MUNROE FALLS POLICE BIKE PATROLS ‘INVALUABLE’
by Jeff Saunders, The Stow Sentry, June 7, 2015 12:00AM
Munroe Falls (OH)-- The city's police department has become something of a leader in patrolling on two wheels.
With the warmer weather, residents can once again see police officers on bicycles, about a year after the program inaugurated soon after Police Chief Tom Pozza was hired in February 2014. Pozza said there are several benefits of such a program, but the main one is that it brings police officers closer to the people they serve.
"I think in a community such as Munroe Falls, bike patrols can be invaluable in community relations," he said.
Patrolman Steve Kensinger, who is now a key component of the program, said he agrees.
"With bike patrols, the biggest thing is community relations. I can be out there and talk to parents in their yards and to kids," he said. "In a car, you're not as approachable."
The city started getting the program on the road in April 2014 by purchasing two used bikes for $300 each from the Cuyahoga Falls Police Department, with a third new one donated by Randy Worthington, a member of the city's parks and recreation board soon after.
The used bikes when they were acquired were taken to Eddy's Bike Shop on Route 91 in Stow to bring them up to speed and Eddy's continues to be the program's service provider.
"They're a partner, a sponsor if you will," said Pozza. "They provide service and equipment at a reduced rate."
The involvement of Kensinger, who joined the department last year, is not just patrolling but training as well. He is a certified police bike instructor through the International Police Mountain Bike Association and provides training to police officers through his own business, Bike Strong.
"I've been riding bikes for about five years, police bikes, and have been teaching nearly a year," he said.
He said officers riding bikes in neighborhoods is an especially effective way to communicate positively with children, including about bike safety.
"Kids love talking to an officer on a bike," he said.
But he and Pozza said there are other benefits of a bike patrol program.
"It's also a useful tool in patrolling neighborhoods," he said, such as in offering more stealth in catching someone in the act of committing a crime than a car offers.
Kensinger said in addition, officers on bikes can go places that cars can not go, such as the Summit Metro Parks Bike and Hike Trail, at a faster speed than an officer on foot can manage, and can save time for officers performing such duties as checking homes of residents on vacation since the officer does not have to get out of a car and walk up to the house each time.
It also offers a cost savings, he said.
"Every time I'm on a bike, I'm not putting gas into a car," he said.
Kensinger said he is one of 32 IPMBA certified police bike training instructors in Ohio, but with most concentrated in the Columbus, Cincinnati and Dayton areas, he is only one of three in the region north of Kent.
Regionally, he recently completed teaching a course at Cleveland State University and is also teaching at Kent State University. He expects an upcoming demand because 300 police officers have been requested to offer security at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland next year.
More locally, he taught a 32-hour course June 1 to 4 which had two officers each from the Munroe Falls and Stow police departments and five Akron police officers registered.
Mayor Frank Larson told City Council June 2 that he looked in on the class.
"That looks like a pretty good course, but I'm not getting on a bike, no way," he said.
Kensinger said officers receive a course, or refresher course, in bicycle rules of the road, but also receive training in skills that civilians do not typically need. These include how to manage curbs and stairs and doing "full-speed dismounts," getting off a bike while traveling at high speeds. Training in how to maneuver in a crowd using orange cones is also included.
"I tell people the cones are little kids and you don't want to run over their feet," he said.
But going back to the primary benefit of community relations, Kensinger said this is especially important now.
"Kids love it, adults love it," he said. "There's a lot of negativity about police these days and we need positive influence and being on a bike does that."