Kevin, one factual point that I think is important. You write that, "drivers received warnings for failure-to-yield about as often as pedestrians and bicycles received warnings." That's true of the state as a whole but not of Durham. The DPD chose to only target pedestrians for warnings, not drivers. Check the breakdown on p. 23 of the PDF you linked: DPD issued 150 pedestrian warnings, 0 to drivers (and no citations to anyone). In fact, the DPD was the only organization in the state that chose to target only pedestrians.

I applaud the DPD's wish to become more educated on bike/ped issues, but I find it troubling that they appear to feel pedestrians are the problem exclusively. If I remember correctly, when the TPNA conducted a "walk audit" in 2012 on Buchanan, Duke and Gregson, they found that >90% of drivers failed to yield at crosswalks.

This, incidentally, was why the recent event was held at the Cocoa Cinnamon intersection. The DPD is holding these at the (few) intersections that have walk/don't walk signals, like Geer/Foster, because they're looking to warn pedestrians who don't obey the signal. None of the events have been held at the far more common non-signaled crosswalks, where the problem is drivers failing to yield.

@Adam: I'm glad you raised this data point, which I missed in the document and certainly is unfortunate.

I would note that this year, I'm seeing a marked increase in pedestrian safety/crossing enforcement with cars pulled over on a daily basis at Lamond and Gregson. DSA parents have pressed hard for more enforcement there, after a student was hit by a car (fortunately not killed) near campus a few years back. I've seen a "priority pedestrian enforcement" sign at the crosswalk and DPD cruisers stationed at the heirlooms store, frequently pulling folks over.

My hope is, the DPD is adding more vehicular enforcement this year than in the past. (The Watch For Me NC report goes on to note that the 2014 DPD strategic plan adds in the department's ongoing interest in Watch For Me, and "places a new emphasis on traffic enforcement to enhance bicycle and pedestrian safety" -- I wonder if the Lamond/Gregson enforcement this year is indeed a sign of changing behaviors. Indeed, the 2014 report states that DPD stepped up speed enforcement near schools as part of the program, so perhaps those car data aren't included by DPD in the numbers provided on p. 23.)

Even excepting this, a program that "rewards" or recognizes safe pedestrian behavior (e.g., in the current environment of smartphone-distracted pedestrians) is, I would argue, still a step towards more positive community engagement. Though absolutely, to your point, DPD needs to be addressing unsafe/ped unfriendly drivers just as much, if they indeed aren't doing that.

I first read about this "story" in the Herald-Sun, which is still technically an actual newspaper. I considered writing about it, but when I went to check social media I noticed how few comments there really were. The H-S turned a couple of stray posts into a "story." The complaints were levied by a tiny, tiny group of people, and their voices were amplified by the way we consume media.

People like to *feel* like they're doing something, and it's certainly far easier to post an angry comment on Instagram or FaceBook than it is to *actually* do something. It's arguably a good sign that this is the worst thing people can find to be Internet Outraged over in Durham this week.

I don't know what to really say about Cocoa Cinnamon's response. It's a difficult line to walk as a small business owner; you definitely don't want to alienate anybody on political grounds, but showing any sympathy to the anti-cop stance is itself taking a political stand with equal risks. I would have ignored the complaints myself, but then I'm just posting an Internet Comment and not running an actual coffee shop where people gotta get paid.

"We can, and should, debate and advocate for better policing that reflects our community values. But the explicit messaging coming out of the activists who've criticized Cocoa Cinnamon in this case are, to me, unrealistic and lacking grounding in civic life.
A categorical claim that all police, and policing, are inherently racist, prejudiced and violent, and should somehow be kept out of "safe spaces" where those suspicious of police may exist, is a bridge too far."

Yep, well said. If the core message of the activists is "all police are racist, period" then that is a non-starter as far as community engagement goes and reflects poorly on the credibility of the protesters (if we're all gonna do the "guilt-by-association" thing).

I was really disappointed with the Clarion piece by the new editor. Thanks to BCR, I have come to expect a higher bar of objectivity and credibility in my local blogging sources.

As for 'all cops are racist': anyone who thinks that is the core message is living in fantasy land of fear. The police in the US _AS AN INSTITUTION_ is a racist one. This directly affects the culture of policing and thus individual cops. Law enforcement throughout the country consistently targets minorities and low income folks, while giving more privileged people the impression that all is fine, because their neighborhoods are 'safe'. Many people believe all cops are racist because that is all they encounter: violent, heavy handed tactics in their neighborhoods. Again, appeasing a population that doesn't really understand why the institution of policing in this country is highly problematic solves absolutely nothing, and further alienates vulnerable populations.

I think Rann alludes to a point that deserves emphasis: the statements "all cops are racists" and "the institution of policing in the US is inherently racist" are not equivalent. The former is clearly untrue. The latter is at the very least up for discussion.

People of all perspectives on policing would do well to be very clear what they mean when they talk about this.

As for the giving out "tickets" for free coffee thing...I don't see the harm in it, but I'm hard pressed to see how it helps. It's a bit like a band-aid on a compound fracture.

These crosswalk trolls are a signal to qualified prospective police chiefs: Do not come here, because Durham is a place where cops are damned if they do and damned if they don't.

I missed the comments about targeting this area because its "really really white and really well off people." There is definitely a mix of people in this area. People living further down Geer walk from the neighborhood. King's and Stone Bros. have customers from all walks of life. I don't frequent the coffee shop, but it looks like mainly young people who want to hang out with friends and not spend a lot of money on dinner. By the way, I consider myself middle class, middle aged and white, but not really well off.

Thank you, Kevin, for this excellent post. I'm also impressed by the excellent comments above, which point to the complexity of the issues raised by this seemingly tiny story. But there's one thing I'd like to add. While there's plenty of evidence of systemic racism in police practices (not just in many municipalities in the United States, but in many other countries as well), there's also plenty of evidence of systemic racism in educational practices. (See, for instance, Jason Stanley's recent book "How Propaganda Works" for a compendium of some of the very extensive data on this point.) I assume that no one thinks that the systemic racism in education should lead us to criticize every effort that teachers make to do what their constituents demand of them. If people are unwilling to extend the same courtesy to police officers, is that just because police racism can result in immediate death, whereas the damage that educational racism is capable of doing is much less sudden and obvious?

Do you know if the officer that stopped you had a report of armed folks in a BMW? If so, wouldn't approaching the vehicle with gun drawn be appropriate? Gosh, these officers are people with spouses, children, and parents that work in an extremely dangerous job approaching people that fire guns at them. How about thanking them for their service?