Shifting gears: Fayetteville Police resumes bike patrol
By Laurie Caruso, Elk Valley Times, August 23, 2023
Photo: Fayetteville Police Sgt. Aaron Vick demonstrates a hook-slide maneuver that officers are taught during rigorous mountain bike training they must go through before becoming POST certified. While Sgt. Scotty Vaughn trained the bike patrol for years, Sgt. Vick is now the instructor for the bike patrol. Laurie Caruso photo
Fayetteville (TN) Police Department has resumed its bike patrol, a specially trained group of patrolmen who are Peace Officer Standards & Training (POST) certified. They maneuver on bicycles around the crowds, primarily during special downtown events. Some of those events include the Slawburger Festival, Cruz-in, the Host of Christmas Past, First Saturdays and the fireworks show. Should a problem arise during an event, the officers are there to handle it.
Officers on bike patrol create better community relations.
“We started it for the purpose of community policing, so we can talk to people on the square and at businesses,” said Sgt. Scotty Vaughn, certified instructor and School Resource Officer (SRO) at Fayetteville High School. It has also been a valuable tool to connect with students on a positive level during the school year. “It’s more personal,” he said. “People respond very well,” Sgt. Vaughn said. He noted that people from out-of-town are shocked that a town as small as Fayetteville has a bike unit.
Vaughn has trained six bike patrols and has helped other departments start their programs. Each officer has to complete 40 hours of POST training. “I make a lesson plan and they (POST) approve it,” he said. Sgt. Vaughn, Sgt. Mark Browning (retired) and Sgt. Billy Brazier were on the original bike patrol that began in 2000. Vaughn said younger officers have been trained for the patrol, with Sgt. Aaron Vick as the new certified training officer. Sgt. Vick has been in law enforcement for 21-years, beginning his career at the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department. He then became a Tennessee State Trooper and later, in 2017 joined the Fayetteville Police Department. For a time, he was an SRO at Ralph Askins School. He said he loved working with kids and loves interacting with people in general.
Vaughn said he was told that initially Chief Doug Carver instituted the program through a Housing Authority grant the department received. Due to decreases in staff and various other reasons over the years, the use of bikes declined. Four Fuji bicycles were purchased back then and are still in use today. Sgt. Vick said they have put in a request for new bikes. While there aren’t a lot of recurring maintenance costs, tires need replacing from time to time, along with lights and battery packs.
Vaughn said throughout the program they’ve been able to “teach a lot of rules of the road.” He explained that bikers have to follow the rules of the road and they also have rights on the road. Drivers of vehicles should treat a bicycle as though it’s another vehicle on the road.
When the streets are crowded with vehicles during special events, bicycles can more easily maneuver through the streets and officers are much more observant of their surroundings. “We can get places faster,” said Vaughn. In addition to riding in crowds, officers have been taught to ride through grass, gravel, creeks or around other obstacles. Each officer is prepared to give first aid and carries a first-aid pack in their saddlebag. The officers on Bike Patrol are officers who normally work a regular 12-hour shift in a patrol car. When there are adequate officers on shift the bike patrol can use some time to ride around town.
“The guys do double duty,” said Vaughn. When on bike patrol during the warmer months they wear a yellow shirt and black shorts. In colder weather, Vick said he hopes they will have blue polo shirts with a reflective strip across the shirt and black pants.
Currently eight officers are certified for the bike patrol, with four of those active, including Sgt. Vick, Patrolman Preston Cantrell, Patrolman Bailey Cowan and Patrolman Derron Dickinson.
“Our guys enjoy it,” said Vaughn.