Kingston Police respond to city councillor’s criticism
Kingston Police have responded to a City Councillor’s public criticism over the way one of their officers parked their cruiser on a city street, stating that the police officer was acting in their capacity as a police officer and was responding to a call for service in the vicinity.
Councillor Peter Stroud took to Twitter to rebuke the city’s police force for their alleged lack of respect for cyclists at around noon on Tuesday, Oct 15, 2019.
“This on Princess St right now,” he posted shortly after he had taken a photo of the parked cruiser.
“Now (sic) wonder we always see vehicles parked in bike lanes in #ygk
@KingstonPolice clearly has no respect for them
We need to set a better example to ensure
#safety for our cyclists, some of whom are children,” he continued.
Kingston Police addressed the criticism by pointing out that the officer was carrying out their duties as a police officer at the time.
“The individual that was operating this cruiser was acting in their capacity as a police officer following up on a call in that immediate area,” said Kingston Police’s Media Relations Officer Const. Ashley Gutheinz.
“It is important for officers who are responding to or following up on calls to have their cruiser nearby for a variety of reasons, which could include officer safety concerns, requiring the rear seat cage for an arrested party, etc.,” he continued.
“Members of the Kingston Police strive to obey all laws and rules of the road when responding to calls for service as emergency personnel, however, there are exemptions for the purpose of safety and security for our community.”
Kingston Police did not release the exact nature of the duty call, citing a need for sensitivity and confidentiality for the citizen(s) involved.
Are you freaking kidding me right now!!! Oh let me be the Police Officer responding to an emergency call to help your Mother!! Oh wait let me first find parking so I don’t offend the bicycle people!! For f%*# sake!! Who the hell voted this clown in to our city council??
seriously stroud–gimme a break-cyclists are hardly the point here
First off I want to say Thank You for your service. It Is a thankless job for those in the wrong but a hero’s job for those in the need.
It is a thankless job but let me tell you I will be the first to come to the assistance of an officer in need. Guess that’s just my up bringing and my past training.
Complaining about an officer doing his job and it puts you out oh glory be the inconvenience of slowing down your bicycle and going around him well la de da…if your ass gets hit and run over by some moron texting and driving and blows thru a red light and YOU as a cyclist dont adhere to the rules of the road like most in this little…city do well tough noogies. Wake up and smell the coffee buddy. Put the damn cell phones away when you pedaling and driving. They are here to keep us ALL safe. Now man up and admit you is just a whining bitxh locking for your 30 seconds of fame. These people put their lives on the line for US! They have no idea what will come up on their next call. They want to work safe and go home safe to their families every every day after their shift. So piss off
. If you have a problem with that, I’ll kick your pansy ass because they deserve better!!!!
Stroud needs to get his head out of his a$$.
lmfao stroud shouldnt be allowed to judge anybody
Typical ignorant response from a citizen, councillor or not. Most people really have absolutely no idea what police, and other first responders deal with on the daily. Maybe responding officers should drive around aimlessly looking for a spot to park the next time they’re responding to a call.
Shame on you Mr Stroud….
Idiot comment and councillor…. wish they did the job for 5 minutes…
Stroud is pissed off that police arrested and charged him. This is his attempt at trying to get back at the police in any vindictive manner he can. He should be kicked off of city council
Wow! What’s up with this Stroud character? Talk about pettiness. I’m 65 and cycled all my life. Try going around the police cruiser next time instead of taking pictures to post. and thank your lucky stars the Kingston police are doing their level best in keeping our communities safe….jees!!!!
Hey Peter Stroud why you giving them griff the people here in kingston do the same thing i seen it so many times down town. So lay off our police force, There are to many bike paths down our city you and other councillors screwed up our parking down town when you put these stupid bike paths in ,, And yet you want us to shop down town What a JOKE . LAY OFF OUR POLICE FORCE,
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I think City councillors should be more concerned with solving issues for their constituents, helping those on low or fixed incomes, dealing with the severe housing shortage for everyone but students & a myriad of other issues currently happening than wasting time taking pictures & posting inappropriate comments on social media .Surely there are many more problems for them to deal with than a cruiser parked in a bicycle lane during the performance of their duties. I have a feeling Me. Stroud’s constituents would agree.
There needs to be more forgiveness a d benefit if the doubt. Every Tom, Dick, and Harry thinks that they can be a justice vigilante now. I’ve seen police officers do things (minor things), too. Ex. Driving with a a headlight out during the day…etc.
However, there is a lot that we don’t know about any given situation.
Since we all have a a cell phone and a media account we all think we can start throwing stones.
I think we all need to go back to kindergarten and relearn a lot of lessons and people skills.
Perhaps Councillor Stroud should have created another public tantrum & blocked the police cruiser from moving. While cyclists need to be considered this reaction seems a bit over the top.
I have seen a police cruiser turn right at green light in the bicycle lane which I would not do. It is not a turning lane and squeezing in between car and curb is just not right. Alot of other drivers do it as well. I wait behind the cars til I get to light and check bike lane to make sure no bikers are in it.
Enough about cyclist they need to be ticketed more if they don’t follow the rules of the road,such as running red lights they want to be treated with respect and given the so called meter spacing the they as well should follow the rules of the road. Perhaps Kingston Police should ticket all persons running red light. Kingston city council should look at all safety and install red light cameras.
Red lights are for cars. bicycles do not have an engine. Once they get up to speed they need to maintain that speed. Simple!
As a city council member do you really have nothing better to complain about than this! Make a call first to the police get the story straight before you put something out on social media. We’ll done for the police to ensure that their patrol vehicle is close if a another high priority call call comes in they don’t have to take extra time running to their vehicle.
This is probably the dumbest complaint I have ever heard about Kingston Police. I would rather have the police illegally parked their vehicles in the case of an emergency, then to spend five minutes trying to find a parking spot in downtown Kingston.
As a bicyclist, I can spend the few extra seconds getting onto the sidewalk or roadway, to make room for them.
As a car driver, I would rather have the police cruiser off the roadway, then to slowly go around it, especially considering a leading cause of accidents is a traffic jam.
The absurd amount of taxpayer’s money that has recently been wasted on bicycle paths through out the city, along with speed bumps shows that city council has a total lack of understanding of what the electorate actually needs and wants from them. The parking alone that has been reduced drastically to accommodate the non existent population of cyclists has indicated a poor respect for the general population’s needs for easy access and to the city core’s needs to generate adequate income to survive. The lack of focus on the needs of the general public has created a malaise towards the city’s council by the electorate. When a councilor voices opinion indicating a poor understanding of the requirements of a police officer in his act of duty, that councilor gives evidence to an existing problem. If the city secures the proper use of its police force (which it also uses a premium amount of tax money to support) there would be less need for expenditures on unnecessary projects that they deem as appropriate action, such as bicycle paths, speed bumps, traffic cameras etc. A more visible use of our police force, and enforcement of our present laws would solve much of the above problems, and make our tax dollars work instead wasting them.
Hop on a bicycle and head down to market square from the Frontenac mall, then tell me if we need bike paths or not. Bicycles deserve just as much respect on the roads as a motor vehicle does, and if people like you gave them the respect and courtesy all should expect, perhaps more would park the car and take their bicycles out instead. Kingston does not accommodate pedestrian and non motorized traffic the way every other city in Ontario does. It’s dangerous here, and a few less parking spots for you closed minded drivers is not the end of the world. Suck it up, the world doesn’t revolve around you.
Really? We’ll let’s hope they wait for a proper parking spot when an official’s daughter is being brutally attacked. Wouldn’t want to disrupt traffic or a kid on a bike for that! Sheesh!
Time to crack down on bad cyclist that run stop signs and red lights and don’t obey the rules of the road. There are many cyclists who obey the rules, but there are some that think they can do whatever they want and then blame others for there own reckless cycling. If a cyclist wants to use the roads, maybe it is time that they pay a nominal license fee (say $5 per year) help pay for more bicycle lanes.
The cops r not always right I myself have been dealing with the Kingston police for many years and I have seen Kingston police in the wrong many times and they get away with things they shouldn’t get away with I do not respect the cops at all cause you have to give respect be4 you you get respect and theses cops I don’t respect them at all you will all have to read my book cause it’s going to tell you alot about our Kingston police and probation and parole officers judges prosacuters lawyers don’t respect none of theses ppl at all and my book will tell it all
As a city councilor I would expect to see better conflict resolution skills. Do your research and consider both sides of the story before you take action. As a councillor this is a great opportunity to make use of your authority and use the resources you have at your disposal to make the right connections, speak to the right people and get a better understanding of why this is happening and if there is a way to accomodate both parties more efficiently. I think in this case the police were well within their rights and it’s no different from having police, firetrucks and ambulances needing to interrupt traffic in a state of urgency. I appreciate the concern for safety towards the cyclists however as someone who cycles occasionally I do not feel safe on the road next to vehicles to begin with and I know cyclists make drivers nervous as well. Ottawa has their bike paths beside the sidewalk vs the road and I feel this is much safer for everyone. It is a lot easier for me to ride through grass to avoid a collision with a slow moving pedestrian than it is to merge onto the sidewalk to avoid being hit by a fast moving vehicle who may need to pull over urgently if they are experiencing car trouble and have little control over their car. Infact I would be stuck on the road trying to move faster than the vehicle or bailing off of my bike to avoid collision in most cases because the curb would not allow me to transition onto the side walk safety. Also I’d like to point out that in the worst case situation I collide with a pedestrian we may both be badly injured. If I collide with a vehicle I will most certainly be seriously injured if not dead. Just an expansion of thought, I think the placement of the lane is the problem and that falls on the responsibility of the city to resolve. Not law inforcement or the citizens of Kingston.
Councillor Stroud is a complete embarrassment to our district let alone the City of Kingston. Talk about role models, look to yourself first Peter.
1) We should stop eluding to a “mystery councillor” as though he wasn’t already identified. We should CLEARLY be addressing this idiot by name. PETER STROUD. Sing his name from the mountain tops in relation to this complaint. Wow… seriously? He’s complaining about Kingston police setting good examples in the line of duty? PETER STROUD, a COUNCILLOR OF THE CITY OF KINGSTON, then sets his own example of TWEETING idiotic statements to the WORLD via TWITTER???? I don’t even know this guy and I already know he’s a twit. This is the level of decision making of a Kingston councillor? I’m sorry, but if/when I see police vehicles parked in precarious positions, whether it be on the shoulder of a road, on grass, or in the middle of an intersection, I tend to believe it is there for a REASON. But nooooooo… PETER STROUD concludes that this particular parking job was designed to purposely disrespect cyclists. This guy is a buffoon.
2) I can only hope that the police or other associated emergency services adhere to EVERY road law (and any law pertaining to motor vehicles) if they EVER need to respond to an emergency situation pertaining to PETER STROUD and/or his family members. Let’s watch his complaints roll in THEN. Talk about a waste of tax payer’s money – this guy gets PAID??? Re-think your votes.
Right, why is it whenever a Kingston Cop is being a jerk they are “acting in the best interest of the public”. The police are no worse then the people they claim to protect us from.