Following violence at football games in San Francisco and elsewhere this year, bike-riding cops are now prowling through crowds of Denver Broncos’ fans at Sports Authority Field at Mile High.
Unlike the officers riding the streets, those at the stadium are working off-duty, said District 5 Cmdr. Lisa Fair. “But their purpose is the same, to get around efficiently and effectively. We’re just stealthy and able to maneuver” through crowds as well as traffic.
The bike patrols that operate throughout the city are effective, said Fair, with 97 arrests in 66 workdays in District 6 alone from January to May.
Unlike officers in patrol cars who are frequently dispatched by radio, bike cops initiate most of their own contacts.
Many of the arrests they make are for drug use and drug sales. Officers on two wheels frequently surprise suspects who would be quick to spot a patrol car and flee, said Cpl. Darin Lindsey, 46, of District 2, who rides with Officer Randall Krouse, 48.
It isn’t unusual, Lindsey added, to ride up on a drug deal in progress before either the buyer or seller is aware of their presence.
The bike program has grown since it was introduced about 20 years ago. Bikes are used in all six districts, though some, like District 6, which includes Downtown and Lower Downtown, use bicycles more than others. Each district has 10 to 15 bicycles available.
Last year police began patrolling Denver International Airport on bikes.
Though the bicycles are great tools for fighting crime, they aren’t right for every situation. They offer little in the way of protection when bullets are flying and there is only so much hardware an officer can carry. “There is an inherent danger to riding up on a bike because you don’t have the tools, they are in the car,” Krouse said.
But crime control isn’t the only benefit the patrols offer.
“It helps, it deters those that are out here trying to do wrong,” said Don Fulbright, 55, a Park Hill barber watching as two officers on bicycles pedaled past. “When there is visible force, crime rates drop.”
The department bought many of the bicycles for the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Neighborhood group Capitol Hill United Neighborhoods and others also contributed bikes.
The week-long training needed to patrol on a bike is rigorous, and cops learn how use their equipment to stay safe, said Sgt. Steve Gonzales, lead instructor for the bike program.
They are taught to keep the bike between them and the people they are confronting, so they can push it into them if they are attacked. They are taught to unbuckle their helmets in a fight so someone can’t drag them by the strap.
They learn to dismount at the last minute, getting close to the suspect, dropping the bike to the ground and jumping over the handlebars.
“I think the training is great. I thought I knew everything until I went through that,” Lindsey said.
Tom McGhee: 303-954-1671 or tmcghee@denverpost.com
