Houghton Police begin bike patrol

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By Jesse Wiederhold, WLUC, July 12, 2021

Photo: Patrolling the south side of the Portage Canal.

HOUGHTON, Mich. (WLUC) - Warm weather is here for the summer in the Copper Country.

This brings a surge of foot and bike traffic to Houghton’s downtown.

To keep up with that, Houghton Police bicycle patrols are now zipping up and down the south side of the Portage Canal.

“We try to stay in the city limits, anywhere from the campground on the east end by Kessner,” said Houghton Police Patrolman Nathan Kinnunen. “All the way to the Nara Nature Trails west of downtown, there’s a bike path and a walking path.”

Officer Kinnunen went on his first official bike ride in uniform Monday.

Residents may think there’s no need for bike patrols, but Kinnunen says it’s more helpful than some think.

“We talk to a lot of tourists, they have a lot of questions. So, most people are flagging me down,” said Kinnunen. “You think of the police, out in your car you’re conducting traffic stops. Well on [the] bike it’s the opposite. People are coming up to me more than I’m going up to them.”

It makes for good police presence, and many will find an officer less intimidating on a bike than in a squad car.

This creates an opportunity for the public to converse and get to know their police, and vice-versa.

“Small town policing, community policing, is important,” said Kinnunen. “It makes our job so much easier, just getting to know the people that you’re serving, it humanizes us. It lets us get to know the citizens that we’re serving as well.”

So now, next time you see your local police on bikes – say hello!

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