Churches answer need for new police bicycles in Reading
3 new bikes now bring department's fleet to 15, officials say
Author: WFMZ 69 News, Apr 21 2015
READING, Pa. - Some Reading police officers who patrol the city's streets on two wheels have been blessed with new bicycles. The RPD showed off the new bikes outside its substation at South Eighth and Cherry streets in center city on Tuesday.
The bikes were bought with more than $3,000 that was raised and donated by the congregations of several United Methodist churches in Berks County, officials said.
The collection began around Christmastime, when Nicholas Camacho, an RPD chaplain and community outreach pastor at West Lawn UMC, discovered the department's need for new bicycles. The donation now brings the force's fleet of bicycles to 15, allowing officers to establish a greater presence in city neighborhoods that don't typically see bike patrols, Camacho said.
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