shard

Anyone here know if Police bikes are high performance versions of regular bikes just like Police cars are high performance versions of regular cars?

DrIsotope

They sure aren't. The most expensive "enforcement" model Cannondale sells has an MSRP of $1,400, has a mish-mash of components (including mechanical disc brakes) and weighs about as much a boat anchor.

The days of the "police interceptor" are largely over as well. The Police Interceptor Utility (aka Ford Explorer ST) has the same powertrain as the civilian version. It's just a lot heavier from all the police stuff in/on it.

Flip Flop Rider

takes a hefty machine to support the weight of most cops

Synack42

Well, this is a niche/boutique example... But Detroit Bikes (local to me) makes a special police only model that I totally would love to have solely based on looks...

https://detroitbikes.com/pages/police-bikes

trailangel

Really?
Here are the new Police Interceptors:
https://electrek.co/2018/06/22/lapd-...bicycle-fleet/
ebikes in CA are classified as bicycles

DrIsotope

I've never seen a cop on an eBike in my entire life. But then again LAPD has about 9,000 sworn officers, another 10,000 in the LASD, and... 20 eBikes, so I guess that's not really surprising.

I have seen cops on Segways before, though.

trailangel

Same here..... So. Pasadena supposed to have Trek Class 3 ebikes, but I have never seen anyone riding one.
Maybe they only use them at parades.

General Geoff

The whole "cop car package" thing is mostly a myth. Most police packages in cars are just heavy duty suspension and maybe auxiliary cooling (because police cars typically idle for 16-20 hours a day). Very rarely are they actually faster than civilian-available options on the same platform.

Police bikes are similar in that their focus is on weight carrying capacity and reliability, not outright speed or efficiency; Bike cops just need to be able to out-sprint people on foot, they're not really expected to run down seasoned road cyclists on time trial bikes.

tagaproject6

"It's got a cop motor, a 440-cubic-inch plant. It's got cop tires, cop suspension, cop shocks. It's a model made before catalytic converters so it'll run good on regular gas."

indyfabz

"Fix the cigarette lighter."

livedarklions

There is no way to ride a Segway without looking pretty silly.

Joe Bikerider

The San Francisco cops that ride around the airport, including inside the terminal are on straight bar hybrids. The only unusual feature I’ve noticed is the totally silent drive train. I’ve wondered what they are using but never thought it would be wise to jump up as one was going by to ask. Best not to startle a guy with a gun.

bruce19

Are any of them made of CF?

sdmc530

LEO here, the police package vehicles are different with suspension, brakes, cooling units, some specify two batteries for electronics. As far as the engine there are mostly stock, however they are chipped differently. Ours are much faster than the stock version for certain. Dodge is just fast as heck out of the box so not much different with the charger/Durango. But ford has done a really nice job as of late getting police versions beefed up! So yes they are different.


Back to the bikes, our local PD has Giant hybrids that are just stock with the extra stuff put on it. Nothing "beefed up" for police use.....

Milton Keynes

Auxiliary cooling not only because they'll run 8 hours a shift, but also if they get involved in a chase running at high speeds it's more likely the engine will survive compared to normal civilian automobiles with standard cooling systems. Some criminal running at high speeds trying to evade police cars is going to be rough on the engine, and often cooling systems tend to break down.

autonomy

I don't think there's a big necessity for a second cooling system for high speed chases. How long are typical chases and what is the typical speed? None of the cars I've ever driven had any trouble running at 80MPH for 4 hours. People regularly go 100+MPH on the Autobahn; granted it's not in cop cars which are driven every day.

https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/pvp1213.pdf
According to the Pursuits data, a majority of pursuits were short both in time (57% lasted 3 minutes or less) and distance (66% covered a distance of 3 miles or less). Despite their brevity, nearly half (45%) of police vehicle pursuits reached speeds of greater than 70 miles per hour, and nearly a quarter (23%) exceeded 90 miles per hour.

Ross520

It's more than that...

Shorter final drive (3.27 or 3.55 vs 2.73), beefier transmission, revised transmission mapping, unlocked speed limiter, oil coolers, heavy duty suspension, heavy duty brakes, higher amp alternator, heavy duty U-joints, heavy duty driveshaft, stiffer frame mounts, free flowing exhaust, and a high flow air intake.

NomarsGirl

In all fairness, the bike cops tend to be the younger, more fit officers. At least in my area.

Ross520

Autobahn driving is typically low RPM with a TON of air cooling...

Night-and-day difference from stop-and-go traffic and long periods of idling for many hours at a time.

General Geoff

I'll give you the alternator; the rest of this stuff is usually equipped to whatever civilian performance version of the same car is. Example: Crown Victoria LX Sport, Dodge Charger SRT8 or Hellcat, Ford Taurus SHO. The speed limiter is directly dependent on the speed rating of the tires that are originally equipped. Plenty of police package vehicles have speed limiters.

I used to have a 90s Crown Victoria LX with the handling/performance package, and it had pretty much everything the P71 (police) package of that year had PLUS lighter aluminum wheels and air suspension instead of stiffer coil springs in the back. Auxiliary oil cooler, transmission cooler, same brakes, stiffer aluminum driveshaft, 3.27 rear axle, dual exhaust, same exact air box. I know because I pulled replacement parts off P71s at the junkyard.

autonomy

Hold it, we were talking about high-speed pursuits, not idling. Also, when you're maxing out your top gear to do 110mph on the AutoBahn, you're going to be in the 3 to 4K RPM range - depends on the car and how many gears you have, of course. Not low RPM.

nomadmax 

Generally there are only slight differences in the "Police" versions of mountain bikes used on bike patrol.

There's a pretty good thread on bike patrol here:

Police bicycles

I'm not sure why it starts at post 50 or so, scroll back to see them all.

I was one of the original co-authors of "The Complete Guide to Police Cycling", now named "The Complete Guide to Public Safety Cycling".

Vintage Schwinn

I met the officers from Augusta University Police department while they were riding at the same time and place as I. I have during the past two years, have ridden on or near campus and I'll wave and say hello to them, whether they are on the bikes or if they are on foot, or if they are slow cruising on patrol in the suv's with the windows down and the A/C full on.
What I learned from talking with one of the officers there is that the BICYCLE patrol is voluntary for the officers there. For this reason, there is very little BICYCLE patrol between May 15th and early Sept because of the very Hot and Humid, Augusta weather during that time. Well this year, the heat and Summer season's brutal heat has extended to Oct 12th - Oct 13th, as it was 90F a few days ago and then 86F when normally the highs shouldn't be above about 81F. In September 2019 , the average High was 94F , the same as it was for AUGUST 2019, and July 2019's average high was 97F, and both May 2019 and June 2019 had an average high temperature of 91F. The first ten days of October had an average high temp of 90F, so it has been a very HoT and extended Summer season in Augusta GA this year. For this reason, there has not been nearly as much activity from their Officers patrolling on bicycles. Every one of their officers that I have seen or met is extremely fit and very professional. The officers that are on Bicycles at times when they "volunteer" to patrol in the fresh-air, do a tremendous amount of biking around and about campus. They get additional training, for the bike patrol. I asked them if they received any bonuses/incentive pay to volunteer for the bike duty and they said NO, except for a great workout and a chance to pedal, rather than cruise in the suv. All the officers there are fully qualified, certified officers.
As you may imagine, only some of them, that love cycling, will "volunteer" for bicycle patrol duty when weather allows it. They have suv's with bike carriers as they sometimes transport the police bike(s) to distant, not connected, campus areas that are miles away.......downtown-medical center,-undergrad campus-athletic center-fieldhouse/gym , and golf course, and housing areas.
https://www.augusta.edu/police/recruiting.php
https://www.augusta.edu/police/divis...ityservice.php

These great Officers are Not your stereotypical, overweight donut and coffee consuming police officers of many television shows and movies!
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For some of you that might wish to make your own bicycle look more like a Police patrol bicycle, take a look at this:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/ABS-6-LED-4...item238b2151db
(#152658072027 on the bay)
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Darth Lefty 

I bet the police bikes come w excellent seats

thumpism 

Don't know if they still make it, or if anyone else does, but I had a Shimano (XT maybe?) rear hub with a roller clutch in it instead of pawls and springs. Totally silent when coasting since it had nothing to cause a clicking noise.