devildogmech

https://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080713/..._smalltowns_dc

A small town in NJ is moving cops from cruisers and onto bikes! So what if its because fuel costs are so high. I would much rather see officers on bicycles, or on foot and interacting with the public than sitting behind a steering wheel and a laptop watching the world go by!

anthegreat1

i've seen a couple here . . . . .they were in the park practicing climbing a short hill. I thought it was pretty funny.

noteon 

I used to see them lined up on their bikes at a health food store's walkup window in Venice, years ago. A bunch of pudgy, sunburned cops waiting in line for wheatgrass.

Rex G

Being assigned to bicycle patrol will not make a police officer fit, unless he exercises on his own time, too. Police officers are expected to be observant, and make numerous contacts. You can't do that while moving at a pace that will have aerobic benefits. The agency for which I work has a grueling bicycle certification class, with long high-paced rides in the coastal Texas humidity, and rather challenging obstacle courses, so we have to be quite fit to pass the class, but it is common for bike patrol officers to balloon once they are past the class, because flat coastal terrain, ridden at patrol speed, as opposed to training speed, is not strenuous.

Just to be clear, I am not a bike patrol officer. I supported starting a bike patrol in 1985, but when it actually was implemented in the 90's, I would have to have demoted myself from being a field trainer and evaluator to work bike detail. I do not work for the PD of the hometown shown in my profile.

devildogmech

Never said it would.... But it will get them closer to the public and more visable.

Rex G

I should have been more clear; I was responding to noteon's post. In the 80's when I supported a sergeant's efforts to start a bike patrol, I was working foot patrol in the entertainment/cruising part of town, characterized by gridlock and backed-up traffic as teens and young adults stopped to chat with people in cars, going the other way or not. I was close to the public, of course, but saw bikes as a way to be more mobile. I liked those days, and regretted the evolution of our assignment into a traffic enforcement squad, with less time on foot patrol.

noteon 

Regardless, it was still a funny sight. It always struck me that these were guys who transferred to bike patrol because they thought it would get them in shape.

apricissimus 

Good for them though. We all gotta start somewhere.

Rex G

Most police officers have no clue about fat-burning and aerobic exercise, and even the ones who work out consume far too many calories, in my observation. Visiting Starbucks several times a day, plus the limitless sugary fountain drinks, will sneak up on a guy. Don't get me wrong; the general health and fitness level of my co-workers has risen dramatically over the past two decades, and the average belly size is way down.

crhilton

It's not allowed to patrol a bit faster sometimes?

tomg

i hear ocean city nj has bike cops who don't secure their helmets (poor modeling)...

vineland nj has fleet of about 5 bicycle police ((since about 1995)

millville nj has had their fleet for years, as does bridgeton, nj

at work, we had a detective from cumberland area do a presentation about gang identification and their investigation. he stated from his view as past bicycle cop advantages of manouvorablity (sp) and connectiveness to community served. by bike he said, and we know, he could hear and see much more.

i see a variety of fitness levels of these police. they do carry guns/protection with communication - radio/walky-talky connectiveness to other mobile police, a great asset to team/community.

police on bicycles is not a new phenominon here, not brought on by a "fuel crisis", but not exactly 'old school' either!

eAspenwood

rex g - i didn't realize bellaire had bike patrol. that's pretty cool. those guys must be feelin the heat this weekend though. 96 degrees and 60% humidity ...

recumelectric

There was a bicycle patrol on the university I attended. It just made sense, since he was patrolling the interior mile of the campus, and most of it wasn't accesible by car.

I got to see a couple of incidents with students who tried to outrun him on their bikes. But he was fast, man! He'd have them face down, wearing handcuffs, on the concrete in no time.

dougInTexas

@ Rex

So Rex are you a Bellaire or Houston cop? If you're Houston, have you worked with A. Northcutt? He's married to my sis Alex.

Fribley

How do you P.I.T manuever a bike? Seems painful.

edtrek

Police Bikes at Dunkin Donuts


This isn't my photo, so let me first give the URL:
https://chiccyclist.blogspot.com/2008...gs-change.html

It's really worth going to the URL and looking at the high-res image, it's great.
The blog's a favorite of mine, pretty cool.

ricohman

So what.
I may be doing that some day when I'm finished in my present forensic assignment.
I run 40k a week, hit the weights 4 days a week and bike 200km weekly during my commute so I think I can handle it.......

Machka 

Police officers have been riding bicycles for years ... perhaps even decades.

recumelectric

I don't know what P.I.T. means. I just know this guy would actually catch the runaways.

davidhowland14

My shop outfitted our local cops with bikes and racks early this summer. Tehy've actually been using them, too. the other day, out on a group ride, we saw a cruiser go flying past us at like 80, with a bike on the allen rack on the back. them things are sturdy.

Jerry in So IL

I think its a good thing for LEOs to be out of the cruisers and in the community they serve and protect. So of my favorite duties were the Friday night high school football games and crowd/traffic control at seasonal events. Lets you talk and interact with the folks.

BTW, what bikes are they using?

Jerry

blues604

Bicycle cops have been around in the Metro Vancouver, BC area for many years. The bike officers were put in place not because of the fuel cost... Bikes are great for stealthy and relatively speedy approaches that would be otherwise impossible by car or on foot. Bike cops do have their limitations... a big downfall is that they are unable to race across town to attend a high priority call. It is generally used here for 'proactive' policing or to target a specific area. We also have quads/ATV's, but they are too noisy in my opinion. In terms of bike cops being fit or not... most of the bike officers I know are fit, but that may be because they are required to pass a fitness test as well as a time trial ride during the bike course. I don't see many of them using clipless pedals... probably because of a certain officer that rode up to a group of teenagers to say hi... but he 'forgot' he was clipped in... he promptly fell over sideways attached to his bike. I am sure those kids liked that. Community policing at its best!

Chromavita

Around here (Orlando, FL) the officers ride these:
https://www.cannondale.com/bikes/08/c...del-8FSP1.html

Lucky cops...

CB HI

You move almost ahead of the scoff law cyclist, so your rear wheel overlaps his front wheel. Then sweep across so your rear wheel just touches his front wheel and he does an endo every time.

n4zou

There using Motor Scooters as well.