Edmonton Police fighting crime with fat bikes
By Madeleine Cummings, Edmonton Examiner, Wednesday, February 17, 2016
You’ll often find fat bike riders flying down river valley trails for fun.
But in recent years they’ve become a useful tool for Edmonton police in Old Strathcona, allowing officers to patrol snowy streets more effectively during the winter months.
In 2014, Mike Zacharuk, an avid bike commuter and constable with the Strathcona Foot Patrol, applied for funding to purchase two fat bikes. They proved useful, leading the division to purchase another two in early 2015. Now more divisions — in Edmonton and around Alberta — are looking into the idea, joining other winter cities (such as Minneapolis) in the United States that already employ them.
Edmonton police officers have been patrolling city streets by bicycle for more than 15 years, but not all-year-round. Mountain bike tires tend to slip and slide on ice, but fat bike tires are much wider and have better grip.
“When you’re on ice, or snowy patches, you can go at slower speeds and get to areas where you certainly couldn’t with a regular mountain bike, or as quickly on foot,” Zacharuk said.
The bikes are very maneuverable, allowing officers to cut between buildings and peruse alleyways they couldn’t access with a patrol car. They make it easy for officers to bypass traffic congestion on busy Whyte Ave. Their silence is another advantage. Officers often find themselves riding right into drug deals or car break-ins happening in spots people don’t expect police to visit.
During a heavy snowstorm in extremely cold weather, Strathcona officers on fat bikes came across a Tim Hortons at 112 Street And 84 Avenue, where they stumbled upon a personal robbery.
“We pretty much rode right into it,” Zacharuk said.
“Nobody was expecting to see the police there.”
Officers who ride the bikes have all completed police mountain bike training. Zacharuk said the transition from mountain to fat bike riding is relatively simple because fat bikes are large and stable and don’t travel as fast.
In order to stay warm on the bikes, officers wear neoprene mitts that attach to their handlebars. They also wear thinner gloves underneath so that they can still access notebooks and other items easily. In addition, they wear ski helmets instead of regular bike helmets, heavier clothing, fleece and long underwear.
“For avid bikers, the fat bikes are definitely a nice addition to our unit,” Zacharuk said.