I'm sure that if you say that to a cop, he/she will come back and say, not everyone is "polite" to us...

gee ... I wonder why.

I've got a problem with cops picking on a certain brand of cars and a certain race of people that drive those cars ....

There is no doubt about it. From my own experience.
I drove black toyota celica, a sport looking car, and notice - BLACK...
they just loved to stop me, sort of white (good) police cruiser, caught a black bad guy...
In one year of owning that car, I was pulled over more than 30 times.
Now that I drive white (family) sedan, I have not been pulled over even once - 6 months of driving.

You got that right! You couldn't pay me enough to ride around in that hot, heavy clothing. That's probably why they ride so slowly, or simply sit in the shade.

Haha...my favorite movie, a true classic.

Anyway, I think cops in general deserve more respect than they're often given. While, yeah, there are always going to be a few that "abuse" their power, which I'm by no means justifying, I think they do deserve a bit of gratitude. It's easy to criticise (sp?) them now, but when somebody needs help, you might be singin' a different tune.

"The use of uneccassary violence in the apprehention of the Blue's Brothers...has been approved"

they use them back home (charleston, sc) downtown, they do alot of good.

but back to bikes cops.
there are a few from time to time downtown montgomery, but not very often. i see them on the hitch rack of the crusiers, but never being used.

later

jatkins679 - I'm 18.

Inoplanetyanin - I'm not going to get into it with you, we see things from a different point of view and disagree about the the role of police.

-Middi-zon

So you're not even old enough to be a cop, but you talk like you know it all about law enforcement because you're a 'sgt-cadet'. OK, whatever.

I used to be a firefighter/EMT in a large Midwestern city and we had cadets like you: talk like they know what it was all about, lecture others (usually much older than them) about how these other people didn't know jack about 'what it's really like', thought they were buddy-buddy with the FFs and 'one of the guys'.

We used to laugh at cadets like you because you actually don't know a thing about what it's really like in public safety, which is fine. But talking like you do and like you're one of them when you're not isn't. It just makes you pathetic.

Hopefully you won't be someone that is allowed to be a cop because you obviously won't be willing to admit you don't know everything about it and that's a dangerous individual to be a cop.

Werd.

Totally disagree with this statement. They're up higher so they can see and be seen more easily. They can go on the street or on the grass. Kids love horses and want to pet them so it gives the horsecops a good "in" with the public. The only problem is that horses aren't exactly non-emission vehicles.

And a correction: The Capitol Park CHiPs ride hardtail Treks, not FS. They're still overloaded with stuff, though.

Joliet Jake: "What happened to the Caddy?"
Elwood: "I traded it for a microphone..."

First, I'd like to start by expressing my extreme disdain for you calling my character into question when you have never met me and after only reading one of my posts. In lameman's terms, I think your an ass.

Also, let me assure you, I don't, nor think otherwise, know all there is to know about law enforcement. I just came back from my first cadet competition last weekend, and there were many situations that I was put in that I had no idea how to deal with, I fell back on my instincts and training and made sure the cadets that I was in command of were safe. My team and I made some mistakes, made an illegal arrest, failed to stop a car jacking, but I kept my "officers" safe and alive.

Now I'd like to address your comment about thinking I'm "one of the guys." Obviously the officers in the department don't treat me as a fellow sworn officer, but it's damn close. I've been invited to three weddings, many other "police only" social gatherings, and I'm a part of the department's hockey team, I'm their goalie. The team plays in a late night mens league and after the game they all go out for last call together, after my second game I was asked to join them and they'll buy me a coke. If that's not "one of the guys," what is?

Lastly, I have had job offers from several local agencies, the state police, and the DEA for after I graduate college, so I'm not a "poser," I worked with many and can definitely tell you I'm not one of them.

-Middi-zon

P.S. - I apologize to the moderators, I know that this kind of posting is frowned upon, but I had to defend my character.

Interesting post.
The actually interesting part is that I don't know what my view about police is, or I haven't found set of phrases to express it and you already know that it is different from yours...

If a person is morally good, with universally great values, positive attitude towards life and people, by working in police he CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

Thank you, I'm sorry if I jumped the gun on you in your previous post, when I wrote the post it was just after I gave a sophomore a ride home after our lacrosse practice. He asked what I'd be doing next year and I told him that I was going to the Rochester Inst. of Tech. and majoring in criminal justice, he then made fun of cops for the next 20 mins, in my car as I'm going out of my way to bring him home. As you may have guessed I was pissed.

-Middi-zon

No problem... Good luck with your studyings.

Evansville, IN police get bikes and training...a new pilot program here...maybe the next time I get hit by a car the officer will pay more attention to me on the bike, since the officer may also be on a bike...

More info, if interested, about the local dudes and their training:
https://www.myinky.com/ecp/news/artic...996466,00.html

They let 18 year old people be cops here. Way too young if you ask me. Im not slamming 18 yr olds, just saying there's still a lot to learn about life, and then there's the whole power trip factor for young people who become cops.

I have yet to see a cop on a bike in my town. It seems that there are quite a few cruisers with a hitch mount rack though.

Hi,
This is my first post here, and after reading this thread, I thought it was a good place to start.

First, I am not a cop, but I ride with them in charity events (as police support) and, once a year, on a long cross country ride for the LLSA. The team I ride with is an outstanding group of officers, so I'll admit to being biased by my interaction with them. Most of them spend a great deal of time volunteering themselves for charity events and fundraising for the team. Even beyond that, they are one of the nicest groups of men and women I have ever met.

Base on this interaction, and based my experiences with having a lot of family members in law enforcement, I'll offer the following response to some opinions I read in this thread:

1)Bicycle Cops aren't good cyclists.
Okay, some of that is true SOMETIMES, but it doesn't work as a generalization. It's sort of like saying "cops are a__holes". Well, some are, but MOST are not. On my team are a couple of "real" bike cops, plus a lot of bike patrol officers ride with me on police support (like on the Houston to Austin MS150).

Like some of you, I am surprised sometimes that a few of these officers aren't very fit for long-distance cycling. However, in their defense, these are guys that most likely don't ride their bikes much, even at work, but simply work with bike patrol in another capacity. However, even these "slower" guys are amazingly fit. They have to take periodic PT exams and go to "bike school". Bike school, btw, is pretty tough.

They simply don't have the time for training for long distances. Some of them don't even have a good road bike, so they ride MTB's with knobbies, even on Century benefit rides. Having done that once myself on a dare, I can tell you it ain't easy to go fast the whole way. As an aside: Sometimes, when you see a officer riding really slow on a benefit, they could be riding "turtle"---simply riding very slow to time their crossing with the closing of the course. If the turtle passes a rider then that ride should sag up because "they ain't gonna make it". I rode turtle on the second day of a 212 mile 2 day ride. Let me tell ya, riding turtle on that ride was the toughest ride I've done. I started an hour late and stayed late at every stop. Still, ten hours on the road, riding under pace, was tough.

2) Bike Cops dont' follow the rules of the road.
Uh, I've never witnessed that (except in the case of a cop chasing down a guy on a benefit ride. The cop ran a red light and ran down a jerk who was riding on the wrong side of the street during a benefit tour. The guy, btw, was riding a nice road bike. The cop? A Cannondale MTB. The cop caught him--no problem.

Locally, Bike Patrol does ride in some areas off-limits to regular cyclists. Here, that includes the airport and airport terminals and some parks. However, even there, they are supposed to operate within guidelines. My guess is that they sometimes ride on sidewalks and in places they shouldn't, but that isn't common. Downtown, I wouldn't be surprised to see a cop on a sidewalk, especially if the streets are jammed and he is on a call, but I can say I've ridden with patrol downtown and we stopped at all the lights and stayed on the street full-time.

3)Bike Cops don't do much for cycling in general. This one is probably right, but only because Bike Patrol officers aren't that visible in a lot of cities. Here, they patrol on bike paths, often at night when they are closed to the public, or in the Ship Channel area, which is heavily industrialized, or in other areas like parks and ballfields, where they aren't that visible to the general public. I think the view is that it would be impractical for them to patrol in areas where patrol cars would be more effective.

4)Horses. Okay, this struck a nerve (Well, I AM from Texas). Horses are perfect for crowd control. I lived in New Orleans for ten years and I earn a great deal of respect for how a good cop on a good horse can control a crowd. In these circumstances, a cop on a bike or on foot would be ineffective.

I could post more on all this, but you guys would just get bored....

later!

Well, perhaps not much that's immediately visible. However, I believe that they are doing something for cycling by showing the bicycle as a useful form of transport that can actually be used in the real world. Let me tell you, this provides a much greater benefit to cycling than the practices of many other cycling "advocates".

Baltimore city has bicycle cops and they are very useful. Mountain bikes can go where the cars, motorcycles, and horses can't and they have been very effective chasing down suspects.

They all ride Giant Iguana's with a white paint job.

OT ...

https://11alive.com/news/news_article.asp?storyid=32200

Hey Rockhound, good to see you here. I've only been here a very short time myself. Also wanted to compliment you on your post. I just read through this thread tonight and also had some concerns about some of the comments about the police.

The only thing I might add at this time is that some places allow bikes on the sidewalk. When I first thought about getting a bike where I live now, I made some posts in another forum and everyone was posting things back like, "There is a reason they call it a sideWALK". Well, when I found the state's rules, turns out that many places you can ride on the sidewalk.

That may not apply to where posters here are from - and I would expect local bike riders to know - but it is okay some places.

Bob (84 flatless miles and counting)

It's legal here too (Queensland is the only Australian state where this is the case for anyone over the age of 12). It doesn't automatically mean it's a particularly safe or sensible thing to do.

It's legal to smoke, too.

Well, I am not a Bike Cop but I am a Bike Medic and I work with a lot of Bike Officers here in Austin and a fair number of them are cycling advocates as well. Most are Mountain Bike Madmen and you will see them off duty bombing the green belt. Bike Medics and Police are very much a positive community thing here..sorry some of you have had a bad experience....

I work for a sheriff's office. Our department has 4 deputies that patrol their areas on bikes when weather conditions are right. I live in Colorado. These deputies go through weeks of training on the bike. And these deputies enjoy their job on the bike. I have talked to each of them several times and they have actually encouraged me to become a Reserve deputy to join them on bike patrol. These deputies enjoy bike patrol because they say it makes them more approachable by the kids. It also gives them the ability to go to areas their cars can't. These bike deputies have even started a program for under priveleged kids handing out bike helmets and teaching bike safety. They have created a positive environment in their areas.