LPD bike patrol program proves beneficial for the community
By DEBRA TOBIN, Logan Daily News, September 6
Logan Police Patrolman Jason Gadrim is the department's official trainer for the bike program that has been proven to be beneficial to the department. Gadrim sometimes logs 20-plus miles per night while on bike patrol.
LOGAN OH — In the deep of the night while most of the community is fast asleep, Logan Police Patrolman Jason Gadrim is on the prowl for would-be thieves.
Gadrim rides away into the darkness on his mountain bike keeping watch over the community from those who think they can steal vehicles or break into garages and homes.
For the past five years, Gadrim has been seen not only in his patrol car but also on two wheels peddling throughout the community. At the present time, he is the main patrolman on bike patrol, although occasionally there are a few others who peddle their way to fight crime and protect the neighborhood.
“The program was initiated before I started here,” stated LPD Patrolman Ryan Gabriel. “Officer Gardim and some other officers started it but it kind of went to the wayside for a while because of staffing levels.
“Just in the last couple of years, staffing got better and Officer Gadrim, being the training officer, trained a couple of the newer guys and implemented it again. The pros of having a bicycle patrol is residents of Logan can easily identify a white patrol car during the day or night but having a bike at nighttime you can be more stealthier — you can hear a lot more at night,” he continued.
“It’s definitely a valuable tool for patrolling the areas that you couldn’t get to in a patrol car or you’re trying not to be seen,” Gabriel added. “It’s an easy way to get from one place to another to observe criminal activity.”
Bicycle patrol among many police departments statewide has emerged as an effective way to patrol the community. It allows the patrolman to cover more ground and at the same time provides less of a barrier than a vehicle for improving community relations.
Gadrim said while patrolling the community on his bicycle, it has allowed him easier access to get into areas that normally are not easily accessible by patrol vehicles. And, it’s also easier to sneak up on the bad guys.
“It’s the fact that on bike you can catch them doing it before there’s even a call about it,” he noted. “You catch them because they don’t hear you. It’s a different type of patrol.
“If I’m out on bike, I’m looking for people trying to get into cars, into houses, people vandalizing and stuff like that. That’s what I’m looking for — so it’s a completely different type of patrol. I like catching people in the act.”
However, you won’t see Gadrim riding in the same areas all the time. One night he may be on the east end of town, the following night he may be on the west end — you just never know where he will be seen — in one night he could be in all areas of the city. For the most part, Gadrim oftentimes logs 20 miles or more on his bicycle while on patrol.
Although he was already familiar with mountain bikes, he took a training course in order to work for the department as a bicycle patrolman. A portion of the training was held at The Ohio State University.
According to Gabriel, the training is pretty intensive and is a weeklong course at OSU. Gabriel said the training involves how to dismount the bike while taking a suspect into custody and how to use a weapon while handling the bike.
“It’s pretty intense training,” Gabriel said. “He is a certified trainer now and has certified several other officers in the department on the bikes as well. He’s the in-house trainer for the program.”
Gadrim also started a Facebook page to keep the community aware of what’s going on during the nighttime hours — Policing for Our Community. Through this page, he has kept the community abreast of suspicious activity in certain areas.
The community has embraced this page and the information displayed and has also given him a heads-up on various activities in certain areas. For example, recently Gadrim assisted the Hocking County Sheriff’s Office with the search for two male subjects in the West Logan area. He quickly posted several messages on the Facebook page for those in that particular area so they could be on the look out for them.
People are responding to the posts and have often helped in the search by lighting up the alleyways or their front and back yards so Gadrim and other patrolmen have a better chance of capturing the criminals.
“It appears to be working,” Gadrim remarked. “People see my posts and all of a sudden they will start turning on their lights to help us.”
Gabriel also noted that the program has been very useful when it comes to big events such as the Washboard Music Festival.
“Some of our guys do that because they can get through crowds quicker rather than having a cruiser going down through the middle of town with hundreds of people in the middle of the street,” Gabriel remarked.
“The best thing about the bike is you have that interaction between people — it’s a good program to have as far as big community events — it takes them out of the cruiser and puts them in with the people but still allows them to rapidly respond to incidents. It’s a good program and Patrolman Gadrim has done a great job as far as spearheading the bike program,” Gabriel concluded.