Mellow Johnny's to Austin Police Department - we don't need your business.

[dashDustin]

Herman: Mellow Johnny’s to cops: No bikes for you - News - Austin American-Statesman - Austin, TX

[Saab2000]

I hope for their sake that they never suffer a break in or burglary or a holdup and call the cops. The police are an imperfect entity but I’d like them to still be on speed-dial for occasions of urgency.

[johnmdesigner]

This is the typical excuse thrown out when the police are criticized for their bad behavior.
The police in my town weren't doing shit before the riots and they certainly aren't doing anything now. So what has changed?
MJ made a business decision and canceled a contract. If the cops want to be crybabies about it let them. It's the one thing they are really good at.

[Saab2000]

This is the typical excuse thrown out when the police are criticized for their bad behavior.
The police in my town weren't doing shit before the riots and they certainly aren't doing anything now. So what has changed?
MJ made a business decision and canceled a contract. If the cops want to be crybabies about it let them. It's the one thing they are really good at.

Fair enough. I’m no apologist for them. Several bad experiences as a younger person left me jaded. But I wouldn’t to be a high profile business doing this. I’d at least want to keep it quiet.

A childhood friend of mine is chief of police in my hometown of about 80,000 inhabitants. He’s got a very difficult job juggling multiple hot irons simultaneously. A few years ago they had an officer shoot someone (I don’t recall the details) and I read his press briefings and they were well considered and thoughtful.

MJs can run their business as they see fit. I just hope their decisions are well considered and not just reactive to recent tragic events, which I’m not ignoring or attempting to justify.

[taz]

I hope for their sake that they never suffer a break in or burglary or a holdup and call the cops. The police are an imperfect entity but I’d like them to still be on speed-dial for occasions of urgency.

If the police refuse to do the job they swore an oath to do regardless of the reason or the entity needing their help, it only supports the calls for defunding or eliminating their organization.

[Mabouya]

I hope for their sake that they never suffer a break in or burglary or a holdup and call the cops. The police are an imperfect entity but I’d like them to still be on speed-dial for occasions of urgency.

I know this isn't what John meant, and this isn't identical, but this ^^^ scenario isn't that different from the "protection" rackets run by the Mob, and the threat is obvious: "Gee, it would be a real shame if someone were to break into your nice bike shop..."

We always hear this sort of thing after events like the Floyd / BLM riots, when some folks say "These people are complaining about the police, I'd like to see how things would go if we didn't have the police around," then we suddenly get a bunch of cases of the Blue Flu. As if the price we have to pay for protection from the police is that they get to choke perps with impunity, in full view of the public, as if that's just perfectly OK.

[Peter Polack]

With this Mellow Johnny's action, the whole anti-cop thing has jumped the shark.

[dashDustin]

MJ’s statement:

Dear Austin

In the context of the current evaluation of community policing in Austin, we have decided to no longer purchase, re-sell, and service police-issue Trek bikes and accessories under a City of Austin RFP the shop was previously awarded.

We regret not publicizing our decision before it was presented by others on social media. It's difficult in these times to balance the needs of a business and a community. Our entire employee group was engaged in this dialogue and we delved deep into our community to understand how we could best do our part to keep our customers safe and this city moving in the right direction. These are certainly trying times and we understand people will object to any decision made along these lines.

Businesses can no longer be non-participants in the communities they serve. We chose what we think will do the most to suture these divides and place our community on the right side of history. We have had to make these choices before when we felt companies whose products we sold put kids at schools at risk of violence. We lost sales due to this choice. We also saw our former vendors later divest of holdings and we've returned to selling these products. We will live with the choices our customers make if they want to buy bikes and bike products somewhere else.

We are committed to the city of Austin and the community of cyclists that we serve every day.

We are not anti-police. We do believe our local police force will protect us from the very threats we are receiving right now.

We wish this entire community peace and progress and togetherness at the conclusion of these trying times. And we intend to be a part of the discourse, struggle, and growth for Austin, as we have since we opened our doors in 2008.

#rideyourbike

[rwsaunders]

Fast forward to 27:50 for the formation drill...like Trek, MJ’s and other manufacturers of police bikes didn’t know that riot control police train to use their bikes in defensive and offensive positions.

[bigbill]

Fast forward to 27:50 for the formation drill...like Trek, MJ’s and other manufacturers of police bikes didn’t know that riot control police train to use their bikes in defensive and offensive positions.

I think 27 is David Hasselhoff, you don't shoot the Hoff. I like seeing cops on bikes unless they're weaving through pedestrians on a busy sidewalk. I never understood having the bike manufacture's name so prominent on police bikes. Police vehicles are identifiable by their looks, but the manufacturer's name is usually understated.

[rwsaunders]

You’re right Bill...I’m surprised that TREK and others do not black out the decals, but they probably don't do that so that they can market and sell bikes to other police forces...wait...that’s contrary to their current position. What I find hypocritical to some extent, if that’s the correct term to use in this case, is that perhaps the greatest doper, fraud and bully in sports history, owns the shop that’s taking this position. If MJ’s employees really dug deep and thought about how a bike was used in LA’s case, to accumulate his wealth, stomp on others and to start and grow his shop, perhaps they might understand how refusing to sell and service police bikes is being a bit sanctimonious.

[Chik]

Does Armstrong still own MJ?

[sine]

Fast forward to 27:50 for the formation drill...like Trek, MJ’s and other manufacturers of police bikes didn’t know that riot control police train to use their bikes in defensive and offensive positions.

I don't believe this at all.

I assisted with donations of countless bicycles to various PD in D.C. metro and helped start a volunteer police bicycle program. Part of our training was on how to best use a bicycle for defense......and by extension offense. Park Police greatly assisted our cycling community by supporting races we organized.

There are folks who suck in every organization. Police rightfully so are to be held to higher standards and I ran into a few that were less than stellar. But I also met officers who were very good.

I want to see police officers on bicycles. If nothing else, these officers see the difficulties we cyclists experience so many times. But more importantly, officers on bicycles cover more ground (v walking) while still being able to converse with everyday folks.

If the folks at MJ put some thought into this, they would have used their position to have constructive dialogue with the police dept. This is what we did when a police officer did something stupid. We had a direct line to the chief and the issue was handled from the top down.

If I lived in Austin I would happily pick up the servicing contract.......and not shop at MJ.

[Saab2000]

There are folks who suck in every organization. Police rightfully so are to be held to higher standards and I ran into a few that were less than stellar. But I also met officers who were very good.

I want to see police officers on bicycles. If nothing else, these officers see the difficulties we cyclists experience so many times. But more importantly, officers on bicycles cover more ground (v walking) while still being able to converse with everyday folks.

This is how I see it as well. To paint over “police”with an overly broad brush is to fall into the same trap we have found ourselves with broad statements about race or gender or identity or religion. And I say this as someone who has had two quite negative experiences with local law enforcement when I was a teenager, cementing a certain prejudice inside me.

[dashDustin]

Does Armstrong still own MJ?

I've been trying to figure this out. From what I recall, there were 3 or 4 owners - LA, Bart, Bill, and Craig (not sure if he was an owner or just a GM). Bart and Bill have been involved in a lot, and Craig was very much a businessman. Bart and Bill's involvement might have been wrapped up in CSE, rather than as individuals. Regardless, this feels like a very hastily made decision that is very, very surprising.

[johnmdesigner]

I don't believe this at all.

I assisted with donations of countless bicycles to various PD in D.C. metro and helped start a volunteer police bicycle program. Part of our training was on how to best use a bicycle for defense......and by extension offense. Park Police greatly assisted our cycling community by supporting races we organized.

There are folks who suck in every organization. Police rightfully so are to be held to higher standards and I ran into a few that were less than stellar. But I also met officers who were very good.

I want to see police officers on bicycles. If nothing else, these officers see the difficulties we cyclists experience so many times. But more importantly, officers on bicycles cover more ground (v walking) while still being able to converse with everyday folks.

If the folks at MJ put some thought into this, they would have used their position to have constructive dialogue with the police dept. This is what we did when a police officer did something stupid. We had a direct line to the chief and the issue was handled from the top down.

If I lived in Austin I would happily pick up the servicing contract.......and not shop at MJ.

Well the condescending remarks made by the police in the article are not very productive either.
I am not against having Police in my community. If more decent police officers took a stand against corruption and abuse of power than I might be willing to see it as a few rotten apples in the barrel. Their silence however makes them complicit.
Last night my wife and I were walking on a side street on the side walk when an NYPD SUV decided not to wait for the light to change and decided it was a better idea to drive on the sidewalk screaming at us through their loudspeaker (god forbid they would roll down their windows) to get the fuck out of the way. They were not on call, no lights on and once they got to the street sat in traffic like everyone else.
This isn't the behavior of a civil servant, it is the behavior of an asshole that abuses their power.
When police stop referring to us as "civilians" and starts treating us like "citizens" then maybe they will deserve some respect. When you stop looking at me like a criminal and start respecting my right to exist then maybe we can have a discussion.

[HorsCat]

This strikes me as a massively bad and stupid business decision. Good on MJ for having the balls to follow through on something I imagine they knew would be highly controversial, but it seems like a stunningly bad business decision. There is no way this can end well for them. (And that's got nothing to do with how I feel about civil unrest, police, BLM, etc.; it is an economic assessment and nothing more.)

[dashDustin]

Local bike shop will stop selling bicycles to Austin Police Department | KXAN Austin

AUSTIN (KXAN) — A local bicycle shop that earlier this year took out a PPP loan to help keep its employees is walking away from a $314,000 contract with the City of Austin.

[sine]

I'm sure many of us have had interesting encounters with police in the USA. Whenever I visited the US I often thought police were rather aggressive and arrogant. My thoughts did not change when I moved to the US. Now anyone who knows me knows that I stand up to authority when needed. If an officer does stupid, I have their name and badge and call the chief and whomever else if needed. On occasion we've had officers come to our house to apologize.

Despite all this, I know police have an especially hard job in the US. Full auto weapons are all too common in the USA so officers don't know if the person they are stopping is going to pop e few. Tensions are high and that was made very clear to me when I went through 6 weeks of police training. I also understood that police officers largely have each others back.

Anyhow, to keep this short, this is an imperfect world but warts and all I would rather have police than not. This situation with Mellow Johnny's strikes me as lazy and a missed opportunity to better their community relationship with the police.

Well the condescending remarks made by the police in the article are not very productive either.
I am not against having Police in my community. If more decent police officers took a stand against corruption and abuse of power than I might be willing to see it as a few rotten apples in the barrel. Their silence however makes them complicit.
Last night my wife and I were walking on a side street on the side walk when an NYPD SUV decided not to wait for the light to change and decided it was a better idea to drive on the sidewalk screaming at us through their loudspeaker (god forbid they would roll down their windows) to get the fuck out of the way. They were not on call, no lights on and once they got to the street sat in traffic like everyone else.
This isn't the behavior of a civil servant, it is the behavior of an asshole that abuses their power.
When police stop referring to us as "civilians" and starts treating us like "citizens" then maybe they will deserve some respect. When you stop looking at me like a criminal and start respecting my right to exist then maybe we can have a discussion.

[johnmdesigner]

Mayor Says NYPD is Retreating From Stolen Streets — Public Sees Little Evidence – Streetsblog New York City

Nothing like interacting with the community you are supposed to be protecting.