Public Safety goes green by patrolling on bikes

Due to the rise in gas prices and a move towards a more environmentally healthy campus, Public Safety’s “Bike Patrol” has become increasingly popular among the officers.

Major Joe Grant, Sergeant Nick Reonas and Officer Jeff Miller have each found that using the bike in their efforts to deter crime has many benefits.

The most obvious is that Public Safety is having issues with its budget because of the demanding gas prices. Grant said that the agency spends around $50 a day driving around their Ford Crown Victorias, which is one reason the officers have been more inclined to use their bikes.

The use of the bikes also helps to contribute towards a greener campus considering they produce no pollution and use no gas. Reonas said that the bikes benefit their efforts to prevent crime.
Since the bikes are smaller and more quiet than cars, the officers on bike control can ride anywhere and easily respond to an issue if necessary. The bikes allow the officers to be on campus and between the buildings in spaces that don’t favor a car’s presence. Also, since the bikes do not make noise, an officer can easily reach someone without them knowing.

Miller said that he has been in situations where he appreciated being on a bike rather than in a car.

“On two separate occasions using the bike has helped us to break up fights,” he said.

Another side of the bike patrol is that it makes the officers seem more approachable.

“We’ve had students come up to us while on the bikes, just to talk,” said Reonas.

The officers value the student interaction they get when they are riding around campus because this is something they cannot achieve while in their cars.

The less convenient aspects of the bike patrol include weather and mobility. The warm, humid days make riding the bikes less comfortable than being in the air-conditioned cars. Also, it can often take longer for an officer to get somewhere on a bike rather than in a car.

The bike patrol has been around for a while, but according to Reonas the use of it has been on and off. Reonas said that when he started working with Public Safety two years ago, no one was on bike patrol. Since then, three officers have become regulars on the bikes.

The bike patrol became purposely more visible around campus in the spring in order to let others know about Public Safety’s effort to be more environmentally responsible.

Reonas said that he and the other officers on bike patrol prefer using their own mountain bikes rather than the bicycles provided by the agency. The use of the bikes not only comes with many benefits, but sets the agency of Public Safety apart from the rest in Baldwin County.

“No other agency in Baldwin does any patrol on bike, foot, or golf cart; it puts us out there is the spotlight.” Grant said. “We are in a unique situation with the way we do our law enforcement.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Sep 26 2008. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry