Why do cops hate skateboarders?

reply to post by Shadowflux


You were quick with this very correct answer! That is exactly the problem. Our city has now built a fabulous skate park, and it will keep the skaters happy and off the hospital grounds, downtown area sidewalks,all the places they were doing it, and put them in a park where they don't have to pay to play, but they do have to sign an agreement of responsibilty should they become injured.

it would be hard to read the whole thread as i is a bit pissed but i think cops hate skaters cause cops are fat stupid control freaks(by and large) and skating is the exact opposite. yaweh

Originally posted by unityemissions
Skateboarders tend to embody the spirit of free will. Cops game is all about control. I think you can see the opposition between these two.

I think you got that spot on!

Plus skateboarders scare some people who know nothing about it. Some people just can't understand that most skateboarders are in complete control of their boards. They look at skaters and imagine themselves trying to do the same thing, and then become frightened at how "dangerous" it must be...

It must be hard for the coppers being forced to follow instructions all day seeing a free spirit gliding past with ease, not even knowing their destination too.

reply to post by NuclearPaul


I think the police have a bit of freedom, they can ride a push bike, motorbike, ride a horse, drive a patrol car, personnel carrier, paddy wagon, armoured vehicle, patrol boat, fly a helicopter and even walk if they choose it.

i have np with skateboarders but most are just rude kids. hell they won't even hold a door open for you.i had one run into me on the sidewalk of main street and i beat the hell out of him. when the police showed up they cahrged him with assault. what ever happened to do unto others as you would have done to you? we have a skateboard park here that MY taxes paid for but you have to skate on the sidewalk in a public place?f you remember what you do comes back 3x

I agree with the saftey reason because I've got banged up by the sidewalk and rails before but it doesnt give the police any right to treat us how they do. I saw that video before but that cop gets ticked off by many things there are a few different videos of him messing with people. Where I live there is only 1 skate park and it sucks. Its not that big and they let bikers in. Its hard for skateboarders to skate when there is a bunch of bikers.

I used to skate when I was a kid back in the days of Christian Hosoi, Tony Alva and others. The skating style was much different then. Most of the skaters I see now are just asking for trouble. They damage a large amount of public and private property by waxing and grinding. I won't even discuss the injury liability aspect.

Several years ago a roller blader darted out from between cars in a busy parking lot and struck the front quarter panel of my car when I was driving down the aisle. The panel was heavily dented and the skater got up off of the ground, saw the damage and took off. He was never caught and I got stuck with the repair bill. I don't even know if he was hurt. He was lucky I wasn't driving any faster than 5mph and lucky enough to hit my car instead of me running him over.

If alot of these kids were more aware of their surroundings and a little more courteous they probably wouldn't be hassled so often.

As an avid mountain biker I often ride (legally) on trails that are shared with hikers and horses. I and my fellow riders are very respectful of the other people who share the trails. They enjoy the trails just as much as we do. We even maintain most of the trails. But, I can assure you that if we constantly buzzed hikers and horseback riders we would lose our PRIVILEGE of riding the trails.

Originally posted by EpicJ19
Why do cops hate skateboarders?

To give me a rest, as it's 24 hour, 7 day a week effort and I need a break every now and again.

I get tired of skateboarders thinking I'm actually in their way when they're on the pavement or that the maintenance of rails and walls and the like is done by elves for free in the middle of the night whilst they're asleep in bed dreaming of getting some air beneath their boards.

I sympathize with skaters, I really do.

I used to do my fair share of boaring back in the 80's/90's - but I was also hyperconscious of where and when to go about my rides.

Grinding on public property does incur damage, skating on sidewalks with heavy pedestrian traffic is never a good idea.

One of those youtube vids "Go Skateboarding Day" happened here in my town. The kids kicked up a huge fuss over it, even though it is CLEARLY marked all over that area that riding skateboards is strictly forbidden.

You see, this is a retirement community - and even though weaving in and out between elderly shoppers and tourist might seem like a fun idea, it usually causes little old men and ladies to be startled and fearful - collisions happen.

In short, it's not nice to give the old folks heart attacks just for a quick rush.

Anyway - the kids in the video were young-late teens - the local skater set endorsed by the local skateshop, who got HAMMERED by the community over this issue.

I tried to help out, seeing as how I have a few friends from the west coast who design and build skateparks, but the fact of the matter was no one wanted to contribute towards building a viable alternative for the skating community here.

The offending officer was let go, the kids nursed their wounds and learned their lessons. Still, it rather sucks not having anything other than an old splintered half pipe in the roughest neighborhood in town that no one in their right mind will go to.

Me? I still skate. 2am in the mall parking lot. Lots of nice gradients and smooth asphalt, and no - I don't grind on anything.

Because skateboarders are annoying and they seem to attract the rebellious "i don't give a ****" crowd. No offense or anything, but I used to skateboard and that's what we did.

Plus, if there is a no skateboarding law, then you are breaking it.

Originally posted by hippy2012
I can say personally that as being a skateboarder we are in the streets, at the front line. As was stated above, it is about the embodiment of free will. Most skateboards skate what they want when they want. Now I know I will get blasted for this but its just what we do. We all understand the whole liability thing but the majority of skateboarders are not really worried with that, we just want to skate. I can also understand the noise and the property damage but like I said before, we are in the streets, we have a different outlook on things. I guarantee that we see the city totally different. So many things that people take for granted and pay no attention to can mean a world of possibilities for us. Also we naturally hate the authorities and there for are always skeptical of "The Man"

You might be "in the streets", but you don't actually own the streets you know. You actually share these streets, so how about a little thought for the people you share them with? The others that also pay for the streets, but don't think they.

Also, I think I probably understand or see cities differently from you too and probably different from how you assume I see the city and the streets. So which view of the city is right here? Are you really that arrogant enough to think it's yours.

As far as some skateboarders, I don't think it's the embodiment of free will at all, it sounds more like selfishness and the imposition of their will.

Originally posted by GENERAL EYES
I sympathize with skaters, I really do.

I used to do my fair share of boaring back in the 80's/90's - but I was also hyperconscious of where and when to go about my rides.

Grinding on public property does incur damage, skating on sidewalks with heavy pedestrian traffic is never a good idea.

One of those youtube vids "Go Skateboarding Day" happened here in my town. The kids kicked up a huge fuss over it, even though it is CLEARLY marked all over that area that riding skateboards is strictly forbidden.

You see, this is a retirement community - and even though weaving in and out between elderly shoppers and tourist might seem like a fun idea, it usually causes little old men and ladies to be startled and fearful - collisions happen.

In short, it's not nice to give the old folks heart attacks just for a quick rush.

cut down for the courtesy about long quotes

Me? I still skate. 2am in the mall parking lot. Lots of nice gradients and smooth asphalt, and no - I don't grind on anything.

Unfortunately, not all skateboarders are as considerate or even as mature you and unfortunately all skateboarders get tarnished because of it.

Where I live there's been a lot of 'urban regeneration' - or rather gentrification, but that's another matter - which has mean lots of nice new buildings, pavements, tarmac-ing, rails, benches and so on. A lot of large business developments have sprung up in odd places in otherwise residential areas. This has become like a mecca for skateboarders from miles around. I hear boomboxes, the rumbling of wheels and cheering all through the early hours when it's dry weather.

Originally posted by Shadowflux
If you want the honest truth it's the liability of a skateboarder cracking his head open on city or private property. Skaters are known for things like grinding long railings and jumping stairs but they're also known for screwing up and hurting themselves.

It's really just insurance reasons, if you get hurt on city property you or your family could possibly sue the city for millions of dollars.

if ever these cases reaches court, you can't sue the city for having steps and handrails...in other words, the responsibility lies with the skateboarder. and in the vast majority of suits filed, the judge throws the case out. just because a kid gets injured out in public doesn't automatically mean that someone else was at fault. and the ones that reach that level, the majority of the blame lies with the kid and they recieve very little. even judges and juries know you can't always protect a kid from his own dumbass actions.

like i said i don't condemn skateboarders- everyone has right to do what they enjoy. however you must do it in a place where you are not harming property or others. i love to hunt so does that give me the right to shoot a deer and put a bullet through someones window? NO we have laws against that. i think we should have shopping cart police too- and stop signs at the end of aisles in the grocery stores. can't even tell you how many times i've been hit because people won't look out for where they are going. apparently everyone believes they are the only person in the world

Here, I'll amend my last comment. I'm still sticking with everything I said about liability and lawsuits but I will add this:

SOME cops are total A-holes.

I've been harassed by a-hole cops just for standing in the wrong place before so I won't negate the fact that some cops just like harassing people and skaters are an easy target.

Some cops are cool though, I've had cops come to my APT on noise complaints (my bro's rather large drum set) and they were more interested in the equipment and trying it out themselves.

reply to post by Merriman Weir


Thanks for the compliment.

I remember the days gone by and my old friends in that small town we used to sneak around at night looking for something - anything - to make our ride more enjoyable.

Back then the best we could get away with was a waxed curb, and even then we'd get harassed by the local law enforcement.

My guess is kids need more Old Schoolers to help show them the ropes, either that, or get involved with the city council and work towards getting an actual park built.

Showing that they understand and respect the rights of property owners might actually do them some good in the long run, and cut down on the tarnished image of urban skate warfare.

But then again - sometimes you just have to admit a large part of it for a large portion of newbie skaters is nothing more than pure, old fashioned REBELLION and BOUNDARY TESTING.

Poor kids. Meet the Man.

reply to post by Chadwickus


ok sorry for sticking up for skateboarders? i don't skateboard, yet stick up for others that makes me emo? wow tons of reasoning there bud.

Skated for about 6 years now and i think it's down to the sheer fact skaters have a been given a bad name over the years, plus we wreck council property by skating it but it's gotta be done, that and the police and guards have nothing better to do most've the time..

Originally posted by WatchTheWorld
Skated for about 6 years now and i think it's down to the sheer fact skaters have a been given a bad name over the years, plus we wreck council property by skating it but it's gotta be done, that and the police and guards have nothing better to do most've the time..

They have been given a bad rap because of what they have been doing ever since, skatboarding in areas where they are not supposed to, causing damage to people and property, and thinking they got the right of way in every way just becasue they are on a board with 4 wheels.

That is the reason why they now have the rep they do. As one poster pointed out, a huge group of them decided to rebel and skateboard in an area where it was clearly marked forbidden.

That is sheer disrespect and irresponsibility, not to mention the lack of inteligent thinking on the skater's part.

When communities go through the trouble and expense to build special areas where skaters can do their flips and dip tricks, there is a reason for it. To not only try to prevent skaters from damaging public property or hurting someone, but to give the skater's their own area specifically for them! And many skaters do abide by the law and enjoy those skating parks.

There are still those few however, that seem to believe this is all about freedom. Well wake up and get your head out of your rear because it has nothing to do with freedom. It has everything to do with obeying the rules.

When a law is passed that says "skateboarding is now illegal", then maybe your cries of wolf might have some merit. But that will never happen, so put away the cry wolf record and come to realize that those who blatantly disobey the rules, it is YOU that is the reason why the skaters have the rep they have today.

And guess what....YOU can change it!! YOU can make a difference and start showing the public and the cops, that YOU can use your brain in more ways than just smashing it onto the pavement.

Be a part of the solution to your own problem, not contribute to the problem you create for yourself.




Cheers!!!!

reply to post by RFBurns


Jeez, that was abit harsh, skateparks are built yes but you got too understand the conecpt of street skating, it's all about the challenge of skating something that wasn't built for skating.

I can understand where you're coming from with that post, that skaters are giving themselves there own rep, but if that's the way it is it's never going to change.