YPD On Bikes Is A Win-Win For All
Opinion, Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan, August 1, 2023
The Yankton Police Department (YPD) has rolled out a new tactic to better serve the public.
The department has acquired three electric, or pedal assist, bicycles to help officers patrol the streets and, more importantly, to utilize on the ever-expanding trail system within the community.
One big advantage of the bikes is that they give YPD officers more opportunities to personally interact with the community.
“Just making contact with the public is a lot easier because you’re more approachable out on a bike than you are in a patrol car,” Chief of Police Jason Foote told the Press & Dakotan. “They can go to areas where there’s kids to make contact and hand out stickers (for ice cream, which are given to children wearing helmets.)”
Foote also noted that it allows the officers to have more direct contact with the public.
This would be similar to the old days when police officers walked a beat and met people on the street. Of course, the “beat” for local police officers has changed considerably over time. Generally, the police cover the community with patrol vehicles, and you rarely see them walking the streets downtown, for instance. However, you do see officers mingling with crowds during special events, like Riverboat Days or Ribfest — which represent the modern “beat,” as it were.
However, the bikes allow more consistent personal interaction, and instead of police simply working at events, they can now also go to either larger activities or smaller gatherings and meet the people more directly. This will be a public relations plus for the department.
But the new bicycles serve as more than PR tools.
As Foote noted, the bikes will allow the YPD to patrol in places that currently cannot be reached with conventional vehicles.
This includes, most notably, Auld-Brokaw Trail, which has become a vital and, perhaps, underrated piece of travel infrastructure in Yankton. This pedestrian/biking trail — which has now been refurbished after the 2019 bomb cyclone flooding — is an artery that snakes its way through the heart of town, stretching from Paddle Wheel Point at the river to (via connecting paths) 31st Street. A lot can happen on this winding stretch. And yet, law enforcement has had no adequate way to patrol it until now.
According to Tuesday’s P&D story, the YPD hopes to create a presence on the trail as part of an effort to curb vandalism and other infractions.
The addition of the two-wheel patrols will enhance YPD’s enforcement capabilities, while also allowing it to deal more directly with the public. It’s a win-win for all involved.
“You get a lot of comments,” Foote said of the bicycle patrols. “We have a lot of people that just enjoy seeing us out on a bike. It’s good to see that the public’s noticing.”