Comparisons between Toronto and the fictional Gotham City of Batman lore are commonplace in these days of high-profile (albeit decreasing) crime. However, a continued campaign from the Toronto Police allocating costly resources towards busting cyclists for simple traffic violations has some questioning law enforcement's priorities.

Police nabbed yet another pair of cyclists in High Park on Wednesday for the simple act of not coming to a complete stop at a stop sign. A photo of the encounter was shared on X (formerly Twitter).

New High Park policy, same old police harassment. @TheBikingLawyer pic.twitter.com/Hc9ScBGFx8

— Adam Pickard (@adampickard) August 16, 2023

The post was actually spotted later by one of the cyclists, who identified themselves as Matt Rainville.

Nice pic, thx (that's me 🙃)

— Matt Rainville (@mattrain) August 16, 2023

Rainville confirmed that the encounter occurred just before 11 a.m. on Wednesday morning, and added in a follow-up comment that "Enforcement should be consistent for every group. Too much is left to interpretation, subjectivity and wiggle room."

"My crime today was showing up to the park too late."

In an ironic twist, Rainville alleges that a driver passed through the stop sign while police were speaking to him, but that the offending motorist was allowed to go on their way.

While I was talking to the cop, a driver illegally came in through Bloor, likely by entering the northbound lane and then maneuvering between two posts that were juuust wide enough to allow her car in. Cop let her off the hook, obviously. Drivers are special. pic.twitter.com/L86rOBOzKl

— Matt Rainville (@mattrain) August 16, 2023

Another video captured at the same time as Rainville's exchange with police (his red shirt visible far in the background) shows a driver casually rolling their car through a stop sign as police were busy attending to cyclists less likely to cause harm.

😂😂If you squint you can see the cop in the background harassing the cyclists for rolling the stop sign 🤪 pic.twitter.com/BNnftWF5Wt

— Eric smith campbell (@vtpwknmq4x) August 16, 2023

Lawyer and cycling advocate David Shellnutt tells blogTO that despite changes in the park, "some things will remain the same and that means a police service with a misdirected focus on cyclists in parks."

"So misdirected, that in a video shot by another park user, motorists can be seen rolling stop signs within eye shot of the police officer that was harassing and ticketing this cyclist."

Shellnutt calls the interaction "perverse and indicative of an anti-cyclist bias," noting how "this cyclist had been safely doing loops and safe yields for at least an hour while police looked on, then, based on whatever whim they felt emboldened by decided to irregularly enforce a serious penalty traffic violation."

The police interaction comes on the heels of a particularly heated summer of protests and conflict between cyclists and motorists over changes to the park's vehicle access. Tensions reached a peak earlier in August when a protest at the park devolved into complete chaos, including a bizarre incident with a City-employed protestor.

High Park is in the spotlight over the car-bike divide once again, however, this enforcement blitz is nothing new. Police wielding radar guns have been a regular sight in the park for years, and cyclists took a stand against a similar clamp-down in the park in 2022.

Fed-up Toronto cyclists took a stand against police for issuing tickets in parks https://t.co/fxpw8gnivU #Toronto #bikeTO

— blogTO (@blogTO) July 18, 2022

Concerns about crime — including dangerous hit-and-runs — in the city are sky-high, but it seems Toronto Police are treating cyclists cruising through stop signs as one of the city's greatest threats to safety.

Shellnutt calls out Toronto Police for remaining "bizarrely focused on cyclist behaviour while motorists mame and kill pedestrians and cyclists each day in Toronto."

"It's demoralizing that we have for a second year in a row heard our calls for the efficient and effective use of road safety resources directed at the real problem in our city, dangerous driving," he says.