By Mike Simmons
While it is well-known that police officers have traditionally walked a beat, driven motorcycles, cars and three wheelers, lesser-used vehicles are boats, scooters, ATVs, snowmobiles and…bicycles.
Bicycles have been used by police officers since the 19th century. Police in England began using bicycles in 1818. The first department in the United States reported to use bicycles was in Illinois in 1869 when a sheriff and his deputies used them. It was said that they were given “boneshakers,” crude, dilapidated, and uncomfortable bicycles without rubber tires. Over the next 20 years, British police were using tricycles, Boston police were driving penny-farthings (bicycles with large front wheels), and Newark New Jersey police had its own bicycle squad. In 1894, the Boston Park Commission’s traffic police had a squad, and two years later, they were used regularly in Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Cincinnati, and Chicago.
In 1895, President Theodore Roosevelt, then Police Commissioner of New York City, established a 29-member bike squad, known as the “Scorcher Squad.” They were created to catch speeding horse-drawn carriages. In its first year, they made 1366 arrests.
In the 1990s, the Pensacola Police Department began using bicycles to patrol downtown, parks, the Pensacola Regional Airport, and the area around Cordova Mall. They underwent extensive training conducted by IPMBA – The International Police Mountain Bike Association Then, in 2005, the Neighborhood Policing Division established a bicycle squad. Officers worked in various areas across town. They proved very effective in use in housing projects, downtown, and in neighborhoods. They were effective in apprehending those with warrants, drug deals, etc.
There is a very friendly, unassuming manner in bicycle policing. For instance, if neighbors look outside and see two police cars entering the neighborhood, they immediately suspect a problem. But, if two bicycle police officers ride up, nobody suspects anything.
Bicycles are very effective in getting through crowds, working the beach, parades, and heavy traffic. A good officer can ride through places that police cars cannot, can catch fleeing criminals, can ride down stairs, and can actually ride UPSTAIRS!
The price of police bicycles range from around $200 for a normal mountain bike, to $5000 for an expensive electric bicycle.
In case you were wondering, police bicycles are here to stay, and for good reason!
Mike