Document text
http://www.omniture.com --> Email Story to a Friend July 3, 2006 Bicycle officers Tim Garr, left, and Arturo Vega patrol the path along Bear Creek in Medford. Medford police hope to add more bikes to increase patrols downtown. (Mail Tribune / Denise Baratta) Pedaling police provide stealthy law enforcement By buffy pollock for the Mail Tribune On a recent Sunday morning, with temperatures reaching 107 degrees, a pair of Medford police officers are far from their air-conditioned vehicles, pedaling downtown on the city's only non-motorized units. Beat 45, a bike patrol unit based out of a parking garage along Riverside Avenue, has had a home of its own since early June. This particular morning, the bike beat consists of officer and program manager Tim Garr and South Medford High School community service officer Arturo Vega, assigned to his fourth summer of bike patrol while students are out of school. While the Medford Police Department has had varying degrees of bike patrol for 10-15 years, primarily for special events and sweeps of the Greenway bike path, Garr is working to establish a more permanent presence in the downtown. Beat 45 has two mountain bikes, which officers must share. Garr hopes to have two more units in place by summer's end. A recent donation from the Heart of Medford Association will cover much of the cost of the beat's third bike unit in coming weeks. "The priority right now is to try to get the exposure out there because we could use more bikes and the department just can't afford to put the money into the program right now," Garr says. "We're hoping some businesses in the downtown will appreciate the added presence in the downtown and want to help out." Garr says bike cops are instrumental in getting into places where officers in a car cannot. Bike patrol downtown, he added, helps combat graffiti problems and improve pedestrian safety. Often the officers must educate bicyclists that they can't ride on sidewalks between Oakdale Avenue and Bear Creek and from Sixth to 10th streets and they must follow the same road rules as cars. Though their bikes are stenciled with the word "POLICE" and the officers wear full uniforms down to their bullet-proof vests, they are hardly as noticeable as they would be in a patrol car. "The bad guys — and everyone — are more conditioned to look for a police car," Garr says, as the two officers head down Riverside Avenue. "Stealth mode," he notes, comes in handy when patrolling a known drug area for suspects. On the flip side, bike cops are a boost for public relations, giving stickers to kids, licensing bikes and being able to get closer to a situation, they say. Continuing to Hawthorne Park, the officers see a truck driving over the lawn past some joggers. Without hesitation, Garr lets out a shrill whistle and pedals towards the vehicle. Any doubts about police officers on bikes having the same authority as those in a patrol car are erased. The truck's brake lights flash instantly and the driver rolls his window down. Garr and Vega learn he's looking for a picnic and send him on his way out of the park. Down the Greenway and on to the Bear Creek skate park, Garr approaches two skaters without helmets. After a few words from Garr, both skaters scramble to a parked car and reappear with helmets. Within minutes, dispatch requests assistance with a pair of transients having a cold beer within earshot of a birthday party in the park. Garr and Vega spot two transients, whom they call "regulars," parked on a bench next to a barking Rottweiler. The man and woman don't notice the officers approaching them on opposite sides. Garr orders one of the pair to tie the dog to a nearby tree and they inquire about the contents of a paper cup. "It's not mine. How do I know what it is?" says the man. "It's nice and cold," Vega points out. "Well it's just water so mind your own beeswax," the man says with slurred speech. The Rottweiler barks, tugging at his makeshift leash. "Shut up or he'll give you a ticket for being stupid!" orders the man. "And I'm not gonna tell you where I'm living 'cause the cops will come back and steal everything else I got. They done got my radio, my flashlight, my batteries, my stuff." Garr explains later that the man has been involved in a number of Greenway "sweeps" in which debris and other items were cleared away. Bike patrol units monitor the Greenway for vandalism and transients, among other things, including sex offenders who have illegally listed their address of record as the Greenway. The Rottweiler barks again. The man's female companion, who lives near the park, declares, "We ain't doing nothing. There's people in the world to go get doing bad stuff and we're sitting on a bench not hurting anybody. This is wasting our taxpaying money." Undeterred, Garr and Vega issue citations with required court dates for the pair, order the alcohol poured out and send the couple on their way. Back on the path to downtown, Garr and Vega discuss the future of the bike program, wishing they had some of the "taxpaying money" the woman talked about. A high-end mountain bike equipped for police use, Garr says, runs $1,400, not counting emergency lights and sirens. If getting lights and sirens sooner than later means fewer bikes, Garr says he'll go without as long as he can. "Right now we're sitting on two bikes, but there are just so many applications for a bike," he says. Vega agrees. "There are a lot of things we can do on a bike that we couldn't do in a car. The bikes are definitely a valuable tool in policing." While bike cops are without the comforts of a car, disadvantages between bike and patrol cars are few, Garr says. During training, officers who patrol by bike are taught maneuvers in which they utilize their bikes to stop and apprehend suspects. Sgt. Bob Sergi, who oversees the bike beat, says officers "in theory should be able to handle any calls for service that an officer (in) a car could." "Obviously they don't chase cars," he added. "If somebody runs from a bike, we try to get a license plate. Cars usually stop. If they ride up to some guy that's just violated some traffic law, they see the badge and the gun and they realize it's the police." Sergi says he hopes the community will realize the value of bike patrols. "Right now it's not a budget item, which a lot of that has to do with our budget crisis," he said. "But hopefully the community will see the benefits of officers being on bike in the downtown. Even with only two on the street, they're really worth their weight in gold." For information on the Medford Police Department bike program, contact Garr at 774-2544, Ext. 2868. Buffy Pollock is a freelance writer living in Medford. E-mail her at [email protected]. Advertisement s Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker Custom Build Computers Discount Hotel Reservations --> online casinos news Ashley Furniture HomeStore Send Flowers California Casinos GMAT Prep Windermere Van Vleet Sports Equipment Entertainment Guide --> Online Casino Fundraisers Sudoku Online Casinos Canada Online Casino Reviews