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Bike Patrol
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The Rowlett Police Department's Bike Patrol Unit operates on a part-time basis. Mostly due to generous donations, it now consists of six bikes. Due to the strenuous physical activity that is involved in riding a bike for 8 hours a day, the selection process was tough. Officers had to pass a rugged physical test prior to being chosen for the unit.
When special circumstances arise, the bike officers are pulled from their regular patrol duties and deployed in various neighborhoods on their bikes. You may have seen them recently at the Festival of Freedom. They can easily be recognized by their bike helmets (a must)m bright blue shirts, and black shorts.
The department recently conducted a selection process to identify new bike officers. Following this selection, Officer Luis Reyna, Officer Dana Reeves, and Officer Jeff Norris were sent to training and are now certified as Bike Officers and assigned to the unit.
There are many benefits to Police Officers patrolling on bikes:
Officers are out of their cars and much more accessible to the community.
The kids love the bikes and creates a good relationship between officer and community.
Generally suspects cannot out run officers on bikes.
Officers can approach silently and get much closer to crimes in progress before being seen.
Bike officers can cover more ground than officers on foot.
Bikes can go where cars can't.
Original cost and cost of maintenance are much lower than cars.
High visibility = Crime prevention.
The officers are more approachable, thereby enhancing the implementation of the Community Oriented Policing techniques.
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