It has been almost two weeks since the Twitter account of Toronto's celebrity Parking Enforcement Officer Kyle Ashley was disappeared, apparently due to pressure from sources as yet unknown. The generally understood scenario is that on Friday, Nov. 3, 2017, PEO Ashley's Toronto Police Services bosses dropped over to his home to check on his wellbeing, asking him to hand over his Twitter account. It is alleged that during the wellness check, PEO Ashley shut the infamous @TPS_ParkingPal Twitter account himself rather than surrender it as requested. The police put out a tweet in response to a query from @CycleToronto about its disappearance, stating: "Kyle's account has been temporarily suspended while we look into concerns re appropriateness of some of his posts." So what happened? Since June, PEO Ashley had demonstrated a firm commitment to keeping the few bike lanes in downtown Toronto clear of illegally parked vehicles, much to the surprise of cyclists who were more used to being vilified. Many jaded cyclists assumed bike lanes had been instituted merely to provide loading zones for delivery vehicles, taxis and in recent years, interloper Uber. In the early stages of PEO Ashley's #bikelaneblitz -- although his activities raised eyebrows in some quarters -- significant progress was made. He shook up often belligerent drivers and established much safer passage for cyclists. After PEO Ashley managed to elicit a declaration from Canada's postal service that its drivers would no longer park illegally in bike lanes, even Toronto Mayor @JohnTory spoke out in support of his work. The cycling community rallied around PEO Ashley, cheering him on. About 650 supporters signed a petition encouraging the Toronto Police to retain him in a dedicated role ticketing illegally parked vehicles in the bike lanes. The police kept him on and added two more civilian PEOs to the bike lane beat. So why the clamp down on PEO Ashley who also participated in Cycle Toronto fundraisers, serving as a witness on the value of bike lanes, and other charitable activities? One theory is that PEO Ashley's outspoken remarks about bike safety in Montreal put him in bad odour with officials as a mayoral election loomed in that city. Valerie Plante who promised to construct a substantial bicycle "express network" throughout Montreal was declared victor against former Mayor Denis Coderre on Nov. 5. Some speculate that those who see bicycles as a "war on the car" may have wielded influence with Toronto officials or the police to have the account shut down. Another speculation is that PEO Ashley may have violated Toronto Police social media guidelines. However, despite ongoing training of police forces in social media publicized on Twitter hashtagged #LESM, it is still unclear whether the guidelines are public. A request to police regarding the guidelines has gone unanswered. Others have speculated that some people wanted PEO Ashley's account shuttered before a Nov. 7 Toronto City Council vote on Bloor Street West bike lanes was tallied, in case a win meant he would take his due share of credit. The Toronto Star has published an op-ed and a piece by columnist Shawn Micallef supporting PEO Ashley's efforts, and defending his right to do what he was trained and hired to do: enforce laws regarding illegal parking. The Star stories have supported his right to an advocacy role. The intense battle that went into getting the few painted lines and feeble poles that serve as "bike lane infrastructure" made permanent on Bloor Street shows the scale of the political controversy generated by cycling. We need PEO Ashley back on duty with his @TPS_ParkingPal account to represent the rights of cyclists on the streets, in the bike lanes, where we need the most protection. Sign the petition to support silenced Parking Pal, PEO Kyle Ashley. Follow #BringBackKyle, #FreeKyle, #FreeParkingPal as well as #BikeTO and #TOpoli on social media. Related stories by @dmrider, @TorontoStar: Bike riding parking officer still off the job https://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2017/11/06/bike-riding-parking-officer-still-off-the-job-and-twitter.html Bike riding parking officer's Twitter account suspended https://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2017/11/03/bike-riding-parking-officers-twitter-account-suspended.html @TorontoStar editorial Stop gagging Toronto's feisty bike lane enforcement officer https://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/2017/11/07/stop-gagging-torontos-feisty-bike-lane-enforcement-officer-editorial.html Shawn Micallef: Tweeting bicycle officer a powerful voice that shouldn't be silenced https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/11/10/a-powerful-voice-that-shouldnt-be-silenced-micallef.html BlogTO: Montreal might be behind shutdown of Toronto's car shaming bike cop http://www.blogto.com/city/2017/11/montreal-might-be-behind-shutdown-torontos-car-shaming-bike-cop/ ** Pls note, Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders is on leave, so we direct this petition to his deputy who is currently in charge.