A video of cyclists, a police officer and a citizen debating who was wrong when a police vehicle and cyclist came into contact sometime around June 6th (the video was posted on June 6th) has been uploaded to LiveLeak.com and Youtube.com where it has been viewed more than 40,000 times.

Please note that the text accompanying the video as posted to LiveLeak.com misidentifies the police officer as a member of the the Conshohocken Police Department. The officer is from Whitemarsh. We can’t exactly place the location, but it looks like it is on or off East Hector Street, which partially falls in Whitemarsh (if you recognize the exact location, feel free to point that out in the comments).

Below is the text that accompanied the video on LiveLeak.

According to the videographer- “Officer Wilhelm of the Conshohocken police Department is aggressive and dangerous. While riding with 5 friends on a Saturday morning, Officer Wilhelm signaled us to ride single file and then attempts to pass us on a narrow rode with no room. While passing he hits one of us with his suv. Here he is attempting to defend his actions and enforce a law he has failed to understand.”

We also emailed the Whitemarsh Police Department to find out the status of the situation. Chief Mike Beatty replied with the following statement:

I was notified about this incident on Saturday, but just saw the post you provided earlier today. As with many situations portrayed on social media there is often more to the story. We will collect the information and see what actions may be appropriate.

The Whitemarsh Township Police Department has been involved with bicycle safety programs for years. We operate a Bike Patrol Unit to supplement patrol activities, as well as at special events. We have 10 IPMBA(International Police Mountain Bike Association) certified bicycle patrol officers within the Department.   Our community is well known for the many bike routes that are enjoyed by avid cyclists daily.   Members of the police department on numerous occasions come to the aid of cyclists and we actively participate in providing  assistance to the  many bike rides throughout the community providing for the safety of the cyclists.

Public Safety is one of our main missions not only for the cyclists, but for the motoring public and community in general.  I am hopeful that positive discussions will result once all of the information is collected serving as an opportunity for us to promote road safety from a motorists perspective,  as well as the perspective of the cyclist.

Please don’t get crazy in the comments. I have a lot to do tonight. Thanks.