Officers are trained to use the baton as an impact weapon, they are not trained to use the bike as such. Policy should not define the police mountain bike as an impact weapon, however it should allow for such actions as those described, under circumstances articulated by the officer. Risk of injury. Riding a bicycle one of the most complex human motor skills, because it involves the use of all four extremities, in addition to being dependent upon balance to remain upright. In police mountain bike training classes, officers are learning new skills, testing themselves, and experiencing their own personal limitations on a bicycle.
Most injuries consist of minor abrasions and bruises.
The goal in training then is to minimize the chance and frequency of injury and falling, through skill development and improvement. In a 1999 training class in Michigan, a mall security officer experienced heart failure and died while riding with his class. This sober incident should serve as evidence of the need to pre-screen all class participants. Mountain bike officers inevitably will exert themselves physically, which will causes stress on the physiological processes of the human body. Just as officers who attend a Tactical Pistol course are not then qualified to teach firearms, officers who attend a certified police cyclist course are not qualified to teach others.