IPMBA News

Covington Police Department to bring back bicycle patrol

BY NICK REIMANN, New Orleans ADvocate, January 26, 2018 |

COVINGTON POLICE DEPARTMENT

 “The bikes are back,” Covington Police Chief Tim Lentz said in a news release Friday, as the Covington Police Department plans on restarting a city bike patrol unit.

Lentz said that after years of having the city’s bikes in storage, they have been “dusted off” and placed back into service.

According to the release, several members of Covington police — along with certified trainer Scott Verdun of the Kenner Police Department — have been training over the last week for the patrol.

“A bike patrol program is a great way to increase the ability for an officer to interact with the public. Officers on bikes are more approachable and it allows them to build one-on-one contacts with the public,” Lentz said in the news release, and adding that the public should expect to see bikes at fairs and festivals along with regular patrols of downtown.

Lentz said the previous program shut down for reasons he doesn’t know before he became chief in 2013.

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