Lower Salford police to get new bikes for bike patrol, schedules first Coffee with a Cop
By Bob Keeler, August 10, 2015, montgomerynews.com
LOWER SALFORD >> The township police department will be getting new bikes for the bike patrol, police Chief Thomas Medwid told the Lower Salford Township Board of Supervisors at its Aug. 4 morning work session.
“We have four old bikes now, about 15 years old,” Medwid said. The Harleysville Jaycees are contributing money raised during Country Fair Days to purchase four new ones, he said.
“In the late afternoon, early evening, we like to put them out on the bike trail system,” Medwid said. “We have about six miles of trails.”
The bikes, which can be operated more quietly than a car, have also been used in the Main Street business area, he said. “We’ve already interrupted burglaries in the middle of the night,” Medwid said.
The bikes are also used at events such as Country Fair Days, he said. The bikes are carried on the back of patrol cars and can be used as needed, he said.
The old bikes will be donated to the Harleysville Area Emergency Medical Service, which can use the bikes at Country Fair Days or other community events, he said.
Along with the bikes, the Jaycees are planning to pay to replace security cameras on the exterior of the building in which the township offices and police headquarters are located, Medwid said.
“Most of the cameras are original equipment from 2001. Some have failed and we’ve replaced them as needed, but this will allow us to complete the transition,” Medwid said.
He said he does not yet know when the new bikes and cameras will be received.
In another police-related matter, the Lower Salford department is hosting its first Coffee with a Cop 8 to 10 a.m. Friday, Aug. 21, at Arbour Square, 695 Main St., Harleysville.
“The mission of Coffee with a Cop is to strengthen the bond between police officers and the citizens they serve, by removing agendas and allowing opportunities to ask questions, voice concerns, and get to know the officers in your neighborhood,” according to information about the Coffee with a Cop posted on the department’s Facebook page.
In answer to questions on the Facebook page, the department said additional Coffee with a Cop sessions will be scheduled at other times so people who are not able to come to this one because they are working at the time will be able to come to the future ones.