St. Anthony Police Department to start bike patrol
By Lisa Dayley Smith, Standard Journal, March 9, 2017
ST. ANTHONY, IDAHO — The St. Anthony Police Department will soon have its own bike patrol.
That's all thanks to former TV police officer turned St. Anthony Reserve Police Officer Erik Estrada, who recently donated four bikes to the police department.
City Police Chief Terry Harris announced the acquisition of the bikes during a recent city council meeting.
“The bikes allow you to get in and around areas that are not accessible to standard size vehicles. They become very effective in their own way,” he said.
Harris said that while working for the Preston Police Department, he occasionally relied on bikes to chase down bad guys.
“It's very effective in a lot of different crimes. Getting somebody (an officer) out there on a bicycle will be a good thing. I haven't heard anybody say anything negative about it,” he said.
Harris said that the bikes will come in handy just about anywhere in St. Anthony.
“A bicycle can get anywhere in town in a couple of minutes. It gives us the capability to patrol the Greenway,” he said.
St. Anthony Police Officer Allen Neff agreed that the bikes will definitely help keep residents safe. He noted they would be especially effective during the annual Summerfest and Pioneer Day Parade.
“Navigating around the crowds, we'll be a little more mobile. It's a great advantage,” he said. “It allows us to be a little more responsive.”
The bikes are part of Estrada's ongoing plans to help fund and support the police department. His foundation has also donated two television sets and uniform equipment and paid to remodel the police department's training room.
“All told, he's supplied $10,000 to $14,000 worth of equipment,” Harris said.
Estrada signed on with the St. Anthony Police in July 2016. His foundation is also working with the police department to fight internet crimes against children.
The city council thought that the bikes would definitely help and would help officers stay in shape while providing greater patrolling inside the city.