vehicles to prevent the bikers from turning right or left off the main roadway. Let the roadway be clear in front, at least until the majority of the bikers have committed themselves.
Then place the armored vehicles and fire trucks across the main road.
A box canyon has been created and the bikers are trapped inside.
At one point some of the bikers stopped to refill gas tanks. The cops ignored them. (Did they pay for the fuel?)
Bikers - but no cops - at Miami gas station (screen capture)
Miami cops are not the only one derelict. Hollywood cops apparently huddled inside their headquarters on Hollywood Boulevard as the bikers roared past. As a Hollywood resident I now have "concerns" about citizen safety.
My #1 son's a cop so I don't believe a cop should risk his or her life unnecessarily, but if the people who control whet the cops may and may not do had exercised their brains this rampage could have been brought to a halt hours before the bikers decided to call it a night.
Meanwhile, any respect any miscreant bent on a life of crime may have had for cops in south Florida has melted away like snow on the beach in summer.
That lack of respect jeopardizes every cop including my son.
THAT makes me mad.
According to local news reports, three people were arrested and two injured in Monday nights' commotion.
Miami's embarrassment made international headlines.
Links to local news reports and the U.K.'s Daily Mail follow.
ATV riders, dirt bikers flood Miami streets for MLK Day
3 arrests, 1 crash as ATVs take over Miami roads
ATV Riders, Motorcyclists Disrupt Traffic in Miami-Dade
(The Brits report is "a bit" exaggerated.)
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