Officers learn bike patrol at UMaine

ORONO – Nine police officers on bikes practiced drills such as climbing up and down stairs, charging after a mock criminal, and skid stopping on Tuesday at a training course for bicycle patrol officers at the University of Maine.

The officers came from departments in Houlton, Veazie, Bangor, Rockport, and Milton, Vt., to the five-day course offered by the University of Maine Department of Public Safety. Upon successful completion, the officers will be certified by the Law Enforcement Bicycle Association as police cyclists.

Travis Ford, a trainee from the Rockport Police Department, said bike patrol is “a real advantage in the harbor area, parks, and in patrolling the village because walking is too slow at times” and there are places the cruiser can’t get to.

Jeff King, one of the course instructors and a bike patrol sergeant at the University of Maine, and David Fiacco, also an instructor, explained that towns with a moderate-sized downtown area are well-suited to bike patrol. Officers on bikes can get to some calls more quickly, the officer is more approachable to the community, the department saves on gas and patrol car costs, and the officer can become stronger and healthier.

The course covers bicycle handling skills, night operations, bicycle maintenance, emergency maneuvers, nutrition, group riding, traffic protocol, self-defense and firearms training.

An officer is “less conspicuous, less noisy on a bike. It’s a great tool in alleys and back streets,” said Dennis Townsend a trainee from the Bangor Police Department. “It’s a great tool with downtown kids. You seem more approachable, less intimidating.”

The Bangor Police Department uses a full bike patrol crew for the National Folk Festival and the Fourth of July because of the ease of maneuvering through crowds, he added.

Houlton is just starting a program. Troy Fitzpatrick will be the city’s first patrol officer and has been doing some less formal community policing for the last two months, until he is certified. “I’m into fitness,” he said. “It’s a perfect way to exercise and do your job. You get to connect with the public, stop to talk to little kids.”

The oldest trainee in the group was Bob Hutchings of the Bangor Police Department. He is 47 and an avid runner. He has been a police officer with many different roles for 23 years and is enthusiastic about the newest role he is adopting. “I have eight years to go and I want to retire on a bike,” he said.

Course instructor Bill Mitchell originally proposed the bike patrol program at the university in 1990. The university and the city of Lewiston became the first programs in the state that year.