Palatine Police Grateful For Bicycle Donated By Local Business
By Submitted to the Journal | on August 24, 2018
Sgt. Jason Watson (from l. to r.), Deputy Chief Dave Daigle, Allied Air Conditioning & Heating Corp. owner Brent Bauer, Police Chief Al Stoeckel and Deputy Chief Mike Seebacher.
The Palatine Police Dept. is the latest recipient of a local business’s generosity.
Brent Bauer, co-owner of Allied Air Conditioning & Heating Corp., recently presented members of the Palatine Police Dept. with a new police bike for the Bicycle Patrol Unit.
Bauer’s conversation with longtime customer of 43 years, Mike Schrage of Palatine, led to the police bike donation.
A discussion that centered around the Palatine Police Dept. Citizen Police Academy, which Schrage is a recent graduate of, moved Bauer and his business partner Greg Budinger to step forward and donate a police bike for the department.
Allied made a similar donation years ago to the Palatine Fire Dept. when they launched their Paramedic Bike Unit.
The donation is a significant win for the Palatine Police Dept., said Police Chief Alan Stoeckel. Sgt. Jason Watson, who oversees the department’s bike unit, met with Bauer who explained the business has received so much from the Palatine community, that he and his business partner wanted to give back again.
Stoeckel thanked Bauer for the bicycle, purchased from Mikes Bike Shop in Palatine, saying, “The bicycle would be put to good use as officers continue to utilize police bikes to patrol the downtown district, parks, bike paths and the northeast portion of Palatine.”
Using bikes for patrol has proven to be an effective tool for crime reduction and positive police-citizen relations, Stoeckel said, which is the foundation of the department’s Neighborhood Based Policing Philosophy.
“The generosity of Allied Air Conditioning & Heating Corp. goes beyond the police department, it benefits the entire village and that is what sets Palatine apart from other communities,” Stoeckel said.