Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Office wants to use more bicycle patrols
June grant bought nearly $14,000 in gear
By James Staley, Las Cruces Sun-News, September 1, 2014
Photo: Steve McIntyre - For the Sun-News Doña Ana County Sheriff's deputy Joe Gutierrez stands with a new Trek mountain bike issued to the Anthony office last week. He is one of 16 bicycle-certified deputies with DASO.
ANTHONY, N.M. >> A single scratch is difficult to find on the small fleet of fully-loaded mountain bikes that sit inside a storage shed in southern Doña Ana County.
But that should change in the coming months when Doña Ana County Sheriff's deputies will be using the new bicycles more often for patrol, as part of a community policing effort in the south county, Lt. Ernesto Parra said from his office at the agency's Anthony Area Command Headquarters.
"The advantages outweigh the disadvantages," he said.
DASO, like many law enforcement agencies, has used bicycles in certain operations for years, Parra said. He arrived at the sheriff's office in 1999 and oldest bike inside the storage shed predates him.
But due to a lack of manpower, a familiar obstacle at many agencies including DASO, a deputy on a bike was a rare sight till 2011 when the department pushed to use them more, he said.
Grants for equipment and overtime projects recently have allowed Parra to place small teams of deputies on bicycles in Anthony, Berino, Chamberino, Chaparral and La Union about twice per week.
The goal is to decrease drug smuggling and other "border crimes," Parra said. Bicycle patrols fit into that plan, in part, because of versatility.
"It's different out there with a bike," Parra said of the deputies. "They are a lot more approachable."
Often people in the community will strike up a conversation just to comment about the bike, said Joe Gutierrez, one of 16 bicycle-certified deputies at DASO — more have placed their names on a waiting list for the certification program.
While Parra wants the bicycle deputies to be seen, their transportation also allows deputies to be stealth; the bikes are quiet, nimble and less recognizable than patrol vehicles.
Gutierrez, who has been bicycle certified for five years, said he has caught people by surprise while on the bike, specifically recalling taggers.
As part of his certification, Parra trained with Las Cruces Police Department bicycle officers. Together, he said, they rode behind a strip mall and found two restaurant workers smoking marijuana while on break.
There are obvious disadvantages to bike patrol. In some situations the bicycle deputies could be slower to respond and can't transport anybody. To combat those and deputy safety concerns, DASO has the bicycle deputies ride in pairs with another deputy in a cruiser nearby.
That tactic does require more manpower in a relatively small area, but also allows deputies to become more familiar with the intricacies of the neighborhoods they regularly patrol.
Parra said training is critical. DASO bicycle deputies are certified by the International Police Mountain Biking Association, a firm that has conducted more than 4,000 training sessions since 2002, according to its website.
Deputies learn how to navigate stairs, curbs and other common obstacles, plus patrolling methods and even "how to take people down with bikes" during pursuits, Parra said.
There have been no significant injuries or crashes among DASO bicycle deputies, he added.
A grant worth nearly $14,000 through the U.S. Department of Justice allowed DASO to buy eight, Trek Xcaliber 6 mountain bikes in June. DASO also purchased new uniforms for bicycle deputies.
But, the annual cost of the bicycles is still being analyzed, he said.