I had a short “date” with my wife tonight that started at Cafe Paradiso to see some live music. At about 9pm we cut out to find a place to hang out and talk. We ended up going to Chautauqua Park around 915pm, noting the park’s closing time of 10pm as we entered and parked.

We rolled down the windows and started enjoying the evening breeze and conversation. Shortly into our quiet evening alone, two men on bikes approached us quickly from the rear of the vehicle and said “hey what are you doing here tonight”. Both were dressed in casual clothing, riding bikes without any lights or official markings. The closest biker came right up behind me on the driver’s side and out of the corner of my eye (I’m turning from facing my wife in the passenger seat) I saw him remove a black barreled object.

There was a split second of panic.

The object turned out to be one of those small, black LED flashlights. He shined it at us and in my mind I thought, this guy is acting like a cop but I see no uniform, badge or markings on his bike to indicate he’s a cop.

Dawn leans forward and asks, “who are you guys?”

Biker: “we’re police offers.”

Dawn: “where’s your uniform, where’s your badge?”

The lead biker (with the flashlight) pulls out his badge that he’s wearing around his neck and tucked under his shirt. At this point I’m still coming down from the shock of thinking some thugs on bikes were approaching us and pulling out some sort of weapon. So while I see the badge, I’m not all the way convinced. In Seattle, bike cops are in uniform, riding bikes that are clearly marked as police property and with lights and reflectors for riding at night. So I’m having a hard time believing this isn’t some sort of con or (bad) prank.

The officer with the flashlight asks us for identification. The way he asks us was very professional, in that friendly, but stern police office tone, and so I start believing he’s a cop. However, now I’m not only coming down from a mild heart attack, but growing annoyed that a couple of cops are interrupting my time with my wife and asking me for identification - I’ve done nothing wrong.

I ask the officer why he needs to see our identification. He replies that there have been a lot of burglaries in the park and wants to verify we’re from Fairfield. Wah? So what happens if I’m not from Fairfield? Before I get the chance to ask him to clarify why he needs to see our identification, Dawn starts light conversation with the cop (explaining that we’ve got a babysitter for another hour and we’re just hanging out and talking). I take her lead and fork over my driver’s license with a smile.

And then before I know it he’s saying have a nice evening and taking off.

And again, I’m wondering, were those really cops? I know it sounds crazy but I just cannot get over the fact that two guys on bikes without lights or uniforms, are zooming up to couples in parked cars, whipping out flashlights, and asking for ID.

I call the police department.

Me: “Hello, I’m in Chautauqua Park and would like to know if you have two cops in the area on bikes.”

Police Department: “Yes we do.”

Me: “Well they aren’t in uniform or have their badges out.”

Police Department: “What do they look like.”

She misses the point - I’m not trying to identify the two cops on bikes as cops on bikes, I’m pointing out that they don’t have any indication that they are cops on bikes. And in my universe this is odd.

Me: “Um they look like . . . well it’s dark . . . ok well I just wanted to make sure they were cops . . . goodbye.”

Dawn and I continue to digest what just happened, and then are interrupted by a couple cars that come by and drive down into the park (down the loop drive). Dawn and I are feeling curious, and we’re just about to leave anyway, so we decide to drive the loop on our way out, and see if the cops are checking out these guys too.

We drive down and at the bottom of the loop we pass some young guys who are stopped and out of the cars that drove by earlier. The guys are all frozen pretending they aren’t there, waiting for us to drive past. Then about 50 yards up the hill we pass - and I am not making this up - the two bike cops, hiding crouched on their bikes behind a small bush, facing down towards the guys we just passed. Is was a bit like being on safari, seeing a couple lions sneak up in the brush on some unsuspecting wildebeests.

We continued driving right out of the park and went home.

On the plus side I got my share of small town excitement for the night. On the other hand I can’t help be a little annoyed at the cops. To be clear, I’m generally a fan of law enforcement: it’s a tough job, for not much pay, and I have several stories of good cops doing great service. While the Fairfield police officers I encountered this evening were polite, and I assume helping keep the park safe, there are three things in particular that frustrate me:

1. Identify yourself. This isn’t Miami Vice. Street clothes? Really?
2. Where are your bike lights and reflectors? It’s actually a law that you’re supposed to enforce.
3. Why do you need to see my ID? I’m not doing anything illegal.

I believe these guys could be just as effective patrolling the park wearing uniforms (or at least badges out), riding legal bicycles and making the judgment to let people hanging out and abiding by the law to themselves (I feel like the cops passed that point when they asked for ID).

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