Apart from a supportive editorial in the Toronto Star newspaper on Nov. 7, media outlets, community leaders and most safe street advocates — except for Ottawa-based Vision Zero Canada — have said very little in response to the silencing of a civilian parking enforcement officer dedicated to ticketing illegally parked vehicles in bike lanes. In June, PEO Kyle Ashley participated in a "bike lane-ticketing blitz" implemented by Toronto Police Services. He used his @TPS_ParkingPal Twitter account to call out corporate offenders parked illegally in bike lanes by posting humorous selfies, begging scofflaw attitudes to change to make streets safer for everyone. His innovative educational efforts were so successful that cyclists began to see the difference in the bike lanes and a community began to rally around PEO Ashley on Twitter, including cyclists, pedestrians, city-planners, politicians and cycling groups. He also became known nationally and internationally for taking the educational component of his job seriously and putting a new upbeat spin on community policing. Toronto Mayor John Tory commended him for his work keeping the bike lanes clear and for an announcement made by Canada’s postal service stating that their drivers would no longer park illegally in bike lanes. Almost 650 members of the cycling community signed a petition in support of his efforts with the aim of encouraging the police to keep him dedicated solely to ticketing in the bike lanes. The police recognized the success of PEO Ashley’s efforts and proactively put him permanently on the “bike lane beat.” They also added two more civilian officers to assist him and emulate his activities. Things abruptly went sour. On Nov. 3, PEO Ashley said he received an unexpected knock at his front door from his Toronto Police Services bosses, demanding he hand over his Twitter account, which had well over 5,000 followers, saying they had received complaints about the “appropriateness” of some of his Tweets. Since then, rumours have swirled around the nature of the tweets in question and the source of the complaints. The police have remained silent, issuing no official statement. An inquiry asking whether the police social media employee policy is public has gone unanswered. At the same time, the police have continued to publicly promote Twitter use for community engagement, and to track and monitor criminal activity. A 2012 police social media guideline document is available online, but it is unclear if it is current or how it would apply to PEO Ashley’s specially created public relations role. Two weeks have passed since the @TPS_ParkingPal account was “suspended.” Among his contributions to promote safe cycling in the community, PEO Ashley raised $3,322 for Cycle Toronto’s “Ride for Safe Streets” marathon in September, apparently the highest individual amount raised. He also helped promote the “Bells on Bloor” passport project aimed at encouraging people to shop at local businesses during the year long Bloor Street West bike lane pilot project. “Why is this campaign important to me? Why do we need safer streets? Because cars have airbags and cyclists don’t,” wrote PEO Ashley on his personal Cycle Toronto “safe streets" campaign page. Cycle Toronto is an educational non-profit organization, promoting cyclist safety in the city. Bells on Bloor advocates for bike lanes on Bloor Street. A few days after PEO Ashley’s account was suspended, the Bloor Street pilot was made permanent by a city of Toronto council vote, in part thanks to his efforts to raise awareness about the importance of bike lanes at a tribunal. The Toronto Star wrote in its editorial: “Parking enforcement officers in this city are used to being sworn at threatened and occasionally even assaulted by scofflaw motorists. But being gagged isn’t what they normally have to worry about. Until now.” The editorial states that the police should “lighten up” and reconsider silencing PEO Ashley, commending him instead for the successful, far-reaching impact of his work, which has made Toronto’s streets safer. The Beck Taxi company asked its drivers to avoid stopping in bike lanes to pick up and drop off passengers due to PEO Ashley’s awareness raising efforts. “Kyle is a very positive advocate for bike lanes and an advocate for fairness in general #BeckLovesKyle,” said Gail Souter, owner of Beck Taxi who tweets as @GailBeckSouter. “Something seems very wrong about how Kyle has been treated. I just hope it doesn’t break his kind spirit,” she added. After the Star editorial appeared, Vision Zero Canada, led by Graham Larkin, tweeted from @VisionZeroCa: “THIS IS IMPORTANT. Let's hope other media outlets follow suit,” the tweet said. It also included shout outs to various media outlets and free speech groups. For Larkin, police actions regarding the @TPS_ParkingPal account are a broader safety and free speech concern. “Why did Toronto Police not just ask him to stop tweeting while they investigated?” he queried. ______ @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 _________ Follow #BringBackKyle, #FreeKyle, #FreeParkingPal as well as #BikeTO and #TOpoli on social media. _______ Pls note that hyperlinks don’t embed properly in this interface, so these are posted as reference. 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 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/ Previous petition update: Rumours swirl around suspension of PEO Kyle Ashley @TPS_ParkingPal Twitter account https://www.change.org/p/deputy-police-chief-james-ramer-bring-back-kyle-ashley-tps-parkingpal-to-protect-biketo/u/22018155 ________ Bells on Bloor http://www.bellsonbloor.org/ Ride for Safe Streets https://www.cycleto.ca/ride-safe-streets/pcp Parking Pal "safe streets" page https://www.cycleto.ca/civicrm/pcp/info%3Fid%3D876%26reset%3D1 2012 TPS social media engagement guidelines http://www.torontopolice.on.ca/publications/files/social_media_guidelines.pdf ** Pls note, Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders is on leave, so we direct this petition to his deputy who is currently in charge.