What ever happened to Somerset Borough's Bicycle Police Unit?

The police bike patrol is still very much alive and just as viable as it was when first started in 1998, according to Mayor William Meyer. Why the bike patrol is not as a familiar sight in the borough as it once was simply comes down to numbers and not enough officers trained in bicycle patrol.

Since the unit originated, the number of officers trained in this area has been cut in half, and of those still remaining, all are swamped with other duties, Meyer explained.
Police officials want to change that. The department plans to send three officers to a weeklong training course in Somerset July 5-9. This will bring the number of officers available to work from the seat of a bike back up to six -- same as when the bike patrol was first formed.

Borough council adopted a resolution backing the police department's thrust to add more certified bike patrol officers. Basically, the grant by the Municipal Police Officers' Education and Training Commission, which also provides the instruction, pays for the expenses involved in conducting the course. At least 12 officers from any law enforcement department need to attend for the course to be taught.

At the end of training, officers will be able to do such things as maneuver the bicycles over rough terrain including going up and down flights of stairs. They will learn how to use the bike as a weapon, how to chase a vehicle and weave in and out of traffic. Officers will be certified through the International Police Mountain Bike Association.

Currently, the bikes are still used for community events that attract large numbers of people. Pat McGuire, one of the original first group of officers trained in bike patrol, will patrol the Memorial Parade on Monday. The criminal investigator will be doing double duty, representing the police in the parade and patrolling the area the parade marches through. In mid-July, two bike police will patrol Somerfest.

The bikes allow officers access to areas not normally patrolled by cruisers, and the bikes are quieter than cruisers and faster than foot patrols." We have a lot more mobility," McGuire said. "I made it from Oasis (Oasis Sports Fitness & Personal Care Center on Aberdeen Drive) to 800 East Main Street in three minutes. Because there was bumper to bumper traffic and I was able to get on the sidewalk and in between cars I got there a couple of minutes before the cruisers," he added.

In addition to speed and maneuverability, officers are more accessible to the public, part of the department's goal toward community-oriented policing, indicated officer-in-charge Jim Hahn. " People sit on their porches and see you ride by and they want you to stop and talk about what is going on in their neighborhood," McGuire said. "It is a good way to keep in touch with the neighborhoods."

Officer training is the last step in getting officers pedaling again. " All we need is the officers," Meyer said. "We just had our four bikes reconditioned and now they are ready to go."

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