|
Ride on Crime
Mountain Biker (UK)
Lede: A drug dealer peddling his illegal wares on a street corner hears a squeal of brakes behind him. But before he has a chance to turn around, two police officers are on the top of him. One uniformed man jumps off his bike and makes for the dealer’s neck to keep him from swallowing his stash. Cynthia King (Rosi) reports on the mounted police of Seattle.
WHAT Britain has held dear for many years – bobbies with their high helmets riding round the village on a single-speed bicycle – has turned into a lean, entirely professional and deadly serious business in the United States.
Five years ago on the hilly, cobblestoned slopes of Seattle, Washington, a couple of policemen thought it would be a good idea to have a Mountain Bike Unit. Their fellow officers thought they were nuts. But the department took to the idea like a rider to a saddle and the pair soon showed up in their custom-designed gear.
Those two who stuck their necks out with this crazy idea got the last laugh. Because now the mountain bike unit has 45 officers, both men and women, with ten in one squad during the day, increasing to up to 15 at night.
It is a showpiece of productivity and cost-effectiveness for the Seattle police – despite the officers getting tailor-made clothing with no expense spared. The local Raleigh factory provides their Chill model bikes with 21 gears for a start. Then the officers go to be fitted with a bright yellow Goretex top shell with Seattle Police emblazoned across the back and waistcoat with a Goretex and nylon lining.
The outfit is feather-light and full of pockets. The only item standard up top is their bullet-proof vests and cotton undershirts. And if an officer comes up with a good idea or wants a different waistband, the tailor will fit that in.
They wear Goretex boots to keep out the rain or black bike shoes for dry days. Giro hemets protect their heads and Scott goggles their eyes. With black spandex leggings, collar-clip radio, nightstick, handcuffs, gun and speed loader they’re ready for the streets. The gear is so good that sometimes people mistake bicycle couriers for police officers.
We spent one day with officers Gregg Calder, 28, and Bob Besaw, 33, following them as they rode the streets of downtown Seattle, and came away with the impression that these men were definitely doing something right. People constantly walked up to them to ask questions about their bikes or ask directions. One man walked over, all in a steam, and said a man had tried to run him over on a zebra crossing. The officers took each query seriously.
“We volunteer for this,” said Gregg as he kitted up at the station before our tour round the town. “Basically they were looking for guys that are out there actively searching for things, officers that have high rates and are self-motivated. They don’t want people that are lazy because we’re not required to answer regular calls.
“If you’re a lazy officer, this would be a unit you could hide in.” The bikers don’t have to do the kind of paperwork that ties down other officers – a sort of bureaucracy amnesty – which leaves them free to be out nicking villains.
Freed from the humdrum of paperwork and out in the fresh air they can concentrate on their specialties. “It’s our job to respond to in-progress stuff and find
|
