ro-monster

I'm sitting in the rose garden in the park downtown right now, and I just saw a San Mateo cop ride by on his police bike. He rang his bell to alert the pedestrians on the path. He was moving pretty fast considering it's a rather crowded path. Does your area have bike cops?

raqball

Most larger cities will have Police Officers on bikes.

awfulwaffle 

Yep. Our bike cops even have red and blue flashing lights on their bikes. Pretty cool first time I saw them on.

camjr

Fort Worth has cops on both bikes and horses.

Northwestrider

Tacoma Washington does.

daihard 

So does Seattle.

Artkansas 

Little Rock does, and after a car-based officer ordered me to ride on the sidewalk, the Sargent of the bicycle patrol chewed them out after I called the PD to find out the local laws. I had just moved to Little Rock. where the car based officer had ordered me to ride on the sidewalk was an area where only the police may ride on the sidewalk, other cyclists should be on the road, where I was.

Roody

They discontinued our city police bike squad, except for events. There are sheriff deputies on bikes in the county parks. The university police use bikes at times. The community college police have a Segway.

Ekdog

Back in the days when we had a fairly progressive city government, an attempt was made to organize a squad of bike police, but the police union opposed the move as many cops apparently thought it would be demeaning for them to have to ride around on bicycles instead of driving cars or riding motorcycles, so the plan was scrapped.

daihard 

I find it interesting when Spain hosts one of the three Grand Tours...

Ekdog

Yes, but there are lots of folks who love the sport of bike racing but who wouldn't be caught dead commuting on a bicycle or actually using one to do a job.

Roody

I think most of the bike squads work when some cops love cycling. It would be a great job for a bike nut, but I'm getting too old to do those running dismounts!

i talked to a bicycle cop for about 30 minutes when we were both waiting at an LBS. He was very knowledgable and enthusiastic about cycling. He said he rode so slow while on bike patrol that he averaged less than 20 miles a day. He said they used the bikes more for stealth and versatility than for speed.

Another time I persuaded a bike cop to race me on a MUP. He was about 20 years younger than me, but I took him. His mountain bike was at least 10 pounds heavier than mine and he did have a lot of equipment. But most crooks on bikes should have little trouble eluding these bike cops. This particular cop said he patrolled the trails a couple hours a day, but spent most of his time in a police car with a bike rack.

Ekdog

I used to observe them working on the boardwalk in Pacific Beach (San Diego). They relied more on stealth than speed. They'd roll up behind people doing drug deals and watch the whole transaction go down without the "criminals" (marijuana dealers) even noticing them. They were very effective.

kelsodeez

i ride the bay trail all the time and ive never seen an officer on a bicycle. was it closer to coyote point or the bridge?

Astrozombie

Seen the Sheriff only once(riding in the door zone!! DOH!), seems like the LAPD only come out when it's a special event and they're in a small section of the city. (On MTBs for some reason)

Juha

We have them, but during summer months only.

--J

Roody

Yeah, there is that, unfortunately. Marijuana busts are a main function of bicycle cops, according to an article in Bicycling magazine a couple years ago. They disbanded the bicycle squad in my city about the same time they decriminalized weed. I don't know if that's just a coincidence....

squegeeboo

We've got bike and segway in Rochester.

MEversbergII

They just recently set them up here; they rode briefly last fall and I started seeing them out again just earlier this week.

M.

katsrevenge

We had them. We might still have them. I know a local hippy-guy (as in I've seen him on his bike many times) on an old Police painted Mnt bike.

wilfried

I wish we did. It might make them a little more sympathetic to cyclists, or at least aware. As it is, they alternate between ignore and harass, while parked in bike lanes.

kelsodeez

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9oO_7houHY

Rootman

Rural Arkansas, we have a few officers that do bike patrol on the MUPS. Few and far between. At least it's nice to see the cities at least THINKING about cyclist.

FenderTL5

Yes, Nashville has policemen on bicycles.
I spoke with a couple of them earlier this week. They're hiring more.

They're also replacing their fleet of FUJI bikes with Volcanic Bikes.

Ekdog

Is "The Big City" New York? If you'd rather not say, I understand.