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Fall River nonprofit donates $5.5K to purchase new police patrol bicycles

Patrolling Columbia Street on a bicycle, Fall River police officer John Ruggiero finds that people are more willing to smile or talk to him than if he were passing by in a cruiser.

By Brian Fraga, Herald News, September 9, 2015

Herald News Photo | Brian Fraga.  People, Incorporated donated more than $5,500 to purchase the patrol bicycles for the Fall River Police Department.

FALL RIVER (MA) — Patrolling Columbia Street on a bicycle, Fall River police officer John Ruggiero finds that people are more willing to smile or talk to him than if he were passing by in a cruiser.

“We get a lot of thumbs up, even from people driving by in cars,” said Ruggiero, who bicycles up to 20 miles a day, several days a week, around Columbia Street.

Those bike patrols are about to become a lot more comfortable thanks to a donation of two new, top-of-the-line Scott 940-brand police bicycles made possible by People, Incorporated, a community nonprofit in downtown Fall River.

People, Incorporated donated more than $5,500 to purchase the bicycles from Scottee’s Westport Bicycle, which adapted the bicycles for police work.

“They asked us what we were looking for and what we do on a daily basis,” said Fall River Police Officer Richard P. Saraiva, who regularly patrols the Flint on a bicycle.

Saraiva and Ruggiero, both members of the Fall River Police Department Special Operations Division’s Street Crimes Unit, gushed about their new bicycles, which have several upgrades that include new LED lights on the front and back.

“It’s much more stream-lined. It’s modern,” Ruggiero said.

The bicycles are lightweight and easier to move around. The new bicycles also have improved gear shifting and reinforced tires that are less susceptible to being punctured. At 29 inches high, the tires are also higher and give the officers an improved vantage point while on patrol.

“You can see all that much more,” Ruggiero said.

The bicycles also have a bag behind the seat for the officers to store equipment such as water bottles, citation books, tools, work gloves and other items.

Speaking at a press conference Wednesday to unveil the new police bikes, Mayor Sam Sutter said police bicycle controls are “completely consistent with what we want to do with community policing.”

Fall River Police Chief Daniel S. Racine said the police department has “community policing on stilts.”

“It’s the best community policing in the state, and this is exactly how we do it,” Racine said. “Not driving by at 30 to 35 miles an hour. We’re stopping, talking, communicating with people, having face-to-face contact.”

Ruggiero and Saraiva are known for logging in the most bicycle patrol miles in the Special Operations Division.

“We try to ride everyday, weather permitting,” said Ruggiero, who added that the police department is looking to obtain cold weather gear to extend bicycle patrols into the winter months.

Ruggiero also said the bike patrols carry some stealth value, adding that people are often surprised when a police officer approaches them from behind on a bicycle.

But more than anything, the bicycle patrols are good for community relations.

Said Ruggiero: “People feel easier talking to you on a bicycle than trying to flag you down in a cruiser.”

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