Having heard various presentations about police on bikes, and the use of bikes in patrols, I can tell you what I've heard. These are listed in no particular order.
* Needless to say, for long distances, bicycling will be slower than driving, but for congested areas, parks, events, or other locations where driving a car would be difficult or impractical, bicycles allow officers to maneuver more easily and quickly. * In some cases bicycles actually allow officers to approach a crime scene more stealthily than a car would. I heard one officer talk about patrolling a park where drug dealing had been a problem. She saw a situation up ahead - I think a known bad guy who was doing something untoward - and was practically on top of the guy before he ever noticed her. * In urban areas, an officer on a bike can much more easily pursue a running suspect than either an officer on foot or one in a car. Cars have a hard time moving between buildings, through green ways, etc. * Probably most important, a cop on a bike is much more approachable my the community. An enormous amount of keeping a community safe and running smoothly is making connections, talking to people, and knowing what's happening first hand. We all know that being on a bicycle allows allows us to interact with those around us much more easily than being in a car. Basically, using bikes means an officer can be faster than one on foot, can carry more stuff and cover more territory than being on foot, but can be more aware of the community and more approachable than one in a car. There is specific training for how to patrol on bikes, including mounting and dismounting quickly, using the bike to take down a suspect, etc. Robbie Webber Bike Walk Madison Steering Committee www.bikewalkmadison.org Join our group on Facebook! On Fri, Oct 8, 2010 at 10:36 AM, <[email protected]> wrote: > The press release is written from a really pro-bike stance (which is > cool!), but is lacking in information on how this helps officers do their > jobs more effectively. Does anyone have a good article on how cops on > bikes do their jobs better.
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