Police Block Law-Abiding Pedestrians On Washington Ave With Parked Tow Truck
Watching the changing police strategy on Washington Ave has become something of a hobby for me. It’s free entertainment, the only drawback is I have to be up late to participate. My prior post on the police crackdown: St. Louis Metropolitan Police Overkill On Washington Avenue.
The focus of everyone is primarily the two blocks between Tucker (12th) and 14th, although efforts some nights have been extended as far east as 9th Street. Few saw the display of force in front of the convention center between 8th-9th.
A flashing sign read “LOUD MUSIC EQUALS TOWED CAR.” To prove the point the police parked a tow truck on the sidewalk so it’d be visible to motorists…oh never mind those pedestrians downtown visiting our city and spending money. See for yourself in this 1+ minute video:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G85ncWpC3AE
The humorous part is the police closed Washington Ave just a 100 feet or so further west, forcing all traffic to turn right onto 9th Street. Meanwhile down at 6th Street cruisers are standing out of sunroofs (Cruising Is Stupid). The officer I talked to said the tow truck was the idea of Chief Dan Isom and Mayor Francis Slay.
Hopefully we can manage to value pedestrians someday.
— Steve Patterson
Sheesh. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.
Cry!
Quote:
“the tow truck was the idea of Chief Dan Isom and Mayor Francis Slay”
There’s an old saw in aviation slang that gets said in a stand-alone manner, kind of an editorial comment if you will;
“Head up-and-locked”
If any of us parked our car on a sidwalk we would be towed.
When The Loop successfully “encouraged” the negative element to leave their area using similar tactics,
the element found its way to the popular blocks of Wash Ave. where the most
pedestrian traffic is centered – because the element LOVES an audience, right ? We (the residents and business owners)
requested something be done, and since there’s no formula for success,
we (this resident, anyway) is trying to be patient while they figure out
what works and what doesn’t. I’m likely wrong, but the truck looks like it’s “parked” in that odd lane that usually has taxi’s queued and waiting. The 13 years I’ve lived downtown, I’ve always thought that was designed to be the sanctioned taxi stand. Also consider that the “sidewalk” there is about 30 feet wide…pedestrians are not forced to walk in the street to get around it, the choice is there to govern their own personal safety and walk to the other side of it. If the cruisers are now relocating to 6th Street, I would think the residents and business owners in those blocks would call and request a police presence as well. I commend them for putting visual deterrents in place. I notice that your post has clear criticisms, but offers no solutions…and to complain without offering resolution is useless.
That “odd lane” is called a sidewalk, it’s for pedestrians, I fought for years and got the taxi stand removed 1-2 years ago.
So…a sidewalk that is 30 feet wide that was presumably built to afford a lane for taxi’s for the convenience of “those pedestrians downtown visiting our city and spending money” – you fought to do away with because…? I would totally understand if the truck was actually blocking the sidewalk… but there’s a huge plaza surrounding it that you have chosen to disregard to make your point about your distaste for the police presence. Hey, you do your thing, it’s your right to have and share the feelings you have. I ended up here because I googled “washington avenue st louis pedestrian zone times” and you were the first link that pops up. But if you view yourself as an ambassador to the city and its pedestrians – this blog doesn’t really showcase that.
When the convention center was expanded in the early 90s it was built with a wide circle driveway for tour buses and other convention related vehicles, it was separate from the much smaller sidewalk. Years later the convention hotel opened and a place was needed for a taxi stand and the sidewalk was taken from pedestrians for that porpoise. I fought to get the sidewalk back for pedestrians. The tow truck could have been parked in the circle drive but they chose to park on the sidewalk leaving very little room for pedestrians unless they walked in the circle driveway or street.
In 13 years of living on Wash. Ave, I’ve never once encountered an issue in that area. But then again, I’m one who believes in personal accountability and doesn’t care much for others thinking for me. While your motives and actions were honorable for you and those who need someone to think for them, they were unwarranted for people like me. You are absolutely right – that tow truck had the same square footage to park in that pedestrians had to walk in, and they chose poorly. So instead of going to an officer and saying “hey – the tow truck is parked in a way that idiots keeps stepping out into traffic to get around it – maybe it can be moved a couple feet to keep someone from getting hit” you painted a picture as if the police left no option for pedestrians except walking in the street – which is not the case.
Oh but I did talk to an officer about the tow truck as soon as I saw he. He said it was the idea of the police chief and mayor. It sat there unattended blocking pedestrians for hours.
Calling an automobile driveway a “plaza” shows you aren’t familiar with the area.
Focusing on a moot point doesn’t really regain any ground that you’ve lost with me as your reader. If you are unwilling or unable to acknowledge that maybe you were single sided in your portrayal of this situation, then so be it. I choose to try to learn and grow from experiences and exchanges I have. But now I’m confused…is it a sidewalk or an automobile driveway (since it used to be a taxi lane and not a sidewalk and clearly it’s not a plaza). 😉
The sidewalk was taken over by cabs until I was able to get Kitty Ratcliffe to see the problem. She got the taxi stand moved and had the bollards moved to prevent vehicles from taking over the pedestrian space.
Steve, I get your frustration, but unless this is an ongoing problem or situation, I wouldn’t lose too much sleep over it. This was a police-directed action, to address a specific problem at a specific time. I’ve seen police cars driving on sidewalks, blocking sidewalks, driving on paths in parks, etc, many times. They have the power to be above the law and they use it. If having a tow truck parked on a wide sidewalk, if for only a few nights, actually reduces the number of booming subwoofers, I’d say it was definitely a worthwhile compromise.
Not to take away from your point about the sidewalk being blocked, but let me get this straight: The St. Louis PD is imposing a curfew on under-21s? That is to say, people over age 18?
And there are ‘Nuisance Abatement’ vehicles embossed with the slogan ‘We are watching you’ driving around your streets?
Holy crap. St. Louis: “New York, we’ll see your stop-and-frisks and raise you Tehran-style big-brother ‘nuisance abatement.'”
Why is this not bigger news??