Saint Paul Police’s Bike Cops for Kids: First Year Lessons Learned
by Jason Bain, PCI #1046-B/EMSCI #278-B
Saint Paul (MN) Police Department
IPMBA Treasurer
Turning the calendar to November, winterizing the bike fleet, and releasing officers to off-season assignments has provided me the opportunity to reflect on lessons learned from Saint Paul’s Bike Cops for Kids’ Inaugural Year.
Leadership Support is Essential
When people ask what made this program successful, my first response is always the same – it had the support of department leadership and command staff. The goals of our program were aligned with the community engagement goals of the department, which afforded us the resources necessary to get off the ground. Putting our first bike on the street required coordination of efforts between the Chief’s office, area command leadership, the Police Athletic League, the Saint Paul Police Foundation, and the Community Engagement, Special Events, and Juvenile units. Successful coordination was made possible with leadership’s support.
Strong Partnerships Will Help Make a Vision Become Reality
With the opportunity to create the unit, I naturally turned to the Minneapolis Bike Cops for Kids program for advice. The program, started by Officer Kirchen and now Sgt. Klukow, started in 2009. Since that time it has expanded into a citywide program reaching youth in every Minneapolis neighborhood. Ofc. Kirchen and Sgt. Klukow were generous of their time, shared their lessons learned, and made introductions to key partners.
We enjoy community partnerships with both Children’s Hospitals and Gillette Children’s Hospital. Their Injury Prevention Units supply us with helmets for giveaways. Dairy Queen provides us with ice cream cone certificates. Our department’s Community Engagement Unit, and their donation sources, provide us with water bottles, stickers, and funding for some bike giveaways.
The Community’s Response Makes it all Worthwhile
Whether the day was spent patrolling on bikes or attending one of Saint Paul’s many summer events, the highlight of each day was the kids. We gave away more than 500 bike helmets, protecting at least 500 precious brains. We played countless rounds of pick-up basketball (in bike shoes). We hosted 16 bike rodeos and a dozen neighborhood rides. We helped a surprising number of kids ride a bike for the very first time. We replaced stolen and damaged bikes. We affirmed our belief that a bike has the power to overcome barriers and start a conversation. Conversations turn to friendships and trust, and we were privileged to see it happen time and time again.
Jason has been a police officer since 1995, first in Albuquerque and then in Saint Paul. He has been a bike officer since 2002 and an IPMBA Instructor since 2007. He assisted in the development and instruction of the 120-member Bicycle Response Team for the 2008 RNC. In 2017, he founded the Saint Paul Bike Cops for Kids, a full-time bike unit focused on engaging the community through its youth, modeled after the Minneapolis Bike Cops for Kids program. He can be reached at jbain7004@msn.com.
(c) 2017 IPMBA. This article appeared in the Fall 2017 issue of IPMBA News.