Pairing bikes with other modes of transport at Edmonton Police

By Stephanie Dubois, MetroNews Canada, July 24, 2014

Editor’s Note: This is day three of our series on Edmonton Police and their use of bicycles in the city.

Patrolling city streets has become much more than just officers in vehicles.

Bicycles have provided a way to get an intimate account of what’s happening street level, which is why the Edmonton Police Service has most of their divisions using bikes.

The southwest, Stony Plain and West Edmonton Mall stations are some of the units in the city in addition to the downtown location using bikes to patrol city streets, according to Sgt. Tony Parrotta.

“The best way to work a beat is walk a beat but another way is to use the bikes,” he said.

Officers also rely on bicycles when in special situations like large city events.

According to Parrotta, Edmonton Police Service’s Public Order unit has a bike contingent that allows them to patrol difficult situations like riots while riding on two wheels.

“There might be specialty training, but the principles are the same. They have to have bike gear, it’s just used in different tactic,” he said.

But police are using more than just bikes on city streets.

Officers in Old Strathcona have turned to segways as a way to patrol areas like Whyte Avenue, something that has proven successful for the police force.

More than 40 officers in five divisions have already been trained, at a cost of about $100, to use the Segways, with EPS officials planning to train more officers in the machines that cost very little to operate.

“I’ve yet to have a police car beat me to a call,” said Sgt. Maurice Brodeur, who is part of the Whyte Avenue police beat and spoke at a police commission meeting earlier this year.

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