After riding in several Critical Masses, I was really surprised by brutal police tactics at a relatively small ride. Sure, people were arrested and people (like myself) were given tickets, but what puzzled me even more was the police use of brute force as a first resort. Why did I get a ticket _after_ several attempts to physically knock me off my bike with motorcycles and a car? I thought that sort of thing was reserved for dangerous fugitives, not somebody going very slowly on a bicycle.

Another police tactic was to hold me without charges. I admitted guilt, swiftly gave them all the info they asked for, and _asked_ politely that the officer give me a ticket. While I watched my friends being dogpiled on concrete, etc, by police, they made me wait for my ticket for over 20 minutes. The ticketing officer left me under the guard of another so I couldn't even ask for my ticket. They finally released me only after somebody started taking pictures. Next time, I'm BRINGING A CAMERA!

-Darren