Police Cyclists

[beanzontoast]

I've been really pleased that our local force has started using bikes. Have had more contact with local bobbies and PCSO's this year than ever, and I haven't heard a single negative comment locally about their use of bikes. Next time I meet one, I'll ask about training.

 

[MERV]

Saw some Community officers on bikes in Leyton yesterday and so did the motorist in front of me as he took his phone out of his ear.

 

[marinyork]

Saw the York lot taken down the university several times whilst I was there. They'd congregate in a road down the hill (small hill) where no cars park, do maneuvers, cycle up the hill, go to the university and muck about by the lake. Didn't seem a particularly impressive course to me at all.

 

[fossyant]

We have lots in Manchester - although they were off the road for a few months last summer as one got squashed doing the riding down the inside of a truck !

Fortunately, I think the force invested in some proper training.

Seem pretty effective in urban areas and they do have permission to use footpaths and the like.

 

[Trillian]

The Birmingham ones get taken up the Lickeys -that's not a euphemism, but a range of hills just south of Brum that the Cadbury family gave to Birmingham. It's a great place to learn off-road and mixed terrain skills.

I believe that the Solihull lot also get taken out into the country somewhere.

its also an area you're not meant to bike on if i remember correctly...

 

[goo_mason]

Saw cycling police twice last summer on the Roseburn path near Craigleith, and then once on Princes Street, where they'd stopped and were arresting someone for something or other.

 

[atbman]

Saw the York lot taken down the university several times whilst I was there. They'd congregate in a road down the hill (small hill) where no cars park, do maneuvers, cycle up the hill, go to the university and muck about by the lake. Didn't seem a particularly impressive course to me at all.

And you saw the whole course? From my limited experience, some riders are expert before they start, some are pretty much beginners and need to practice the basics before going on to the harder stuff.

The Manchester tragedy arose because the management didn't realise that their bike police need as much training as police drivers. It's also horses for courses. PCSOs and PCs find that the public approach them much more readily on their bikes and those I've spoken to say that quite a few of their arrests come from their ability to approach quietly (even in full police gear) and not from their ability to ride down/up steps, jump kerbs and do the kind of stuff that some of you find second nature.

Their more public approachability can also provide them with useful info about what's going on, crime, vandalism and public nuisance-wise.

They also find helmet cams save time 'cos the villains know that they can't lie as easily and they often give up pretty quickly when chased since the scrotes also now that they can be followed round all the back doubles of the local estates.

And how would you like to bunny hop a bike that weighs in the region of 40lbs with all the kit on, including seat racks and bags?

The only trouble is those police authorities who haven't yet grasped the value of well-trained police cyclists.

 

[marinyork]

And you saw the whole course? From my limited experience, some riders are expert before they start, some are pretty much beginners and need to practice the basics before going on to the harder stuff.

The Manchester tragedy arose because the management didn't realise that their bike police need as much training as police drivers. It's also horses for courses. PCSOs and PCs find that the public approach them much more readily on their bikes and those I've spoken to say that quite a few of their arrests come from their ability to approach quietly (even in full police gear) and not from their ability to ride down/up steps, jump kerbs and do the kind of stuff that some of you find second nature.

Their more public approachability can also provide them with useful info about what's going on, crime, vandalism and public nuisance-wise.

They also find helmet cams save time 'cos the villains know that they can't lie as easily and they often give up pretty quickly when chased since the scrotes also now that they can be followed round all the back doubles of the local estates.

And how would you like to bunny hop a bike that weighs in the region of 40lbs with all the kit on, including seat racks and bags?

The only trouble is those police authorities who haven't yet grasped the value of well-trained police cyclists.

I have seen pretty much the entire lot of that half day and it was repeated several times a year. A lot of them were beginners. I'm guessing it was to cover everyone as there weren't many police cyclists of PCSO cyclists in York but just incase they did? A lot of the PCSOs still walked and you'd see them descending on the police station at the end of shift from across the river. I'd be fine with all that gear on and doing that stuff.

The Police are welcome to use any tactics they want within the law. Properly trained and fit PCSOs on bikes would be a very good idea imho but we've all seen gutter huggers cycling along huffing and puffing at 5mph. York has a couple of unique reasons why it'd be good i.e. the river why police cyclists could get west a lot quicker than a panda car. On the other hand York must be one of the most collectively anticyclist places on earth, so there maybe PR reasons why not that many cycle.