2008_08_nypdbike.jpgGovernor Paterson is considering appointing a temporary special prosecutor to investigate last month's incident in which a cop was caught on video slamming a cyclist to the curb during a Critical Mass ride, and apparently falsifying his arrest report. In a lengthy article, the Villager reports that the governor could also make such a special prosecutor’s office permanent, granting it the power to replace the city’s five district attorneys in corruption cases. At a rally last week, Councilmember Charles Barron said, “Until the people rise up, people in power will not pay attention.” Some activists see Paterson, who as a state senator was arrested during a protest of the shooting of Amadou Diallo in 1999, as their best shot at reforming the so-called "blue wall of silence" in the NYPD.