With a patrol car, people see officers drive by, their windows rolled up, air conditioning on. They may seem inaccessible. With bikes the officers are out there in the community. Indeed, what sold Verrecchia on the bikes was their natural fit with the increasingly popular law enforcement strategy known as community policing. The officers have been shocked at how readily people will approach them when they're on their bikes.
Police officers are human, and they can be shy sometimes.
They love having people come up to them. Four officers are on bike patrol at any given time. To be selected, an officer has to pass a rigorous physical exam and complete a bicycle obstacle course that entails navigating stairs, sharp turns, and hills - a simulation of what an officer might encounter on the job. Now that I'm used to it, it's a great form of exercise. The program has proved so popular among the officers that a fifth bike is in the works, and long pants have replaced shorts for the frostier months.