COURTESY, PROFESSIONALISM, RESPECT.

A New York Police Department officer [The Weekly Vice 29 July 2008]

has been re-assigned to desk duty, pending an investigation, after a You Tube video showed the officer body checking a Critical Mass bicyclist off of his bike.

Critical Mass, a bicycle ride normally held on the last Friday of each month as a form of protest against reliance on vehicles and bicyclist/motorist relations, has been a long standing irritation to the New York Police Department.

Although attempts by New York City to ban the event have failed in court, the tradition has created a somewhat adversarial relationship between the riders and NYPD officers who detest the event.

This past Friday, witnesses say a NYPD officer (now identified as 22 year old Officer Patrick Pogan) attacked rider Christopher Long at random, body checking the rider off his bike.

Reportedly, Long was arrested and charged with attempted assault, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. According to the arrest affidavit, Long "deliberately steered his bicycle into the officer, causing both of them to fall to the ground."

It turns out the cop was lying.