The Case of Officer David Root and Andrew Woolley
I had the opportunity to sit down with Andrew Woolley late last Friday to talk about his recent win. We had a long discussion about the win and about what he had learned.
One of the reasons Woolley admitted to being surprised about the outcome of the initial trial was due to a conversation he had with the supervisor of Officer David Root, who ticketed Woolley. After being ticketed, Woolley contacted Root’s supervisor, Sergeant Martinez, who agreed that Woolley should not have been ticketed. Martinez was surprised at the news of Woolley being ticked seeing as Woolley hadn’t run afoul of CVC 21202(a). Martinez volunteered to counsel Officer Root on the matter, a conversation that had left Woolley feeling confident that the trial ruling would be in his favor.
However, as we know, the ruling was not in Woolley’s favor. After the initial loss, Woolley made plans to appeal the ruling. Instead he found himself facing a new set of problems. After the trial, Officer Root paid a visit to Woolley’s place of employment along with a self-transcribed transcript of the traffic court’s proceedings and a complaint about Woolley. Woolley’s employer, per company protocol, had to investigate the claims made by Officer Root. So, in addition to appealing the verdict, Woolley now found himself facing a new set of problems from his employer.
Now that the City Attorney has ruled in Woolley’s favor, he is in the process of filling out the paperwork to report Officer David Root to the San Diego Citizens’ Review Board. Woolley hopes that the Citizens’ Review Board will take disciplinary action on Officer Root. We will keep you updated on this new course of events as we learn more.
Meanwhile, we have contacted the San Diego Police Department to find out what sort of training program is currently in place to ensure that San Diego Police officers understand the intent and purpose of CVC 21202(a).
I can’t think of any circumstance in which it would be appropriate for a cop to visit a citizen’s place of employment – especially a citizen who is fighting said cop regarding a citation – “with a self-transcribed transcript of the traffic court’s proceedings and a complaint about” said citizen. What complaint could the cop possibly have? What would the employer possibly have to do with this situation?
This really sounds like some sort of harassment and/or bullying. Am I wrong to read that into this peculiar situation? Sounds to me like somebody needs to contact the SDPD about THAT. I didn’t realize we live in a Police State. Call me concerned, very concerned.
I have submitted a complaint/report with the San Diego Citizens’ Review Board for Police Activity. There will be an investigation.
Abusive police officers is definitely one thing I do not miss about SD. Left for SF 16 years ago and that is one of the reasons I’ll never move back. Sorry SD no property tax for you :P I remember getting harassed for no reason whatsoever. Once my friend got arrested for nothing but drinking too much coffee at denny’s, spent the night in jail and was released the next day after the drug test came back negative :(. Not all SD teens are tweakers. It’s like they had nothing better to do than be dicks.
A big bonus of leaving SD for SF is the mild mannered police force. I was shocked by the friendly, charismatic, super cute, beat cops who didn’t have that power crazed attitude. They are still far from perfect with it comes to cyclists, thanks to the critical mass jerks, but they’re light years ahead of SDPD.
I would really like to see the critical mass hipsters try their stuff in SD. Would not be pretty.
P.S. I over take cars on the left everyday of the week, police cars too, not once have I been stopped.
Sounds like Wooley should hire a lawyer and sue the department for the retaliation and harassment he received at his workplace.
[…] South. Thanks to Biking In L.A., some were able to keep up with the case of Andrew Woolley, a cyclist wrongly ticketed, tried and convicted of passing car traffic on the left. Why was he wrongly convicted? Because, just as the LAPD's obsession for ticketing […]
Did the City Attorney ask for remedial action, probably required training for the SD police department, in the response? That might represent an additional expense the department might pay attention to.
It seems to me this would be a more positive (and potentially effective) outcome for this whole mess.
Now it also seems to me it would be good to add to that training information about the limits and advisability of contacting a defendant’s employer as the result of an unfavorable court outcome. Maybe including the possibility of temporary suspension. Maybe with an example.
So, any news about the police officer?
[…] in urban areas, there is a notable lack of interest in protecting these road users, coming from thethe city’s leadership. This creates a situation where some drivers feel perfectly justified in attacking those who impede […]