Police hit Wagga roads for bike training
By Andrew Pearson, the Daily Advertiser, Aug. 7, 2014, 5 p.m.
Photo: Senior Constables Mark Lawrence (left), Mick Strachan and Mark Clifford took part in yesterday's annual southern region bicycle squad reaccreditation at Wagga police station. The training was led by the NSW Police Bicycle Training and Co-ordination Unit. Picture: Laura Hardwick
POLICE from across the southern region put a different spin on training on Thursday.
After a session at Wagga police station, members of the bike squad hit the streets en masse as part of their annual reaccreditation.
Senior Constable George Adams, an instructor with the NSW Police Bicycle Training and Co-ordination Unit, joined about a dozen bicycle operatives from the southern region for the safety session.
"We ride around and assess to make sure they're all still current (and) they can still ride bikes to a level that our WH&S (workplace health and safety) standards require," Senior Constable Adams said.
Despite the officers being highly visible along Tarcutta Street yesterday, Senior Constable Adams said they had a dual role to play.
"They're also very covert ... they can usually come up to people where they're least expecting the bikes to turn up and most of the time catch people in the act," he said.
Senior Constable Mick Strachan, who is based in Albury, said being on two wheels rather than four meant he could get where cars couldn't.
"We're mobile (and) can get there a lot more quickly," Senior Constable Strachan said.
"You can sneak up on people as well, they don't know you're coming.
Senior Constable Strachan said the lycra-clad officers also attracted plenty of attention.
"They (the community) love us being out and about, they always come and speak to us," he said.
Crime manager Detective Inspector Darren Cloake said people who looked at a map of Wagga would see it was "peppered with a number of green ways".
Inspector Cloake said the lanes and other corridors, particularly in the Glenfield Park area, were used by offenders to access people's backyards.
"The bicycle squad represents another capacity of police to meet the needs of the community, in terms of combating crime," Inspector Cloake said.
"The community loves nothing more than seeing their police out on the streets and this is one way of doing that."