IPMBA News

Police department adding a bike patrol unit

By Jeron Rennie, KIMT 3, May 19, 2015, 7:11 pm

Photo: Police Reserve Officer James Noxon rides the new patrol bike in downtown West Concord.

WEST CONCORD, Minn. – The West Concord Police Department’s plan to add bikes to their patrol units is moving forward.

Police Reserve Officer James Noxon recently came forward with the idea and presented it to the city council.

“The big thing is getting people to talk to us, getting people to like us,” Noxon said. “People are more likely to approach you, more likely to come talk to you than in a 4,000 pound vehicle.”

West Concord has a population of 782, which Noxon said is an even better reason to start a bike patrol.

“We can get around very easily on foot,” he said. “On bike it’s a lot easier. We’ve got enough stop signs; it would take the same amount of time for us to pedal around than it would to drive around.”

While not ideal for every situation, he said there are benefits to using a patrol bike over one of their squad cars.

“There are some places that bikes can get to that squad cars can’t just because of the size factor and the ability that we can get to places,” Noxon said. “Squads are also a lot noisier than bikes, so it just makes a lot more sense for us.”

The city council thought the idea was great and approved it at a meeting last month. Licensed police officers also like the idea and want to take part.

“I do think we’re going to get a lot of use out of it with our park patrol on the good summer nights,” said West Concord Police Chief Shannon Boerner. “I think we’ll get a lot of use out of it on our survival days for sure. Then with our bike rodeo coming up, our kids will take to it.”

Boerner said the next step is developing a policy and getting the officers up-to-date on it.

“As long as we’ve got the guys interested in it, they want to use it, if it feels comfortable to them,” he said. “It’s such a small town, you can get wherever you need to.”

The city was working on a fundraising plan to buy the bike and equipment, but a donor came forward to supply them with it. He said this will be a great way to encourage safe riding for kids.

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