Police bicycle patrols begin in Nelson
14:43, Jan 31 2009, NZ Stuff
Nelson police are donning their bike shorts to kick off what is thought to be the country's first bicycle bobby patrols.
Four specially designed bicycles, in police livery with lights and sirens mounted on the handlebars, will hit Nelson's streets today.
The riders will have special uniforms, the shorts arrived yesterday, and helmets are also decked out in police livery.
Senior Sergeant Tony Bernards of Nelson police said the idea arose in response to the high rate of cycle crashes in the Nelson area.
"It's all about road safety. There are too many crashes involving cyclists," he said.
After falling out of favour for many years, police bicycle patrols are now common in urban areas overseas, where among other advantages, they make officers more approachable to the public.
If I had my way, I would probably have guys on rollerblades going if that got us closer to the public," Mr Bernards said.
The idea of a bike patrol was popular, and when he put it forward 17 officers volunteered to get on their bikes.
Funding for the bikes came from government agencies.
The special lights and sirens can be ordered from the United States for about $US300 ($NZ520), but police had rigged their own up for about a 20th of the cost.
The siren was more like an air horn than those found in police cars, and would definitely grab people's attention, Mr Bernards said.
Seven officers have been through the required training and two are expected to be out on their bikes in the Nelson area at any given time.
Mr Bernards said police involved with school groups on bicycles had already nabbed two offenders - in one case a policeman had been able to come up on a drug dealer without him hearing, and a shoplifter had been chased.
He hoped the idea would eventually spread around the country.
A spokesman for police national headquarters said it appeared the bikes unit was the only one of its type in the country. It was a Tasman district initiative and other districts were free to adopt it if they felt it was appropriate.