Donation enables police to get electric mountain bikes
Arielle Zionts, Rapid City Journal, April 5, 2019 Journal staff
Photo: Officer Anthony Picket Pin poses with one of the Rapid City Police Department's new electric mountain bikes. Courtesy RCPD
Rapid City residents can expect to see police officers cruising around on electric mountain bikes this spring and summer.
Two new electric pedal-assist bikes were purchased earlier this year with the help of a $5,000 donation from NWE Management Company, the Rapid City Police Department said in a press release.
The Stance Giant bikes are each worth $3,250 so the department had to use some of its own money to cover the entire cost, said spokesman Brendyn Medina.
The bikes will be used during "proactive patrols" at the city's parks and bike paths, and pedal-assist features will help officers respond to emergencies more quickly, the release says.
"We anticipate that the electric assist feature on these new bikes will be a tremendous asset to our bike patrol officers, especially when dealing with emergency situations," Lt. Brian Blenner, commander of the RCPD Bike Patrol Unit, said. "We are incredibly grateful for the generous donation from NWE that allowed us to purchase these bikes and plan to use them as much as possible in order to keep our parks, hiking trails and bike path the safest places they can be."
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RCPD purchases electric mountain bikes for Bike Patrol Unit
April 5, 2019, by Claudia Contreras
RAPID CITY, S.D. – The Rapid City Police Department’s bike patrol unit got an upgrade on Friday.
The unit received its first two electric mountain bikes to help officers get through rough terrain. The department bought the bikes with grant money from NWE Management.
The bikes can get up to 18miles-per-hour and they require very little manual effort. It will help officer get to where they’re going more quickly and easily during emergencies in remote locations.
“The biggest one is probably going to be our homeless creating camps up there on Elmhill or Skyline. In the past couple of years, we’ve also seen an increased number of suicidal subjects referring to that the’re going up to the top of Elmhill and commit suicicde which leaves officers at a disadvantage trying to run all over the hill looking for them. We can cover ground fairly quick with these bikes,” said Officer Mackenzie Armstrong.
RCPD hopes to purchase more of these electric mountain bikes in the future.