ANC Commissioner Robert L. Whiddon wrote in to the MPD-4D Listserv this morning to complain about the problem of “idle cops”:

Every so often I’ll run home, running along Park Place along the reservoir.

I’ve noticed a squad car, officer inside talking on a cell phone, idling at I think Park Place and maybe Monroe on several afternoons between 5:00 and 6:00 p.m. …

With the recent murders in my SMD I’m even more concerned than usual about idle cops. There is much to do to help improve public safety in our community and chatting on a cell phone, in an idling squad car, far from the action, doesn’t seem like it’s very helpful.

Assistant Chief of Police Diane Groomes‘ response:

Sir - I would like to advise you that the car on Park Pl is the PHOTO RADAR car that is stationary and used to enforce the speeding issue on Park Pl - usually they are on Park Pl two times a week and are not on routine patrol..

Based on the Washington Post, here are the facts of a very interesting accident:

*A Maryland State Trooper, James Davis, is checking for speeders on a strip of I-95 near Laurel.

*Some motorcyclists pass by at speeds of around 100 mph.

*Davis pulls out and turns on his lights.

*Sixteen miles later, on an on-ramp, two brothers, Suky Shamin Heureaux and Suky Shamin Heureaux, die in nearly simultaneous crashes on a Baltimore exit ramp.

*A twist: It turns out that one of the bikes that the brothers had acquired had been reported stolen–a circumstance that could have motivated the brothers to flee from the police.

The father of the brothers, Maximo Heureaux, is irate. From the Post story:

“They tell me they were racing, that’s all they tell me,” Maximo Heureaux, 45, who shared his home in Landover with his sons, said of his limited contact with investigators. “I don’t believe the police; nobody here believes the police. We all need to know what really happened.”

I guess the question here is whether Davis chased the motorcyclists, which is a controversial practice in law-enforcement circles. The state police declined to release a copy of the pursuit policy to the Post. So take your pick:

A) This is clearly a case in which a police chase caused deaths. The state should apologize and pay.

B) This is clearly a case in which two people were recklessly driving dangerous vehicles. It’s their fault.

C) This is a murky case.

Looks like a lot of downtown office workers are headed for a supercasual Friday. A Metro fire and a power outage are keeping hordes of salarymen on the sidewalks, unable to boot up in their offices. A correspondent in the area informs us that a clock on the 1300 block of F Street NW stopped at 7:20–a bit of trivia that comports with reports that a fire broke out on Metrorail tracks around that time. We will be updating this story as it breaks.

Friday night I drove to Chincoteague, Va. It was an opportunity not just to try out the GPS unit my wife just bought but also to try Mike DeBonis’ Best Crosstown Shortcut. These opportunities were soon at war.

“Recalculating…recalculating” said the GPS’ voice over and over as we brazenly ignored its attempts to get us to New York Avenue NE. After about 10 minutes, my oldest son was holding his ears and asking us to turn down the “robot lady,” who finally succumbed to DeBonis’ shortcut four blocks before South Dakota Avenue NE. Too bad for it, because the route was AMAZING. I couldn’t have crossed the District more quickly if I was a freaked-out Spotsylvania dentist hauling ass from the convention center.

Is there any way to program shortcuts into these units? Or are you stuck with the bog-standard routes, all of which seem to favor staying in traffic for a long, long time? I liked having the GPS when I was traveling, but I ended up muting it on the way home.

Heads up to anyone who relies on the Rock Creek Park Multi-Use Trail to get around—workers, surly workers I might add, were putting up barricades along the trail tonight and in one spot blocking it completely in preparation for the pope’s trip through the park tomorrow. As Ruth pointed out below, the police department has a PDF map of the motorcade route, and the Post’s Get There blog has lots of other tips.

Photo of Madonna del Ghisallo by radon7

There’s nothing funny about traffic fatalities. I’d just like to get that out there at the start. Still, looking at the bus and bus-stop ads for the Metropolitan Washington Council of Government’s Governments’ “StreetSmart” program, I can’t help but notice what sort of person they’ve chosen to illustrate the hazards of crossing streets.

Look at this man being hit by a car. His stripy sweater, artfully distressed jeans, overdesigned shoes, and flying cup of Starbucks—they all scream “oblivious, over-consuming hipster.” I guess the question here, then, is: How effective are ads that portray the horrors of a scenario that I suspect many people secretly fantasize about?

Slow-moving automobiles are making their way eastward in this great city of ours.

The Neighborhood Pace Car Program, sponsored by the D.C. Department of Transportation in partnership with the Washington Area Bicyclist Association (WABA), has already taken root in Ward 3 and is currently creeping (at 30 mph or so) into Ward 6.

The safety program asks neighborhood motorists “to take responsibility for the impact of their own driving while setting the ‘pace’ for safer streets and neighborhoods.” It also asks them to place the special pace car decal in a prominent spot on their automobiles, so that other motorists don’t just assume that the driver is (a) trolling for a parking space; or (b) a longtime subscriber to AARP The Magazine.

Eve DeCoursey, a spokesperson for WABA, says the pace car idea originated in Australia. “Instead of just involving the engineers to FORCE the speed limit,” she writes, “or just involving the police to ENFORCE the speed limit, it also involves the drivers themselves(!) encouraging them to take responsibility for the impact that the velocity of their vehicles have on our neighborhood and community streets.”

DeCoursey goes on to say that the “risk and danger that a driver introduces to the street scape when driving 10-15mph beyond the speed limit is significant.”

Pat Munoz, who signed up to be a pace car driver in Northwest, says it hasn’t been an enormous part of her life because she doesn’t drive that much. But when she does drive, the sticker helps remind her to slow down and pay attention.

“Zooming around in your car isn’t conducive to having a nice neighborhood,” Munoz says. Munoz also says she hasn’t noticed if cleaving to the speed limit has convinced other drivers to slow down. “Maybe the people behind me…”

—Rend Smith

That intersection is a total disaster of urban planning. The traffic will from now on always suck. It’s ugly. And there is nowhere to sit. The designers obviously thought they were being all civic-minded by incorporating a nice big open plaza–filled with gravel. But there are no benches. Who wants to sit on gravel? Actually, maybe they thought of that too, and decided they didn’t want me to hang out.

Also, this is a good time to mourn Mitch Hedberg once again. One of his best jokes is about Target.

As usual, it’s to the point: “I tried to walk into Target, but I missed. Damn. I think the entrance to Target should have people splattered all around.” Watch the real deal here, around minute 2:50.

Maybe we could all stage a protest in which we aim and miss at the Target doors until someone builds some benches.

Metrobus drivers are among the most abused of all local workers. In the words of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689, “Riders have spat on, punched, slapped, and thrown bricks at bus operators.”

Assaults on the drivers, says the union, have more than doubled over the past five years, from 36 in 2002 to 84 last year.

Thank God for plexiglas. This week, Metrobus is rolling out shields for drivers on six buses. It’s an initiative that Local 689 has pushed on Metro management, and finally some progress is showing up right alongside the driver’s seat.

Municipalities across the country have long been aggressive about instituting special penalties for crimes against cops. I’m a bit skeptical of such laws; but if you’re going to do it for cops, why not bus drivers?

Target comes to Columbia Heights, to applause and (inevitable) hand-wringing. I say about time, mostly because the closest Target to my house is at Potomac Yard, which is flooded with D.C. shoppers, who, to the chagrin of the (inevitable) hand-wringers, desire and deserve goods and services that don’t cost more than they do 10 miles away.

Route 1 is too narrow for the traffic Potomac Yard occasions, and God forbid you should need something from there on a weekend day. Its parking lot, while gargantuan, isn’t sufficient for the hordes of bargain-deprived District residents who’ve descended to strip the shelves bare of cat litter, infant wipes, and surprisingly kicky Mossimo clothing.

So thank you for your sales-tax contributions, D.C.’ers, but hallelujah that you can finally shop closer to your homes than to mine.

Photo by Mrs. Gemstone

Thank you Park Police: Independence Avenue is always a clusterfuck around rush hour. This afternoon was especially bad because of some lazy cops.

At around 4:38 p.m., four cops–Park Police and one other branch–parked a couple cars and blocked one lane. They then proceeded to get out of their cars and shoot the shit curbside. They had stopped nobody. They were just hanging out.

Meanwhile, the rest of us were stuck in gridlock. Man, I wish I had my camera handy!