By By EDWIN MODLIN II
Staff Writer
Don’t be surprised if you see a police officer cruising the streets of downtown Washington on a bicycle, as the Washington Police Department is incorporating new ways to create a safer environment for patrons and business owners, alike.
Chief Mick Reed said the bicycle patrol division is a new addition to the department, as the Washington City Council recently amended city code to allow bike cops on Stewart Parkway and its adjacent promenade.
Reed added that the department has at least one police officer who is certified as a bike cop.
“We actually had a senior staff meeting and decided to give this [bike cop patrol] a try,” Reed said. “To be a certified bike cop takes a long process, and the officer has to be physically fit.”
The patrol bike cop for the Washington waterfront is Cpl. Chad Edwards, an auxiliary officer with the Washington Police Department. Edwards is also a full-time police officer with East Carolina University’s police department.
Edwards said being on a bicycle is a great way to incorporate a police officer’s senses, skills and tactics of what they have been trained to do.
“One of the really big plus’s is I get to talk to patrons and people that live down on the waterfront,” Edwards said. “It’s community relations, and it’s something I really enjoy.”
Edwards said getting certified to be a bike cop was an interesting experience, and something he really wanted to do.
“You can’t really beat it,” he said. “You’re out on the street, meeting people and seeing the area from a different perspective – slower, so you can hear and see more things.
“I will say this, it does get hot on some days,” he added.
Reed said that the patrols vary as far as hours and evenings. The equipment a bike cop is issued and needs in order to do his job efficiently is expensive, he said.
“The officer is required to pass several tests in order to be a bike cop,” Reed said. “If anything, the bike is like a typical officer’s patrol vehicle. It’s his patrol ‘vehicle’ and if he leaves it to chase a suspect on foot, there are protocol’s he has to follow.”
Reed continued, saying an officer’s bicycle has several attachments, and officers are required to know all the in’s and out’s of his or her vehicle and know how to ride it up stairs, hills, and every other kind of surface where a chase may occur.
Other special equipment needed include uniforms and helmets.
North Carolina has a certification course officers have to go through and pass in order to become a bike cop.
“They [cop] have to be trained on what they and the bike can and can’t do,” Reed said. “It’s kind of like taking a motorcycle safety course, because they learn how to safely ride up and down hills, stairways, and any kind of terrain, really.”
The department hopes to have more contact with the general public by having a bicycle patrol officer in and around the Washington waterfront.
“We really want all of our officers to be approachable by the public,” Reed said. “But a bike cop will have easier access to the public because he’s not closed off by a patrol car.
“The objective here is to provide the community with every resource available. One of our concerns is the downtown waterfront area; to create a safe environment for people to want to go to.”