Bikers urged to
call 911 if they see anything suspicious
by Tesha M. Christensen
Safety efforts on the Midtown Greenway are being increased
after a Molotov cocktail thrown off the 15th Ave. bridge narrowly missed
hitting a rider in early April.
While making his regular deliveries via bicycle for Peace
Coffee on Wednesday, April 3, 2013, Drew Ditlefsen, 27, heard glass shatter and
immediately smelled toxic fumes as flames spread across the Greenway behind
him. The bomb burned for about a minute.
Two preteen juveniles were arrested in connection with the
bomb a week later. It was not clear what their motive was, but according to the
police, they did not have adult help in making the incendiary device that
nearly struck the bicyclist.
SAFETY
MEETING WITH CITY
On Friday, April 12, Greenway Coalition members met with the
Minneapolis police and public works staff to discuss safety improvements. “The
meeting was scheduled before the incident, but has taken on a new urgency,”
noted Greenway Coalition Executive Director Soren Jensen. Recommendations came
from the Coalition’s Crime Prevention Task force, with assistance from Council
Member Gary Schiff and his team.
The Coalition asked for more lights and cameras, especially
on stairs and ramps. Earlier this year, volunteers used light meters to figure
out where the darkest spots are on the 5.5-mile-long trail.
New signs were also on the list, both to let people know
where they are when on the trail, plus signs on the cameras telling possible
perpetrators that they are being filmed. “Cameras don’t do much to prevent
crime if the bad guys don’t know they are there,” observed Jensen.
In the wake of the April 3 incident, some (including
Ditlefsen) have suggested that fences be installed on the bridges in order to
prevent items being tossed down onto the Greenway.
There are more than 40 bridges in the Greenway, observed
Jensen. “It would be hugely expensive to put fences on them, and quite ugly if
they were the black chain-link kind,” he said. “Many people think black
chain-link fences would destroy the character of the historic bridges and bring
more harm to the Greenway than good. If the fences could somehow be artistic,
that might be worth considering, but it would also drive up the cost.”
City representatives listened to the requests made by the
Greenway Coalition, but did not make any decisions.
SAFEER
THAN MOST CITY STREETS
Jensen pointed out that the Greenway is safer than most city
streets. “Not only is it protected from traffic, but there are only a few major
crime incidents reported on it annually, out of an estimated 1.5 million bike
trips taken on it each year. There are very few major streets in our city that
can claim to have only a few crimes committed on them each year.”
He added that while items are thrown at bikers from bridges
occasionally, Jensen has only heard of one biker ever being hit by anything
serious, such as a rock or glass bottle.
“This is not to diminish the seriousness of the recent
incident, which was very dangerous, but it does provide some perspective. We
have reports of things being thrown at bikers all over the city, not just on
the Greenway,” said Jensen.
Coalition volunteers bike along the Greenway each night, even
in the winter, as part of the Trail Watch safety patrol.
“We could always use more volunteers,” said Jensen.
The Coalition keeps a list of incidents that have occurred on
the Greenway on its web site. Browse
http://midtowngreenway.org/about-the-greenway/safety/incidents/.
CALL
911
On average each year, there are 2-3 assaults reported after
10 p.m. “The story each time is almost always the same - a group of youth
pushes someone off their bike and robs them,” said Jensen.
He added, “We almost always hear from other bikers who saw
the two or three youth loitering under a bridge or near stairway and did
nothing. They just sped up and biked past the group, rather than call 911.
Then, the next biker got attacked.
“Just think what would happen if everyone always called 911
when they saw something suspicious, including groups of people loitering at
night in the Greenway. It
seems like some people are reluctant to call 911, for whatever reason, which
makes our city less safe.”
No comments:
Post a Comment