IPMBA News

Harrisburg bike patrol officers working midnight shift nearly hit by Jeep, twice

by Christine Vendel, Pennlive.com, July 13, 2015

HARRISBURG- Two Harrisburg police officers on bicycles were nearly hit by a vehicle early Monday after they tried to investigate suspicious activity, police said.

The officers were riding in the 1300 block of Thompson Street about 12:45 a.m. when they spotted a Jeep parked in an alley with its lights and engine off, said Police Sgt. Gabriel Olivera.

As the officers pedaled toward the vehicle, Olivera said, an officer could see the driver looking at them in his side mirror. The vehicle's engine roared to life and the vehicle sped away, nearly clipping one of the police officers who had to swerve out of the way, Olivera said.

The bike officers and officers in patrol cars swarmed the area to try to find the Jeep, but the driver flipped his headlights on and off as he zipped down various streets to elude them.

At one point, the bike officers caught up with the Jeep, and as they approached it, the Jeep again nearly hit one of the officers head-on, Olivera said. The officer quickly steered out of the way, throwing his body into a parked car. That officer was a different officer from the first near-collision, Olivera said.

Neither officer was hurt.

Police traced the license plate of the Jeep to its owner, who said he had not been in recent possession of the vehicle. He had not reported it stolen. Police are still investigating, Olivera said.

The bike patrol officers are a renewed initiative this summer, Olivera said. Police Chief Thomas Carter restarted the department's foot and bike patrols to reduce crime in troubled neighborhoods and improve relationships with residents.

The department aims to have at least two bike officers on patrol, day and night, Olivera said. The department can have up to four officers on bikes if they have enough staffing. Other times, if staffing is low, the department won't have officers on bikes, he said.

Officers on bikes can move more nimbly through neighborhoods and can more easily chat with residents, Olivera said.

"Sometimes the patrol car is an excellent thing to get you from point A to point B," Olivera said. " But the problem is, it also kind of shuts you off from the neighborhood."

Being outside of a patrol car makes the officers more approachable, Olivera said, but it can also make them more vulnerable.

"These people take on risk, and they may be at more risk, but they volunteer for it," Olivera said. "They want to be part of the community. They want to work with the community."

Police are continuing to try to identify the driver of the Jeep.

"We had two officers safety put at risk," Olivera said. "And that is something we will make sure to find out what happened."

Carter said he wanted to renew the bike patrol program as part of his approach to fight violent crime in troubled neighborhoods. He could not use bikes last year in patrol, he said, because staffing was too low.

The police department recently was awarded $250,000 from the city's Community Development Block Grant annual allotment, which Carter said he would use to beef up enforcement in the city's most violent neighborhoods, which includes the area where the bike officers were nearly hit.

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