Community Engagement through Bike Patrol

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by Alan Beadle, PCI #484/EMSCI #076
Sylvania (OH) Police Department
IPMBA Membership Coordinator

For the past couple of years, law enforcement officers have been in the crosshairs of community criticism. Incidents such as the ones involving George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky, have damaged many of the partnerships that communities and police have worked so hard to create. When a video of an incident involving police is shown on the national news, I am often asked by members of my community how come this continues to happen in a country like the United States.

These incidents represent only a small percentage of the interactions that law enforcement officers have with the public on a daily basis, but they continue to receive the most attention. Most interactions with the community are positive; these help to reinforce the public’s confidence in the police.

In the late 1980’s, there was a resurgence of community policing, and one of the leading aspects was the return to patrolling on bikes. The idea was to get officers out of motor vehicles and out interacting with the community. With this came the need for proper training and procedures. In response, IPMBA was created by a group of officers from all across the United States. These officers brought together procedures and techniques that had been proven to be successful in their own jurisdictions and combined the “best of the best”.

Since then, IPMBA has been the leader in producing training and resources for public safety cyclists. One of the core concepts is safe public interaction. Because they are so approachable, many IPMBA-certified cyclists have put their training into action by creating programs to strengthen the trust between the community and the police. The number of bike-centric community outreach programs across the country are too numerous to highlight in this article, so I’ve selected a few that have been particularly successful. Many of these programs have inspired other departments to start similar programs.

Bike Cops for Kids – Minneapolis, Minnesota. As school resource officers, Mike Kirchen and Mark Klulow were trying to find ways to keep in touch with kids from their schools who were at risk of finding trouble during the summer months. These bike officers would ride around Minneapolis, passing out free bike helmets. Companies in Minneapolis started seeing the success of this program and wanted to help by making donations. The program grew to include a fully-equipped ice cream truck, football giveaways, and free tickets to Minnesota Twins games, something out of financial reach of many of Minneapolis’ youth. Since 2009, this program has had thousands of positive interactions with the youth of Minneapolis. The success of this program inspired a similar program across the river in Saint Paul. Unfortunately, the George Floyd incident, the resulting protests, and the pandemic have caused the programs to be put on hold, but it is hoped that someday they will be revived. Visit http://bikecopsforkids.com/ or the Bike Cops for Kids Facebook page for details.

Wheels of Hope – Anne Arundel County, Maryland. Wheels of Hope is a collaboration among the Bicycle Advocates for Annapolis and Anne Arundel County (BikeAAA), the Anne Arundel County Police Department (AACPD) Bike Patrol Unit, the Anne Arundel County Food and Resource Bank, and Bike Doctor of Crofton. Their mission is to provide community members with healthy transportation and recreation, protect the environment by reducing waste, and help those in need. To this end, they have supported adults entering sober living housing and reentering society from prison, at-risk adolescents, high school athletes with transportation barriers to attending practices, and members of low-income communities, including those with English as a second language. They provide helmets, locks, lights, and education with each bicycle. In 2021, Wheels of Hope was awarded one of ten Park Tool Community Grants and was the sole recipient of the Park Tool President’s Choice Award. Visit https://bikeaaa.org/wheels-of-hope-refurbished-bikes/ for details.

Bike with a Cop – Multiple Locations. “Bike with a Cop” is similar to the “Coffee with a Cop” program in that its goal is to create opportunities for interactions outside of crisis situations. Instead of meeting for coffee, they meet for a ride. While “Bike with a Cop” events usually involve a degree of bicycle safety education, their primary purpose is to encourage informal conversations. Rides are open to children and adults and take place on multi-use trails and/or on low-traffic streets. They typically include a brief safety briefing about the rules of the road/trail, riding tips, bike and helmet fit, and an ABC Quick Check of all riders’ bicycles. The ride itself is slow-paced and over a short distance to accommodate different ages and skill levels as well as create an atmosphere conducive to conversations. Kids and adults get to ride with the police officers and build lasting relationships.

These are just a few examples. Hundreds of departments across the country host events in which bike officers interact with the community. These include bicycle safety programs, bicycle giveaways, earn-a-bike programs, and bicycle theft prevention initiatives. The next edition of the Complete Guide to Public Safety Cycling, due out in early 2022, will have an entire chapter devoted to community engagement.

To learn more about community outreach programs and other programs, visit http://www.ipmba.org and be sure to buy the book when it comes out!

Keep Riding and Stay Safe during these challenging times!

Alan has been an officer with Sylvania Police Department since 1996. He got his start as a bike officer in 1993 as a park ranger with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. He attended the IPMBA Police Cyclist Course in 1997 and the IPMBA Instructor Course in 2001. Alan became a firearms instructor so he could integrate firearms training into his IPMBA Course and has developed an OPOTA-certified bike patrol firearms course. In 2008, he became a certified SIMUNITION® Instructor and has since developed bike patrol SIMUNITION® scenarios for use in his Police Cyclist Courses and bike patrol in-service training. Alan was elected to the IPMBA Board in 2020 and is currently serving as Membership Coordinator. He can be reached at southviewsro@gmail.com.

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