BikeBiz

Stop and search? What were they searching her for....more kids about her person???

According to police guidelines a 'stop and search' is for when concealed weapons or violence is suspected. Neither could have been the case here. I have emailed City of London police to find out what happened, and what will be done going forward.

Hang on a sec; "they advised me to walk for a bit and then ride home on the pavement." Police are now advising people to ride on the pavement?

With regards to the: "they advised me to walk for a bit and then ride home on the pavement." If that was round our neck of the woods, we would be looking at a £30 fine straight away! I'm surprised the over-zealous cop didn't call Social Services and have the 2 kids taken off her and also arrested her for "Child Endangerment" (giving her kids a "croggy"). I notice the copper hasn't gave her or showed her just which rule she had in fact broken?? The copper also called in other officers as she hadn't a clue how to get herself out of this mess!....pratt! She should have told them to do as my shop is called On Yer' Bike!...lol She should write a letter to the Chief Con and also contact the local media and have the Met humbly apologise and WPC Pratt.....oops!, plod, apologise to her in person and to be put behind a desk for a few months and re-trained!

Great PR for Cargo/Child Transportation Bikes - if only more police would stop people riding Cargo Bikes, we'd have them in the news every day!

Nearly as funny as London'd militant cyclists...

I have new been told by Mum X that the form she got was a 'stop and search' form but she didn't get the full 'search' just the stop. I have amended the article. Funny, though, that the police form can't cater for just a 'stop'.

Not really all that much of a big deal. A few police officers made a mistake. If you're riding around on a bike with planks of wood for seats and foot rests I'd expect a police officer to stop that person to check it out. There's no 'cycle mot', there's no way they know it's safe. It might not be illegal but it certainly could be unsafe. And to a police officer who doesn't know it's ok for there to be 2 children on a bicycle it would certainly seem a little dangerous. I wouldn't expect a police officer to know every single part of every law either. They never fined the person so it's just a case of calling up the local police and explaining to them it's not illegal and for the officers to be made aware. As for the searching part I'm sure they had a reason, or as a routine check. They don't do these things for the hell of it, it's for the safety of others. Nobody likes being stopped and searched, just don't take it personally.

Come on Phil. 4 officers vs one woman on a bike, she was probably travelling at around 10 mph - that is not dangerous. Everyday hundreds of motorists ( and some cyclists ) do much worse things like parking(blocking)on pavements, speeding in urban areas, using mobiles while driving , parking in dedicated cycle lanes as Jacks photos show etc etc Because this type of behaviour is prevalent only a few people ever are stopped form doing it - even though they are far more dangerous than carrying your kids on a special bike.

You make it sound as if these officers are picking on this poor lady. "4 officers vs one woman on a bike". I don't think that's the case at all. For all you know there might have been 2 officers and Mum X was arguing and being aggressive so 2 more officers come alone to help out or clear up any questions. It's just pointless bashing of the police, any way to slate the police and it'll be jumped on. I do totally agree there are a lot more worse things happening on the road with motorists, I think we can all agree on that. But the same argument leads back to this case, the officers must have been passing and noticed something they thought was illegal/wrong so they stopped the person. For all you know 5 minutes after they left Mum X they might have been fining motorists for the rest of the day. They aren't there to solely fine and shout at motorists. We're all cyclists here and know how frustrating it can be, but to me, they're just doing their job (all be it they might need to be updated on their law) and this article seems like a pointless bashing towards the police.

@ Phil. You aren't a Police Officer by any chance? Either that, or, your comment deems the "brown-tongue brigade" for getting to be a Police Officer?! The fact of the matter is, they STILL didn't state what law she was in fact breaking! Possibly, hence, backup to see if they had an idea. I mean, I'd be p***ed if so many Plod were on my case about carrying my kids on the back of my bike (safely enough!), n no reason/proof as to what rule/law I had broke, if any? A scenario I had a few years back. I had some of these light up washer jets (electric blue neon) on my white 4x4's bonnet and passed Plod on numerous occasions without getting tugged. 1 Plod on a motorbike had lost his "catch" & we had to crawl behind him as he was still looking for this scroat, when he made me pull over and questioned me about said washer lights! Was told it isn't an emergency vehicle and it was illegal. I ended up contacting a Chief Inspector who admitted, he hadn't a clue which law I was breaking and could I get back to him if I managed to find it out! I got pulled again by a Sgt Plod and he was just curious about them we both had a laugh about it. Nothing was ever found out about what law I had/hadn't broke and to this day, there are blue lights on the front of MOST vehicles on the roads these days and NOT ALL are emergency vehicles! Back to the argument, I would still put in a complaint to try & find out where I was wrong in transporting my kids on said bike if I'd done so for 2 years without getting my collar felt and query why I was allowed to ride off on the pavement out of Plod's view.

@Phil I'm not police bashing. The article might prevent the police officers in question - and others, hopefully - from making the same mistake twice. I was emailed by Mum X because she was worried she'd be pulled up again. If the police made a habit of pulling over folks carrying kids on cargobikes that's got to be a bad thing all round.