Pittsburg Police Have “Newly-Energized” Bicycle Patrol Unit

By Stacie Strader, Fox 14, June 25, 2018

Six officers are appointed to serve on a police bicycle patrol unit in Pittsburg, Kansas.

"We were able to update our fleet with six new bikes and provide officers with necessary training and equipment," says Interim Chief of Police Brent Narges. "These police officers will be specially trained and certified by the International Police Mountain Bike Association, and must maintain a fitness level to successfully complete quarterly assessments to join and remain on the team."

Officials say the unit will help provide proactive, community-based policing efforts. Narges says bicycle patrol units help to remove the physical and social barriers officers can face while driving patrol cars.

"One of the benefits of a bike patrol is community engagement," Narges says. "Citizens are much more likely to interact with police officers on bikes than officers driving patrol vehicles."

The officers already patrol parks on special assignments within the city, including patrolling parades, festivals and other events where officials say community interaction is important.

Now, the department also plans to send the bicycle patrol unit out periodically to help in property crime detection and to patrol crime in case-specific regions of the city.

Narges says this new unit will also add a layer of security and offer tactical advantages to officers, which are not otherwise possible with patrol cars.

"Bicycle patrol officers are able to respond to the needs of the public while employing a more stealthy approach than their vehicular counterparts," says Narges. "These bikes can maneuver through terrain inaccessible to the regular patrol fleet. These tactics are vital in detecting and apprehending crimes in progress."

Funding for the new patrol unit came from the City's public safety sales tax which was passed by Pittsburg voters in 2014.

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