Fort Wayne Police Department trains officers for bike patrol
By Jaclyn Goldsborough of The News-Sentinel, Friday, October 31, 2014 - 12:37 pm
For Fort Wayne Police Department Officers, chasing down and apprehending a suspect is not as easy as riding a bike, which is why about a dozen officers received bike patrol training Thursday at the Public Safety Academy in Fort Wayne.
Paired as a team, the training started with two officers powering through a half-mile long obstacle course outlined in bright orange cones. The course included sharp turns and quick maneuvers through sidewalks and even a tough grassy hill; just enough to get the heart rate up, and keep it steady. Immediately when the obstacle course ended, the two officers would dismount quickly – which is a tough and sometimes ungraceful maneuver – then sprint into the training facility to apprehend a dummy suspect. However, as the officers turned the corner, they quickly saw that the “suspect” was armed and dangerous. Promptly, the pair discharged their weapons and diffused the situation.
From riding exercises, conditioning and even written and skill testing, each officer was required to pass the training to complete the course and obtain certification as a Fort Wayne Police Department Law Enforcement Bicycle Association officer.
Treven Brown, Fort Wayne Police Department officer and bike patrol trainer, said the program gives the officers all the skills and training that they need as well as the confidence.
“Many of our officers may not have been on a bicycle in many years. This gives them an opportunity to do what they need to and understand the skills and the unique things that are part of bike patrol. The officers are enjoying it. This is not something you typically do. Very often in the civilian life do you get to race around on a bicycle and go off and start shooting a gun, that's fortunately something we do not do on a regular basis, but it is something that they realize now that they have the ability to do it. Now they understand the process,” he said.
There's no doubt the training is difficult and strenuous, but, as the officers know so well, it prepares the force for what can, and does, happen when they are patrolling the bike beat.
And the training is needed, too, because, over the last few years, bike patrols have increased in Fort Wayne.
The downtown police bike patrol beat, started more than a year ago, positions officers downtown from 7 a.m. to about 4 p.m. each day. The beat covers 1 square mile in downtown between Superior and Brackenridge streets to the north and south, and Clay Street to Broadway from east to west, respectively.
The patrol is normally covered by a team of two officers most often riding bikes, but they also patrol on foot, T3 personal transportation devices, or a utility vehicle, depending upon the weather and areas they are working.
The first task of the day is to hit the main downtown Fort Wayne parks including Freimann Square and Headwaters. From there, the officers patrol the trails and neighborhoods.
Brown said the bike patrols allow officers to connect with residents and the community on a more personal level. It not only adds safety and security to the Rivergreenway, but it also makes the department more visible to the public.
“All of the training for the bike program really gives us a chance to get out in the community," Brown said. "It allows us to serve all the areas in the city you can't serve in a squad car. There's certainly an advantage to the citizens. We are far more approachable. I was doing patrol the other day on the Greenway and ran into a couple from Colorado that was visiting Fort Wayne to ride our Greenway. They were lost and I would have never seen them in a squad car. We see things out on bike patrol you may not see in a squad car.”
In addition to the regular patrols, the city also assigns officers to special night events, such as TinCaps baseball games, or the Three Rivers Festival. The officers believe that the addition of bike patrols helped to increase safety at large public events, including TRF.
Watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tD8CXCO-KSs