The Tampa City Council has advanced a new ordinance banning stunts and limiting big groups of bikers on the Tampa Riverwalk, Bayshore, and other trails.
But some members of the public are concerned about racial profiling.
Tampa Police officers say they deal with many complaints from people about the bikers, but face limitations on how they can enforce solutions.
Council member Guido Maniscalco says he’s received at least 100 complaints about it.
“It comes out of nowhere, and they’re so close to folks that I’m thinking one head injury, one kid gets knocked over and slammed into the concrete. It’s just a matter of time because it’s so intense.” Maniscalco said.
But during public comment, resident Kella McCaskill addressed concerns about racial profiling.
“It does smell like a piece of Biking while Black.”McCaskill said.
That’s a controversy where it was uncovered that Tampa police disproportionately issued bike tickets to Black people.
Council member Bill Carlson addressed those concerns while discussing the ordinance.
“We need to make sure that it’s not racially oppressive. Although this mayor was one of the architects of Biking while Black, she apologized for it, I don’t think she’s going to do it again. So, what we can do is try to put the safeguards in to try to make sure it doesn’t happen.” Carlson said.
Members discussed getting periodic reports about the ordinance’s enforcement.
“If there are inadvertent results of this, we want to know, and I think inquiries, quarterly, annually, whatever it may be — that for me is reasonable,” Councilmember Luis Viera said.
The ordinance must pass a second reading during a December meeting.
This story first appeared at WMNF news, which is part of the Tampa Bay Journalism Project (TBJP), a nascent Creative Loafing Tampa Bay effort supported by grants and a coalition of donors who make specific contributions via the Alternative Newsweekly Foundation. If you are a non-paywalled Bay area publication interested in TBJP, please email rroa@ctampa.com. Support WMNF News by visiting the community radio station’s station’s support page.
