Motorcycle Cops

34 Motorcycle Cops Color version

This is a photo from another ADAPT demonstration in Washington DC. One aspect of the non-violent, civil disobedience tactics are the posturing of the police. ADAPT really never had an issue where we wanted to include the DC METRO police. Although we often did, mostly our targets were “on the hill” where we would deal with the Capitol Police.

Getting around DC and to many of the movers and shakers of our system, the DC METRO police would often show different looks to help keep the peace. I believe what they feared most from ADAPT was the street blocking.

In an earlier photo I wrote about the "water around a stone" technique that we used with the police. When an officer stopped the line. Those following would simply go around, until the flow of people swept away the officers ability to hold us back. In the 1990s they did it a lot but by 2006 when I took this photo, the METRO officers typically just let us go where we wanted.

I remember our most powerful street blocking was in San Francisco in our protests over the largest nursing home in the country: Lugna Honda. But ADAPT also had some classic street blocking in DC, most notable at the Old Executive Office Building when we started the idea of "Money Follows the Person."

This photo was made near the Frances Perkins Building just off the mall at Constitution Ave. and 3rd Street SW. I took the photo with my SONY R1. You can see some ADAPT activists on the sidewalk past the signal.

This photo is the original crop that I used in the ADAPT Action Report. Because you cannot see any of the activists' faces, I don't think it is a very popular photo with ADAPT members. I like that I can see the police officers' faces in the mirrors of the motorcycles.

I made a black and white version of this photo. I layered in the color reflections of the METRO police officers' faces and cropped out some of the busy photo. When you read about my obsession of taking pictures of people holding up their cell phone, I think you can imagine what similar idea I have with that photo.

This photo was made with my SONY R1

Photo by Tim Wheat.

<< Previous Photo | Next Photo >>

Back to timwheat.com

Motorcycle Cops, Black and White Version