IPMBA News

APD gains traction on crime with new bikes

By Daniella Rivera, Tuesday, January 9th 2018, 1:04 pm EST

Anchorage Police have some new wheels. You might be used to seeing school resource officers patrolling on bikes in the summer, but now, thanks to a donation, they're able to hit the trails in the winter too.

The newest addition to the fleet includes six bikes donated by the Citizens Alumni Academy. Two of them are fat tire bikes. Accessories include studded tires, lights and sirens.

Bike patrols started back up two weeks ago. Officers will be patrolling downtown in areas like Town Square and West Chester Lagoon.

Even though they're on bikes, APD officer Doug Fifer says they can still make traffic stops and even arrests, if necessary.

"You're a sworn officer, fully geared up, I've done traffic stops on bikes, I've made arrests on bikes.  A benefit that we have is sometimes you might ride up on a drug deal that's going on and they may not really recognize you on a bike so we have the element of surprise," Fifer said.

During a single shift, officers can ride five to 10 miles.

Copyright 2018 KTVA. All rights reserved.

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