Saranac Lake PD adds e-bikes to fleet

Dept. aims for more community-based policing

By Alana Penny, The Sun Community News, August 14, 2023

The department purchased two e-bikes for local patrolling.

SARANAC LAKE NY | The Saranac Lake Police Department recently replaced their regular bicycles with two electric bicycles to transport officers around in a more community-centered but still swift manner.

Saranac Lake Chief of Police Darin Perrotte said he likes the idea of bike patrol and sees it as a community service.

“How many times do you see a police car drive by people and the officer looks grumpy, or they're not paying attention or there's a young kid waving to the police officer and they just don't see him?” Perrotte said. “When you're out on a bike, you're more on that personal level.”

Generally, each shift at the police department has two or three officers at a time. With the e-bikes, two can use them and the third can use a car.

“When you talk about bike patrol, people always joke like, ‘Well what happens if you have to arrest someone? Are you gonna put them on the bicycle?’" Perrotte said. "So it still allows an officer to have a patrol vehicle out there as well.”

Although they don't have any passenger space, the e-bikes do allow officers to provide backup fairly quickly. They can go up to about 25 miles per hour. Which Perrotte said comes in handy with all the hills in Saranac Lake.

The department purchased the bikes with grant funding from the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG), a federal law enforcement grant they received. The bikes are one of several initiatives the department is using the grant funding for to “provide police services in an enhanced way.”

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