Dash-mounted cameras would help control rogue bikers

OFF THE WIRE
THE OLYMPIAN | • Published August 19, 2010
A veteran Washington State Patrol trooper was injured recently when he rolled his police cruiser multiple times while chasing a group of motorcyclists at speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour. As trooper Brian Salyer, 46, of Spanaway was pinned in his crumpled cruiser bleeding profusely from a neck injury, two of the bikers approached the car, laughing and clapping - taunting the injured lawman.

Law enforcement officers say it will be tough to crack the code of silence in the biker community.
That’s repulsive. Perhaps if Trooper Salyer had a dashboard mounted camera on his police cruiser, the culprits could be brought to justice in a timely manner. An investment of $300 to $500 for a camera, could have saved a lot of law enforcement investigative time.
According to police reports, it was just after the evening rush hour when Trooper Salyer encountered a group of about 10 motorcyclists on sports bikes. The bikers were racing along the interchange between southbound Interstate 405 and northbound Interstate 5. They were traveling more than 100 miles per hour. The trooper attempted to stop the motorcyclists.
As Salyer closed in on the fastest biker attempting to get a license plate number and physical description of the driver, two other bikers cut him off. The trooper hit his brakes and swerved.
The trooper’s out-of-control vehicle struck the guardrail on the ramp from I-5 to northbound state Highway 599. The vehicle rolled several times before winding up on its wheels in a ditch.
“Had he not slowed down and slammed on the brakes, he would have hit them,” said fellow Trooper Cliff Pratt. “At his speed, that made him lose control.”

Salyer managed to call for help on his cellular telephone and while he sat injured, bleeding and trapped in his car just south of Seattle, he looked up to see two motorcyclists taunting him.
“They all took off when they heard sirens in the distance,” Pratt said.
Witnesses say there may have been several dozen cyclists in all and that the two who approached within a couple of dozen feet of the injured trooper, may not have been part of the group of 10 Salyer was chasing.

Salyer, a 22-year State Patrol veteran, was treated for a concussion, bruises and cuts at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle and released.
Troopers “have good descriptions on the group and some specific riders,” Pratt said, and are searching for the bikers.
Pratt told the Seattle Times, “Seeing a cop down was hysterical to them. They thought it was the funniest thing they ever saw. They didn’t know whether he was going to live or die and they didn’t care. That’s what makes it so hard to swallow.”

Hard to swallow, indeed. This should outrage members of the public. It certainly infuriates us.
At least the two taunters can be charged with the misdemeanor crime of failing to summon assistance for an injured person.

Law enforcement officers say the renegade riders are a tight-knit group who refuse to cooperate with police investigations. That’s why it could take some time to track down the perpetrators.
Trooper Pratt said part of the problem is lack of dash-mounted cameras on police cruisers. Motorcyclists know that troopers are at a disadvantage without the cameras that can record evidence such as license plate numbers and photos of suspects.
“Bikes will come right up next to me, flip me off, pull a wheelie away from me, and I’ve got to sit there, wave and smile,” Pratt said.

Trooper Pratt said budget cuts have cut out dash cams from most Washington State Patrol cruisers.
That’s unfortunate.
The motorcycle racing groups who thumb their nose at law enforcement and the public, know that troopers are without dash cams. “Their main goal is to go around violating traffic laws and using the highway system as their playground and they don’t care if someone lives or dies,” Pratt said.
That’s horrendous and gives all legitimate motorcycle riders a bad name.
This is one case where the evidence-gathering cameras might have been able to bring two outlaw bikers to justice more quickly than the drawn-out investigation with unresponsive motorcyclists that is under way today.


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