Specific to the bike? Beats the hell out of me. Not sure they even have any in Cleveland...sure didn't back in the day. In NM a couple of my guys wanted to do a bike patrol (more to patrol our little downtown area, not due to any significant bicycle usage by the population) so we found and got a grant to buy the bikes, accessiories and clothing for them...but there was no actual formal training involved.

Man, today I saw something really new. I was on my commute and two ATV 4wheelers flew by me about 50 MPH. These were cops. It looked like they had street tires on them. Actually they were State Troopers. Isnt that crazy? I have never seen cops on 4wheelers. These were fast ones too.

I LOVE seeing them ticketing motorists. I wonder if they commute to work on their own bikes sans uniform. What a wet dream to be able to be off duty bike riding police officer when some cager decides to be a so-and-so. Horns honking, drivers yellin and buddy pulls badge from pocket and waves him over....that would be oh so sweet. It was such bike officers that told me it was a half lane berth for the car pass in Toronto...AND I'm officially allowed to occupy a lane.

Some good stories on the IPMBA website

When I lived in Marblehead, Ma they had a few bike patrols and one of the guys actually entered competitions.

There is an organization called the International Police Mountain Bike Association. Many "Police Games" also include competitions. IPMBA offers training and train the trainer programs.

My old man won the 'Police Olympics' in wrestling when he was about my age, beating a lot of young bucks in the process. It was one of the things that inspired me that getting older don't mean you can't be competitive. Of course he was dead ten years later, but wtf. :)

Typical cop story. Dead within 5 years of retirement? Sad, but happens all the time.

I was talking to our community officer for our school - who also does bike patrol. He told me that it was a option to do bike patrol, and that he could have chosen foot or cruiser if he preferred. Apparently one of the main advantages of the bikes is to run down people on foot - the front suspension/hardtail combo is useful for going down/up short flights of stairs.

AFAIK they are mostly community officers rather than traffic patrol. I think it's only the mounted patrol that they have to apply for, foot, bike or car are options that they are free to choose from - if you want to be on horse, you have to be approved for it...

I know I love my Sorrento when it comes to short flights of stairs. :)

Horses, yikes. I am a city boy, and not very comfortable around them. My partner and I a few months ago were chasing a couple down the highway that had gotten loose. He actually called out that we were in pursuit of 2 E/B at 7 MPH over the air. I was thinking the whole time, "What the heck do we do with them when we catch them." Thank god he is a country boy and had some rope that he fashioned into a sort of leash, and that the owners showed up quickly :D

Mounted patrol is choice duty, if it were me I'd have to think real hard if given the choice between a bike or a horse and I really can't say which I would choose, which is blasphemy in BF...so it's a good thing I don't have to worry about such choices any more. For now my stable is my bikes, though someday I'd like to have the land to have horses again too. ;)

My favorite bike cop rocks a non police standard black mountainbike with two aerospoke wheels.


hipster.

Hey Guys and Gals! New to this forum but I am a retired officer who was IPMBA trained and qualified as an instructor. I instructed at least 100 officers from four different departments in my time. I also designed and implemented a "Bicycle Camp" for children ages 8-14 which is still being used three years after my retirement. Since I came in late here I'll just say most of your questions appeared to be answered here but should you have any more, I'd be happy to tackle them.

How about some personal anecdotes about your experiences, tci2?

East Hill

Originally Posted by tci2
"Hey Guys and Gals! New to this forum but I am a retired officer who was IPMBA trained and qualified as an instructor. I instructed at least 100 officers from four different departments in my time. I also designed and implemented a "Bicycle Camp" for children ages 8-14 which is still being used three years after my retirement. Since I came in late here I'll just say most of your questions appeared to be answered here but should you have any more, I'd be happy to tackle them."


How about some personal anecdotes about your experiences, tci2?

East Hill

+100 on the personal anecdotes!!! There has got to be some very funny stories!!!

The funniest almost always occurred during training and without benefit of a video camera.
During training everything after the first two hours is on the bike. Ride everywhere...even to lunch. While returning to the training area from lunch, after the "proper braking" class, one student panic braked (front only, rain soaked, downhill), standing his bike on it's nose and simply ran off of it......right into noon traffic.
It would have been easier explaining to the chief how I almost got a student ran over ON the bike.
Obviously, everyone thinks they know how to ride a bike...until you tell them to do something odd like riding down stairs, tackling a subject from the bike, or even shooting positions with the bike. All of them had to be able to "drop off" an 8 inch curb but raise the height just four more inches and most would not even attempt it. Actually had one guy seperate his shoulder "dropping off" a twelve inch platform.
Most of these guys (and girls) hadn't been on a bike in years. Third day - climbing - only 3/4 mile @ 4% grade, twice during a twenty mile ride. How many do you think made it out of a class of twelve? Only two. And all of them 15-20 years younger than the instructors.
Ever tried riding across a 4" beam ....4" off the ground, or turning your full size bike inside a six foot square. Very humbling I'll assure you. But by the end of the week we would graduate a new class.

When our bike patrol started, the Chief went with the recommendation of our trainer and purchased ten Cannondale bikes, no suspension but a lite and nimble bike. They lasted about a year and most are in a pile somewhere in strorage. Our team leads worked a deal with our LBS and we got the Giant Yukon which are still being ridden today. I liked the bike so much I purchased my own. Coulda done with a different color but they wanted all of the bikes "uniform". I do not have the modular light system mounted because I worked day shift. I'll post a pic when I figure out this system.

There's some useful threads about picture posting down in the Forum Suggestions way down at the bottom of the main forum page. Otherwise, PM me and we'll see if we can't get you started. We love pictures!

East Hill

Thanks East Hill. It didn't attach to the one I wanted...but it's here.