Bicycles give police speed, personal touch

Bicycles give police speed, personal touch
In Portland, officers ride their beat through rain, snow and heat, and count many advantages.
By DAVID HENCH
Staff Writer Portland Press Herald

It was raining hard one morning last week, as it has for much of the summer, but Portland police officers Karl Geib and Dan Knight were undeterred, cycling briskly through Bayside as part of their appointed rounds patrolling Portland's peninsula.

The rain was barely a distraction to the officers, who rode their bikes on the beat all winter long, missing just five days through the depths of last winter's near-record snowfall. Between the two of them, Geib and Knight logged 5,500 miles last year – and made 240 arrests, one of the best records in the department.

"I dread the days I have to be in a car. I feel kind of stifled," Knight said.

Being on a bike puts the officers closer to the people on their beat, but gives them the speed they need to cover a lot of ground quickly.

Weather? Rarely a problem.

"You dress like you do for skiing," Geib said of the frigid February mornings. "We're always sweating," he said, noting that keeping hands and feet warm can be as tricky as it is for anyone who plays in the snow.

Rain? Geib cycles to and from work every day, three miles round-trip rain or shine, and is happy to be out riding during his shift.

"You get so it's not a big deal. My feet are wet. That's about it," Geib said.

They don't head out in driving snow, because they aren't as effective and cars can't stop. In a steady downpour, they're likely to use a cruiser until it lets up or duck into a business. But intermittent rain is no problem.

The department believes the bicycle patrols pay dividends for the community.

"It allows a lot of face-to-face contact with citizens, which is positive for the police department and the community, and it's also a very effective enforcement tool because they're able to sneak up on people," said Lt. Bill Preis, head of the daytime directed patrol, the team that includes the bicycle officers. "People look for police cars, they don't look for bicycles so much. They really use the stealth aspect of it to their advantage."

While an approaching cruiser would likely scatter lawbreakers, officers on cycles can get close quickly.

"We can hide the bikes in an alley, behind a car. They just don't see us," Knight said. The officers also are able to get around in congested downtown traffic quickly, making them ideal for pursuing someone on foot. If a motorist refuses to stop, a backup officer in a cruiser is just a radio call away.

Understandably, Knight, 45, and Geib, 49, are in remarkable shape. There are others among the department's 167 officers who volunteer to patrol on bicycles, including officers on the city's islands and with evening patrol, but Knight and Geib are the most devoted. They have been riding since the 1990s.

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Photos By John Ewing/Staff Photographer