100,000 Miles or Bust!

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by Officer Tom Shuler, Badge #525
Boise (ID) Police Department

I am one of the lucky ones. I have been a police officer for 23 years. The last nineteen of those have been on our department’s year-round bike patrol unit. My first day was 9/9/1999. I rode 12 miles and worked a Boise State football game. On my second day, September 10, I rode 33 miles. I’m not sure why I started doing it, but I have logged every day I have been on the bike since that first day. There have been lots of zeros: training, too much snow, too cold (usually 4 degrees Fahrenheit), deployments, etc. The most miles in a day was 80 on September 9, 2012, when I worked an Ironman competition. As of today, December 5, on which I logged 39 miles, I have totaled 96,404 bike patrol miles.

Boise is a unique city; it is perfect for bike patrol operations. We have roughly 26 miles of greenbelt on both sides of the Boise River, which bisects the city. There are six large parks branching off from the greenbelt. There are numerous biking and hiking trails which originate within the city limits and climb the foothills to our north.

These all create an environment which cannot be policed by motor vehicles; this task falls on our eight- member bike patrol unit. It also means if you work in Boise, you’re going to do a lot of pedaling.

Smart people who came before me set this unit up for success in several ways. We lease our bikes for two years with a full maintenance package. Each officer is assigned their own bike. We take care of the ABC’s, but each bike gets a quick check-up once a month. This keeps us on newer, well-maintained bikes, and we don’t spend excessive officer hours on maintenance. Plus after two years, we get a new bike without having to fight the city of the matter. We currently ride Surly Karate Monkeys and really love them.

We work out of our own sub-stations. This is important because you cannot spend ten hours in the saddle without eating and taking a break or two. The sub-stations are located in or very near our greenbelt so we are not pedaling miles on city streets to get to and from where we patrol. They also have showers and a washer and dryer in case you get soaked, frozen or worse.

Making us a year-round unit created continuity and established a constant presence in our parks, downtown and along the river. This inspires confidence in our many users and gives them a sense of ownership. We don’t have any areas where, if asked, I would tell people not to go. Not too many cops can say that.

We in Idaho are unique in that we have the “Idaho Stop” Law. A cyclist can proceed through a red light after stopping if the intersection is clear. A stop sign is treated like a yield sign, as is a red light for a right turn. This works for us and bike commuters love it. I can’t remember ever hearing of a bike versus vehicle accident which was a result of the cyclist stopping, proceeding through a red and being struck.

My goal now is to reach 100,000 miles before I retire. That should happen in about six months or so. I’m not sure if I want to work six more months, but I keep telling myself, “I am one of the lucky ones”.

Officer Tom Shuler was born and raised in Boise, Idaho. After graduating from West Point in 1988, he served as an Infantry officer. He later returned to Idaho as a navigator in the Idaho Air Guard flying F-4G and C-130 aircraft and served as an Air Liaison Officer supporting the Army in Afghanistan and Iraq. He joined the Boise Police Department in 1995 and has been a bike patrol officer since 1999. He can be reached at TShuler@cityofboise.org, at least for the next six months or so.

Photos Courtesy Tom Shuler.

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