Farther, Faster: Arlington Heights Police Partner With Samcycle Electric Bikes

By Emma Dempsey, Journal & Topics,  June 09, 2021

Photo:  Sgt. Mandel rides through a training course on the e-bike at Sunset Meadows Park in Arlington Heights. - Emma Dempsey

Owners of Samcycle Electric Bikes, located at 144 W. Northwest Hwy. in Palatine, donated an electric bike (e-bike) to the Arlington Heights Police Department. The business owners, Matt and Tom Sammons, met with the Arlington Heights police chief and deputy chief, as well as several members of the department’s bike unit, Friday morning (June 4) at Sunset Meadows, 700 S. Dwyer Ave., to celebrate the partnership and the donation.

E-bikes are bicycles equipped with electric motors that assist with propulsion. Matt Sammons said the two e-bikes in the Arlington Heights fleet are a Canadian model called Surface 604 Shred. With pedal assist, the bikes can reach speeds of more than 20 mph.

The two bikes have different sized frames, allowing for shorter or taller riders. The police e-bikes have been customized to say “Arlington Heights Police” and will be outfitted with lights and sirens.

Officers spent the rest of the morning and the afternoon training on the bikes and filming a promotional video for the department.

After their first experiences with e-bikes, the Sammons brothers decided to open their own shop in Palatine in the fall of 2018. Samcycle offers repair services for all bikes, but rents and sells exclusively e-bikes.

Wanting to partner with local police, Matt Sammons first reached out to the Palatine Police Dept. At the time, the department was going through a change in command, according to Matt Sammons, and wasn’t interested in the e-bikes.

Matt Sammons said he had trouble convincing the Palatine Police Dept. to partner with his business because the leader of the bike unit wasn’t a rider.

Sammons decided to reach out to the Arlington Heights Police Dept., but once COVID hit, the partnership sort of fell through, according to Traffic Enforcement Unit Sergeant Russel Mandel.

As Illinois began to reopen, Mandel said he reached back out to Sammons to get the collaboration started.

Matt Sammons said he was excited to work with Mandel because “Russ gets it.” Mandel rides and trains on the bikes, Matt Sammons said, so he had the expertise and recognized how the bikes could benefit the department.

Mandel said the focus of the department’s bike unit is public relations.

According to Arlington Heights Police Chief Nicholas Pecora, the bike unit “promotes the community policing philosophy and removes the barrier of the squad car.”

Bike officers patrol the downtown area, but they spend most of their time at parks around the village, according to Mandel.

“It’s good to be visible in the community, and people like seeing us out on the bikes,” Mandel said. “They’ll honk and wave. People love to stop and talk.”

Alexandra Ovington, an officer with the bike unit, said the bike officers do a lot of outreach related to bike safety, including presentations to kids and helmet promotion. Ovington said some officers recently visited Westgate Elementary School for National Bike Week.

As an International Police Mountain Bike Association (IPMBA) certified instructor, Mandel has been training officers in the bike unit to use the new e-bikes. Mandel said all bike officers go through a 32-hour IPMBA certification class and an additional 8-hour curriculum for the e-bikes.

According to Mandel, a lot of the basic maneuvering and training for the e-bikes are the same as the conventional bikes, but the weight of the e-bikes is different.

Mandel said it’s also important for officers to learn how to deal with the extra power. When officers are going at speeds of 10-20 mph, hazards can come up a lot faster, Mandel said, so officers have to be trained in emergency braking.

E-bikes have a lot of advantages over conventional bikes when it comes to policing, according to Mandel, especially in terms of officer longevity.

With motor-assisted pedalling, Matt Sammons said, it’s like “your legs are bionic.” He said officers can go farther and faster with less effort.

Mandel explained that if an officer is responding to an emergency call on a bike, a conventional bike requires the officer to expend a lot more energy pedalling. By the time they arrive on the scene, the officer might not have the energy to properly assess and react to the situation.

“It’s kind of a game changer,” Mandel said. “With an e-bike, you’re not worried about exerting yourself beyond your limits.”

The bike unit has a fleet of eight bikes total: six conventional and two electric. Mandel said the department hopes to add more e-bikes in the future.

---