Four local peace officers have traded in their four-wheeled vehicles for ones of the two-wheeled variety.
Innisfail RCMP members Const. Rick Buiserret and Const. Andrew Frost, and Innisfail peace officers Ryan Anderson and Colin Whymark are hitting local streets as the RCMP bike patrols resume for another year.
The program, now in its third full year, gets officers out on bikes patrolling town streets, alleys, and parks whenever possible, Buiserret said. Getting out from behind the wheel of a cruiser allows the officers to have more interaction with the public, whether it’s someone stopping the officers to say hello or to flag them down to report a crime.
“This makes us more approachable for spur-of-the-moment type questions,” Buiserret said.
It also allows officers to hear more of what is going on around them. In a cruiser they are bombarded with constant noise – from the engine, the air conditioner, or the radio – which makes it difficult to hear at times, Buiserret explained.
“On a bike you hear everything,” he said, noting that it’s possible to hear someone yelling from a few blocks away. “We can be more proactive on the bike.”
Anderson said the patrols also allow the officers to see a lot more of what is going on in their surroundings
“When you’re on a bike you can see a lot of things you wouldn’t see in the vehicle,” he said.
The bikes are also often used for speed patrols.
“It’s not always a ticketing thing. It’s more public awareness and education,” Buiserret said.
Speeders hate being pulled over by a police officer on a bike, added Buiserret, the Innisfail RCMP’s school resource officer.
“People are good about it. They understand,” he said. “It makes it less intimidating (for them).”
Last summer, Anderson and Buiserret also made a drug seizure while on patrol. A car travelling down a street turned around and came back towards the officers.
“He literally pulled a u-turn right in front of us,” Anderson said.
“He didn’t recognize us (on the bikes),” Buiserret added.
The officers seized a total of 28 grams of marijuana while searching the vehicle.
While the RCMP purchased bicycles for patrols in 1996, it was never a dedicated program until recently.
“Now it’s more of a focussed, concerted effort to make sure we’re out doing patrols,” said Buiserret, noting bike patrol officers can sometimes arrive on scene quicker than their counterparts in a cruiser. “I can cover even more ground (and) talk to more people on a bike. I’m also more mobile.”
