Aspen Police Department Warns Kids Having Fun Is a Crime
“You could end up with a ticket or a trip to the emergency room.”
"When you see this, do you think it's just fun? Or do you think that it's illegal? It is definitely the latter. Whether it's fun or not."
This is the beginning of a Facebook post by Colorado's Aspen Police Department (APD). What is this possibly fun but definitely illegal activity?
The post includes a photo that shows two children on a bike—one child sitting on the seat and the other on the first rider's lap—riding on a sidewalk.
"Colorado law says that two-up riding on a single seat bike is against the law, and of course, bikes are not allowed on sidewalks," the post continues. "These 'Sidewalk Sallys' could potentially hurt themselves or others." (If you had to Google "Sidewalk Sally" you are not alone, as it's not a real term. A daytime talk show seems to have coined and used it once, unrelated to riding a bike on a sidewalk.)
The APD post goes on to inform Aspen's citizens that this behavior could result in a "ticket or a trip to the emergency room," both of which seem like rather dramatic consequences for an activity that has been popular since the invention of bikes. The tone-deaf post is signed "The Aspen Police Department—protecting the Wild West on two wheels since the 1880s," which seems to inadvertently imply that APD officers get around exclusively on bikes.
The post has garnered over 300 comments—far more than the department's other posts—most of which are not thankful for the Department's caution and concern:
"Tell me you don't have real crimes in Aspen without telling me you don't have real crimes."
"'Kids never go outside anymore!' Proceeds to police every single thing kids do."
"Lol yes. Our children should really be playing IN the traffic. Not away from it. Got it." (That one really resonated. My mom made me ride on the sidewalks, so it's not obvious to all of us that biking on the sidewalk is a crime.)
Many of the comments were very libertarian-toned, naturally:
"So basically every kid since the bicycle was invented has broken the law!"
"Find a crime to deal with or reduce your force."
"The more laws you make, the more police you have to hire to enforce new laws, the more police you hire to enforce those new laws, the more criminals you make. This pattern doesn't stop one day. It keeps growing."
Several commenters asked if the page was satire, while one dealt a devastating blow:
"Colorado used to be cool."
Despite this, in 2022, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed the Reasonable Independence for Children law, clarifying that "a child is not neglected when allowed to participate in certain independent activities that a reasonable and prudent parent, guardian, or legal custodian would consider safe given the child's maturity, condition, and abilities." Utah passed the first such law in 2018 and has since been joined by Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado, Virginia, Illinois, Connecticut, and Montana. This year alone, Georgia and Missouri also passed similar legislation, with Florida expected to follow soon. Let Grow, the nonprofit I run, supported all of these laws and continues to work with broad coalitions to see legislative protections for childhood independence enacted.
No child should be treated like a criminal for riding a bike with a friend. And no police department should be proud of doing so. Facebook commenters know this. Hopefully, the APD will catch up soon.
