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SFBC's Letter to the District
Attorney * November 29, 2000
Terence Hallinan
District Attorney, San Francisco
880 Bryant Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
Via Fax: 553-1737
Dear Mr. Hallinan,
I am writing on behalf of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition in regards to the case of Chris Robertson, the bicyclist who was hit and killed Friday, November 17th in San Francisco. I understand the case has been brought to your attention, and I would like to take this opportunity to explain why, in my opinion, this case has caused such a strong outpouring of emotion from the bicycling community.
Chris was an active member of the bicycling community who will be missed by many people. He was a dedicated volunteer for the 2,800-member SF Bicycle Coalition, a former bicycle messenger, a participant in the California AIDS Ride, and an everyday bike commuter.
But the bicycling community — and the public at large — will be paying special attention to this case for an even more fundamental reason. There is a widespread concern that both the San Francisco Offices of the District Attorney and the Police Department have been lax, historically, in their handling of cases involving bicyclists as victims (as well as pedestrians as victims).
This is not a new issue, as I am sure you are aware. Our organization has met twice with you personally and with other representatives from your office and the SFPD to discuss this topic. We have seen little progress in improving the situation.
We continue to see police and prosecutors treat bicyclists as second-class citizens when they are involved in traffic incidents. Many of these incidents are ignored completely, some are treated too lightly, and almost never are extreme incidents treated as violent crimes which they are. The implicit message sent by the SFPD and DA’s Office in San Francisco is unfortunate: Killing with a gun is taken seriously as a crime, but killing with an automobile is condoned as an “accident.”
We urge you to handle the Chris Robertson case with the utmost urgency and attention. We thank Paul Cummins and Fred Gardener, of your office, for their efforts to keep the bicycle community informed as the case progresses.
We sincerely hope that this tragic situation can yield some good for the community, in the long run. Your office can help facilitate that in the following ways (as we have discussed in previous meetings):
• Assign a special prosecutor well-versed in bicyclists’ and pedestrians’ rights to handle all cases involving bicyclists and pedestrians.
• Form a special committee to examine the Office’s handling of bicycle and pedestrian cases.
• Begin immediately to keep records of prosecution rates on bicycle and pedestrian cases. As I understand it, that information is not now readily available.
We look forward to discussing these issues with you further.
Sincerely,
Leah Shahum
Program Director
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