IPMBA News

Elizabethtown Police Department expands bike patrol

Police say being on bicycle aids communication with residents
By Mary Alford, the News-Enterprise, July 24, 2017

Officers of the Eliza­­bethtown Police Department are cruising around town more, but not in patrol cars.

EPD has begun increasing its bike patrols throughout the city in an effort to further open a channel of communication between officers and the community to find out what the department can do to make the city a better place.

“It helps increase face-to-face contact between the public and the law enforcement in a positive way,” Public Information Officer John Thomas said.

Previously limited to local events, Thomas said the department realized bike patrol could be used more than it has been. EPD’s Detective Joseph Swartz shares Thomas’ sentiments.

“Bikes give us an opportunity and ability to cover a lot more ground than you can on foot, but it’s the same opportunity to have the face-to-face encounter rather than being in car,” Swartz said, noting officers are able to visit three or four neighborhoods in a course of one afternoon.

There is a huge variety of what the officers can do from the bikes, Swartz said. Sometimes they are in the right area to respond to calls and before an officer that is in a vehicle to assist in chases or sometimes they are able play basketball with local children and enforce fishing regulations at parks, among other normal patrol duties.

By hitting different neighborhoods and opening a dialog between the department and the community, it’s creating a dual benefit.

“There is an increased police presence by being there and they are out making that face-to-face contact finding out what issues there are,” Thomas said.

Swartz said they have had five or six officers who have been through a 40-hour training course for bike patrol, who then came back to train more officers through an eight hour course. In that eight hours, he said they go over policies and learn about the bikes, how to use the bikes and practical operations and complete long rides and obstacles.

Just like on foot patrol, Thomas said the officers on bike patrol operate in pairs.

“There is an increased risk to an officer outside of a car. They are not as mobile, they can’t move as quickly. It’s a little bit of an increased risk,” he said. “We try to make sure to have pairs for officer safety.”

Right now, Swartz said the department has six bikes for use with officers volunteering for patrol. But he is looking to continue to expand the bike patrol unit in the future.

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