Trikepatrolmitch Online

Mitch is not a police officer. He cannot write tickets. He cannot arrest anyone. However, the act of filming in a public space is protected by the First Amendment (in the US) as long as he does not interfere with the operation of the vehicle.

Interpretation: Police stopped writing tickets because Mitch made them look lazy, but drivers are still blocking lanes. The real victory is political. Last month, the city council allocated $1.2 million for "rapid deployment bollards" in Mitch’s patrol zone. He explicitly advocated for these in his testimony at City Hall—delivered, of course, while sitting on his trike in the council chamber. TrikePatrolMitch is not a hero because he catches bad drivers. He is a hero because he documents the failure of infrastructure. Every video is a Rorschach test: Do you see a nuisance causing drama, or a citizen using the only tools available (a camera and a trike) to demand that the public right-of-way be respected? trikepatrolmitch

Based in the Pacific Northwest (a region notorious for its passive-aggressive traffic disputes), Mitch rides a custom electric-assist recumbent trike. The vehicle is a spectacle in itself. Sitting just a few inches off the ground, with a bright orange safety flag whipping in the wind, he is impossible to ignore. This is by design. Mitch is not a police officer