‘Sometimes you get hugs’: Swansea Police Department starts new bike patrol
BY MIKE KOZIATEK, Belleville (IL) News Democrat, December 5, 2015
When Sgt. Matt Blomberg cruises trails, parks and neighborhoods as part of the Swansea Police Department’s new bike patrol, he’s amazed at the positive reaction he gets from townsfolk.
“I love the fact that it allows us to get out and deal with the public in a totally different light,” said Blomberg, who has been with the department about 18 years. “We’re much more approachable on a bike than we are in a car.
“It’s a very good interaction versus normally when we show up it’s probably not something good and people aren’t happy to see us or somebody’s upset.”
Blomberg is one of the eight Swansea officers who volunteered for the bike patrol that recently began to supplement traditional foot and car patrols. The officers use two mountain bikes provided by a donor who wants to remain anonymous.
Police Chief Steve Johnson echoed Blomberg’s comments about the patrol.
“We wanted to show the citizens of Swansea a different side of professional law enforcement,” Johnson said. “We wanted them to be able to interact with their law enforcement officers when it’s not always just a time of crisis.
“Now when they call and they need us to be there, we’re going to be there but we also want them to see us when they’re outside raking leaves or walking with their dogs or running on the Metro track so they see us in a different capacity.”
Johnson said an officer usually will ride on the bike patrol alone. Each shift commander makes the decision on whether there is enough manpower to allow an officer to go on a bike patrol.
The bike patrols are used on day and night shifts but not during bad weather.
The officers load the bicycle on a rack on their squad car, drive to a section of the town of more than 13,000 people and then unload the bike. Johnson said the officers are instructed to keep their squad car nearby in case they need to help with service calls.
When the bike patrol officers meet children, they give them junior police officer stickers. For the parents, the officers hand out pens and magnets.
“Sometimes you get a hug, ‘Thank you officer,’ that kind of thing. It’s pretty cool,” said Johnson, who has taken some bike patrol shifts.
Johnson said other donors included the Bike Surgeon of Shiloh, which provided training for the officers, helmets and gloves; Classic Towing of Swansea painted the bikes; Bicycle World in Belleville donated tune-ups for the bikes; and Signarama in Swansea donated stenciling on the helmets and equipment.
Other patrols
Edwardsville Police Chief Jay Keeven said three of his officers reactivated the city’s bike patrol in May after Madison County Transit donated two iFORCE mountain-bike style bicycles to the department. For the third bike, the officers are using one the department already owned.
The officers patrol neighborhoods and the MCT trail system.
“Biking is a big thing in our community,” Keeven said. He noted the bikes are a “great tool” to get officers out of their cars and talk to residents.
Jerry Kane, managing director of Madison County Transit, said his agency also has donated two iFORCE bikes to the Maryville and Alton police departments. Two will soon be delivered to the Granite City Police Department.
Kane said the departments are asked to occasionally patrol the MCT trails in their jurisdiction.
The bike patrols are “good fit” for the agency, which oversees 128 miles of bike trails, Kane said.
Kane also said the public outreach efforts are particularly valuable for police officers today because they have been “vilified” in recent months during protests across the country.